Bicycles for the Toddler Set notes that parents are buying bicycles for children long before they’re ready for them. Manufacturers love this, of course, because the children outgrow the tiny bikes by the time they’re ready for a real bike, at age 6 or so.
Other manufacturers have come out with alternatives to tricycles and bicycles-with-training-wheels, like the LIKEaBIKE:
As early as two years old, children can fulfill their urge to be active with this walking bike and have their first experience of riding on two wheels. A LIKEaBIKE has no pedals. When first trying to ride, kids play with their LIKEaBIKE as they would with a hobbyhorse. They become familiar with the saddle first, carefully sitting on it. Soon they start to walk with it, then run. In no time the little rider becomes more confident and by pushing off, picks up speed. If the bike starts to tip, kids instinctively regain their balance with their feet.
Children don’t get to ride their bikes far and wide anymore. In fact, most don’t even ride to school:
According to the federal government, about 13% of children walk or bike to school today, compared with 66% in 1970.