📰 Does the bicycle without pedals make it easier to learn to ride a bicycle?

In recent years, bicycles without pedals, also called balance bikes, have become more and more popular. Are they really more effective for learning to ride a bicycle?

Originally

The bicycle without pedals was invented by the German Karl Drais in 1817. It was then a mode of transport (A mode of transport, or means of transport, or transport system, is a form…) aimed at adults. The balance bike is also considered the ancestor of the modern bicycle, but it more or less fell into oblivion in the 20th century. century (A century is now a period of a hundred years. The word comes from the Latin saeculum, i, which…)as the pedal bicycle grew in popularity.

We have to wait until the end of the 20th century to witness a renaissance. In 1997, for example, Rolf Mertens, another German, presented the bicycle without pedals as a means of learning bicycle (A bicycle, also commonly called a bicycle, is a land vehicle…) without resorting to small wheels (The wheel is a mechanical organ or part of circular shape rotating around an axis passing through…) training. The popularity of the balance bike made a spectacular leap in the years that followed.

Indeed, according to Portuguese researchers who, in an article published last February, looked at the different ways of learning to cycle, the proportion of children who used the balance bike increased from 9.6% in the 1960s to 49.2% in the 2010s. At the time, the wall street journal and the Globe and Mail talk about it as a small revolution in thelearning (Learning is the acquisition of know-how, i.e. the process…) of the bicycle.

The problem of small wheels

The Portuguese researchers point out that, until then, the most common method for learning to ride a bicycle was to start with a bicycle with one or two small training wheels, and then pass (The genus Passer was created by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques…) to the traditional bicycle. With this approach, the small wheels allow the child to tame the pedaling movement and perfect their coordination, without worrying about balance. This type of bike also reduces the fear of falling.

This method, used throughout the world (The word world can refer to:), is however increasingly contested, explain the Portuguese scientists. In another article, published in 2021, they indeed noticed that several studies indicated that this way of doing things would not be the most effective, despite its popularity.

According to them, the transition to the traditional bicycle is more difficult for a child who has first learned to pedal on a bicycle with small wheels. On this type of bike, the child mainly uses his torso to maintain balance and little his arms. These reflexes are the opposite of those needed to maintain balance on a traditional bicycle. When he finds himself on a real bike, he must therefore work very hard to master his balance. everything (The whole understood as the whole of what exists is often interpreted as the world or…) while pedaling. This represents a major challenge.

Researchers from North Carolina South (South is a cardinal point, opposite to north.) who are interested in education physical (Physics (from the Greek φυσις, nature) is etymologically the…) among children made the same observations in 2017, alleging that the bicycle without pedals could even be seen as a tool (A tool is a finalized object used by a living being in order to increase its…) to counter the decline, in the United States, ofuse (Usage is the act of making use of something.) cycling for children.

The benefits of cycling without pedals

Several organizations therefore now recommend the use of bicycles without pedals to introduce children to cycling, such as the USA Cycling association and its British counterpart. Vélo Québec points out that the balance bike method is « extremely effective for learning to ride a bike, because it breaks down the skills required by focusing first on mastery (The master’s degree is a university degree or diploma corresponding to the degree or title of…) balance in motion ». This balance is essential in learning to cycle, as Portuguese researchers point out.

The South Carolina scientists point out that the balance bikes are lighter and that the child can use both feet to propel and stabilize themselves. For these reasons, bicycles without pedals would be more stable and perhaps even safer. At least, it allows the child to feel more in control (The word control can have several meanings. It can be used as a synonym of examination, of…) to explore movement.

He can thus learn to control his center of gravity (The center of gravity is the point of application of the resultant forces of…) and that of the bicycle, add the Portuguese researchers.

Another American team wrote in 2020 that the bicycle without pedals would make it possible to improve in its whole (In set theory, a set intuitively designates a collection…) balance in preschool children. They put in point (graphics) a 4-week program, during which children from 3 to 5 years old had fun with a bicycle without pedals for 20 minutes (Primary form of a document: Law: a minute is the original of a…)three times per week.

According to the scientists, it could even contribute to a better control of the posture (In posturology, posture is the elaboration and active maintenance of the configuration of…)in addition to promoting the development engine (A motor (from the Latin mōtor: « the one who moves ») is a device…) in children.

In the UK, a learning program with a bicycle without pedals, Balanceability, claims that among children who took part, 94% made the transition to traditional cycling after just 12 weeks.

The Portuguese researchers had for their part interviewed some 2,000 people to find out how they and their children had learned to ride a bike and at what age they had managed to master it. According to their analysis, those who had learned to ride a bicycle with small training wheels mastered the bicycle at age 6, whereas this happened as early as age 4 among those who had used a bicycle without pedals.

Verdict

All learning methods eventually allow children to ride a bicycle. But in recent years, both scientists and associations have converged on the idea that the bicycle without pedals would make it possible to learn more quickly.