We've tried the running beside him holding the bike, but it's like he can't engage his core stomach muscles to help hold the bike up.
Any tips that made it easier to help an older child ride a bike? We're thinking of getting him a more expensive, lighter bike that won't be so heavy to hold up, but I also don't want it to be a bad experience for him either.
Mmm, any reason for making the connection with stomach muscles? I thought that sounded odd from my experience - that is, I don't think stomach muscles have any role to play in bike riding - and tried it on DH, a keen cyclist, who also thinks it sounds unlikely. We don't think you do use those muscles to hold the bike up. (I'm sure they're used a bit just because they're used a bit in anything that involves adjustment, but I'd be surprised if they're used more in recreational cycling than in walking.) Therefore, I think going for a lighter bike probably wouldn't help - unless of course the new bike is a motivator!
When DS learned to ride a bike, he found it much easier to go downhill at first. We have a gently sloping path nearby, and I remember him riding the bike down the path, mostly freewheeling and then gradually doing a little more pedaling, and then pushing the bike up the path (or getting one of us to do that for him!) many times. It was a little longer before he could ride on the flat and then a little longer again before he could go uphill. I think it was partly that going downhill, if he wobbled he could stop pedaling for a moment but would keep going and get his balance back, whereas on the flat or uphill if your reaction to wobbling is to stop pedaling you're toast! Once he was comfortable with balancing and pedaling at the same time, he could put it together and keep going enough to do it on the flat and uphill.
