This type of trike is not as easy to handle for a young child just learning to steer and pedal, due to its awkward steering geometry. They have an extremely shallow head angle, which makes the wheel tend to flop to one side or the other too easily. Each has its advantages, and best results will often be obtained by a mixed approach, adjusted to the child's learning style and the practice area available. Most bicycles intended for smaller children come with training wheels. That doesn't mean that training wheels are the only way, nor even the best way to teach a child to ride.
Training wheels are potentially the least painful way to learn to ride a bike, but also the slowest.
They make the most sense for families who live on very quiet, safe streets without hills. To make good use of training wheels, you need a safe, flat driveway or wide sidewalk or other place where a child can ride with a minimum of supervision. A bike with training wheels can be even more dangerous than a tricycle, because the child is higher up and the base width of the training wheels is fairly narrow. This means that if the bike gets going much faster than a walk, it will topple over if the child tries to turn a corner. Also, if the bike is turning even a little bit, weight is shifted from the rear wheel to the outside training wheel, so the braking power of the rear wheel is greatly reduced.