Assembly of child bicycles

"Eric S. Sande" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > ,

Quoted message said:

and what is up with these training wheels, anyway?

IME, they are there to help the kid break his collarbone. :<} Len

Eric S. Sande said:

and what is up with these training wheels, anyway?

They allow the kid to use the bike for a while before he starts bugging you to teach him to ride.

When I learned to ride, the training wheels were quite helpful. I had made no progress until one of
them fell off, at which point I suddenly discovered I knew how to ride.

--
Ray Heindl (remove the Xs to reply)

"Eric S. Sande" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Or can I treat these bicycles as I would miniature road commuters, and what is up with these
training wheels, anyway?

As a point of reference, training wheels were despised almost as much as baby seats as far as
installation goes. Sometimes it's smooth sailing, sometimes it's a frustration party and you have
heavy implements in your hands when the party takes a turn for the worse!! Not good!! :-)

Cheers,

Scott..

"Ray Heindl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Eric S. Sande said:

and what is up with these training wheels, anyway?

They allow the kid to use the bike for a while before he starts bugging you to teach him to ride.

When I learned to ride, the training wheels were quite helpful. I had made no progress until one
of them fell off, at which point I suddenly discovered I knew how to ride.

I had a tiny little red bike when I was about 3 ... I was barely able to talk before I asked
(begged) for a bike. I can remember my Dad and his friend Eddie trying to get the training wheels to
stay put, then they gave up. I never did use them, never missed them either. We had a huge yard, and
I would ride for hours and hours every day. (The only cool thing about my Dad was his love of bikes
... feels good that I get them for him now.)

I just recently tried training wheels on my friends daughters bike. They did more harm than good ...
the path we were riding at wasn't level enough, and she kept unloading the rear wheel so it just
spun. Wasn't long before she got frustrated and started to cry, so we took them off and before you
know it she was riding with the "big kids".

Why not try it without the training wheels first? Kids still surprise me how fast they learn.

C.Q.C.

"Eric S. Sande" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Uncle Eric (despite his flu) has to do the bicycle assembly routine this weekend. Other than the
basic tools, i.e. cone wrenches, grease, headset and BB tools, is there anything I need to know
that isn't adult bicycle specific?

I don't recall anything, other than the fact that the Murray and Huffy manuals I used to do the
assembly were remarkably good. That's a number of years ago, though. The bikes themselves were
simple single speed coaster brake models. If you were a 17 year old paid the minimum wage to put one
together in 5 minutes with no prior instruction, the result might not be pretty. However, you should
have no trouble with a bike of this type.

If it's a fancier model, the most problemmatic aspect will be the brakes, which sometimes are hard
to keep in adjustment on a cheaper bike.

Quoted message said:

Or can I treat these bicycles as I would miniature road commuters, and what is up with these
training wheels, anyway?

You don't say how old the child is. If it's a small child who's likely to be going 3 miles an hour
on the driveway and might not be able to stay upright, I'd say you are better with the training
wheels, which make the bike more like a tricycle. On the other hand, if the kid is 11 and can do
backflips on skates, do the kid a favor and leave them off.

I don't know your relatives. If you leave the training wheels off, what happens when the kid has the
first fall and scrapes a knee? Will you hear "Dammit, Eric, you left the training wheels off and now
little Chris is scarred for life"? If so, leave them on. The kid may fall just as much or more, but
Uncle Eric won't be the scapegoat.

--
Mike Kruger I didn't believe in reincarnation last time, either.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Q." <LostVideos-AT- hotmail.com> says...

Quoted message said:

"Ray Heindl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Eric S. Sande said:

and what is up with these training wheels, anyway?

They allow the kid to use the bike for a while before he starts bugging you to teach him
to ride.

When I learned to ride, the training wheels were quite helpful. I had made no progress until one
of them fell off, at which point I suddenly discovered I knew how to ride.

I had a tiny little red bike when I was about 3 ... I was barely able to talk before I asked
(begged) for a bike. I can remember my Dad and his friend Eddie trying to get the training wheels
to stay put, then they gave up. I never did use them, never missed them either. We had a huge
yard, and I would ride for hours and hours every day. (The only cool thing about my Dad was his
love of bikes ... feels good that I get them for him now.)

I just recently tried training wheels on my friends daughters bike. They did more harm than good
... the path we were riding at wasn't level enough, and she kept unloading the rear wheel so it
just spun. Wasn't long before she got frustrated and started to cry, so we took them off and
before you know it she was riding with the "big kids".

Why not try it without the training wheels first? Kids still surprise me how fast they learn.

Remembering how long it took me to ride without them after they had been on for a long time, when my
kids were learning, I left them on just long enough for them to get the hang of pedaling, braking
and steering, and then they came off again. It was only a couple of weeks IIRC, and I think it
helped because they hadn't become dependent on them.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Quoted message said:

You don't say how old the child is.

Well, one of them is older than the other one, that's for sure.

I am guessing here, uh, maybe four and six?

The older one is female, and will be receiving the "Disney Cinderella Princess" bicycle, which is
sort of pink and purple.

The nephew gets a "Harley Davidson" which is much the same except that it is red and yellow.

For such small bikes they were surprisingly heavy. The pink one was a Huffy (both were PRC
products). Single speed coaster brake models with stamped steel front caliper brakes.

They came partially assembled, but not well. I guess I'm not going to make it as an Xmart bicycle
assembler, as it took me almost ten hours to strip them down to parts, wax the frames, repack and
adjust all the bearings, and do the reassembly.

The parts quality was actually not horrible. The pink/purple one was noticeably better in terms
of finish.

The wheels (16"😉 with one exception were properly trued and tensioned.

My overall impression was that these bicycles were much heavier and "featurized" than they
needed to be.

I chickened out and put the training wheels on.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email hidden]__________

"Eric S. Sande" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You don't say how old the child is.

Well, one of them is older than the other one, that's for sure.

I am guessing here, uh, maybe four and six?

The older one is female, and will be receiving the "Disney Cinderella Princess" bicycle, which is
sort of pink and purple.

The nephew gets a "Harley Davidson" which is much the same except that it is red and yellow.

For such small bikes they were surprisingly heavy. The pink one was a Huffy (both were PRC
products). Single speed coaster brake models with stamped steel front caliper brakes.

They came partially assembled, but not well. I guess I'm not going to make it as an Xmart bicycle
assembler, as it took me almost ten hours to strip them down to parts, wax the frames, repack and
adjust all the bearings, and do the reassembly.

The parts quality was actually not horrible. The pink/purple one was noticeably better in terms
of finish.

The wheels (16"😉 with one exception were properly trued and tensioned.

My overall impression was that these bicycles were much heavier and "featurized" than they
needed to be.

I chickened out and put the training wheels on.

A good way to teach them to ride is to take the pedals off and lower the seat so their feet can rest
flat on the ground. Then let them sit and "scooter" around on them. They will be balancing in a very
short time at which point you can put the pedals back on.

Quoted message said:

A good way to teach them to ride is to take the pedals off and lower the seat so their feet can
rest flat on the ground. Then let them sit and "scooter" around on them. They will be balancing in
a very short time at which point you can put the pedals back on.

That seems to be a good idea. I'm just tech support according to my brother's wife.

Maybe I'll suggest that to her over Christmas dinner.

I'm all ready in deep kimchee with her over a casual remark I made when under considerable stress.

Hopefully I'll be able to redeem myself by expertly advising her on how to raise her children.

I'd love to teach these kids how to ride. However there is a certain resistance there. And a
physical barrier. Neither of the parents is a cyclist, either chidhood or adult, and we
aren't adjacent.

Too bad. The kids won't learn to ride, I'll be disappointed, and nobody will profit over the
situation.

But I have my devious ways. I have been subtly planting the idea of cycling in my brother's mind,
chiefly by luring him with my old Raleigh road bike and making fun of his ever enlarging beer belly.

That works on his mind, increasingly.

I will use any means to achieve my objective.

I am a true [censored], unfortunately.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email hidden]__________

Eric S. Sande said:

I'm all ready in deep kimchee with her over a casual remark I made when under considerable stress.

Hi! Welcome. Get comfortable. Here in deep kimchee, there's lots of us who are here as a result of
"casual remarks". Even if you get out, you'll be back.

Quoted message said:

Hopefully I'll be able to redeem myself by expertly advising her on how to raise her children.

Yes, that's certainly a way to get somebody who's frustrated and angry at you to relax and forgive.
Oh, and did I mention that I'm continually in deep kimchee?

Quoted message said:

But I have my devious ways. I have been subtly planting the idea of cycling in my brother's
mind, chiefly by luring him with my old Raleigh road bike and making fun of his ever enlarging
beer belly.

Making fun of it? Try considering the aerodynamic and inertial advantages of it. He's probably more
aerodynamic than you are! He'll drop you like a rock as soon as you go down a hill.

Quoted message said:

That works on his mind, increasingly.

Remind him that he'll need to carb-load before riding and protein-recover after. That might work on
his stomach, which is where he keeps his mind (if he's of a similar species to myself).

Quoted message said:

I will use any means to achieve my objective. I am a true [censored], unfortunately.

Isn't it funny how "[censored]" has become an insult while it's actual meaning (child born out of
wedlock) is no longer taboo?
--
Rick Onanian