Training wheels (or stabilisers in
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
and
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English (from Latin '' Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland ...
) are an additional wheel or wheels mounted parallel to the rear
wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...
of a
bicycle that assist learners until they have developed a usable
sense of balance
The sense of balance or equilibrioception is the perception of balance and spatial orientation. It helps prevent humans and nonhuman animals from falling over when standing or moving. Equilibrioception is the result of a number of sensory syste ...
on the bicycle. Typically they are used in teaching very young children to ride a bike, although versions for adults exist.
Learning to bicycle
Training wheels that prevent the bike from leaning also prevent
countersteering
Countersteering is used by single-track vehicle operators, such as cyclists and motorcyclists, to initiate a turn toward a given direction by momentarily steering counter to the desired direction ("steer left to turn right"). To negotiate a tur ...
, so that, as with a tricycle, children learn to turn the handlebars the wrong way, which must be unlearned later.
Sheldon Brown wrote that training wheels can become an obstacle to learning if they are adjusted incorrectly, because they prevent the bike from leaning if they are too low, and can inhibit braking if too much weight is taken off the rear wheel by training wheels that are too low.
Adjusting training wheels correctly, and raising them higher as the child's skill increases, avoids these problems.
[ Many modern kids' bikes, however, are not compatible with training wheels. Alternatives to using training wheels include removing the pedals from a child's bike, or balance bicycles.] USA Cycling President Derek Bouchard-Hall stated in a Wall Street Journal article that balance bikes "have made training wheels obsolete."
See also
* Outline of cycling
:''This article is an outline about the activity of cycling. For an outline about bicycles themselves, see outline of bicycles.''
:The following ''outline'' is provided as an overview of, as well as a topical guide to cycling:
Cycling, al ...
References
{{Cycling
Bicycle wheels