Pedal-free bikes 'improve children's balance'

A team from the Division of Kinesiology and Sport Science at the University of South Dakota recruited 20 children, aged three-to-five-years-old, to take part in the study.

Half of the children, the experimental group, rode Strider balance bicycles around a race course three times a week for four weeks, while the other half acted as a control group for comparison.

To determine whether the children who rode the 'pedal-less' bikes had improved balance, researchers measured their centre of pressure (which indicates the ability to balance and lean in different directions without falling) throughout the four weeks.

The findings revealed that the children in the experimental group had significantly increased balance than those in the control group.

The authors of the study suggest that parents could benefit from the knowledge that 'pedal-less' bicycles are possibly a safer alternative to using stabilisers.

Melanie Thomas, director of Melrose Kids, the official UK distributor for Strider, said, ‘The findings don’t surprise me. It has been reported at weekly balance bike sessions at Strider Centres of Excellence that children aged three and four are showing the same skills as a child of seven.’

She added, ‘Balance bikes make the transition to riding a bike for children much easier. Stabilisers hold up a bike so when they are taken off children struggle to be able to balance.’