My eldest was reticent to try a bicycle at ten. We tried the following approach, and it worked quite well for him:
1. Buy Razor scooter; let child become proficient at balancing on the scooter. Knee pads and are a must (plus the helmet, obviously). Elbow pads help too.
Remember to tell him to watch ahead of himself, and not to look down.2. Once he was proficient on the Razor scooter, we introduced an undersized bike (low enough that his knees bent somewhat when his feet were flat on the ground). We let him glide on it down a small, gentle hill (we used our driveway). We encouraged him to pick his feet up while he glided and to attempt to steer.
This wasn't such a big deal because he already had momentum from the hill (but not so much that he was going scary-fast).
Remember to tell him to watch ahead of himself, and not to look down.3. When he got good at this, we encouraged him to pedal.
Remember to tell him to watch ahead of himself, and not to look down.4. When he looked ahead most of the time, could pedal, steer, start, and stop, we got him his own bike. We let him ride it with the seat a bit low initially. This made stopping and starting easier because he could put his feet flat on the ground.
HTH; I have no idea if this method would work for someone else.
Val
