Bicycle Solutions

Another five-​star review… no surprise. John is a great instructor. He’s great at figuring out what’s wrong with your technique and how to fix it. It’s very helpful when you forget to do something and he points it out — awareness, correction, and reinforcement make for great learning.
My session was at the perfect pace. At no time did John rush me or stick to one area too long. He doesn’t go at a snail’s pace and make you do something over and over when you’ll eventually learn them through other routines anyway. This gave me more time to learn more complex steps.
Nothing else to say except book a session with him.

I took 90 minutes class with John, I finished the class and I was able to speak «bike» fluently! He was patient, and give me the instruction that I needed. At the end of the class John also dropped me to the nearest bart station. Highly recommended! Thanks John!

Anthony helped our very nervous 7 year old get over her jitters and was pedaling within 30 minutes and was looking like a pro in 90. Very patient and encouraging, really good at balancing challenges and praise. «Best teacher ever».

My daughter is 15 and never knew how to cycle. She had a back surgery and we are always worried about her falling. After reading the reviews, we decided to try it. We went to Anthony at the Alameda location on last Saturday. 75 mins later, my daughter was cycling without a single fall! Anthony was on time, meticulous, and made us feel very comfortable throughout the process. I am glad we found Bicycle solution. Thanks!

I had tried before to learn how to ride a bike but always struggled. I was low on confidence that I would eventually learn. John coached me very well by taking me through several steps to increase my confidence and technique. Within 15 minutes, I could glide without pedals. Within an hour, I could ride with two pedals. By the end of the lesson, I was able to get on the bike, get off the bike, start, ride, coast, turn, control my speed and more.
I wholeheartedly recommend his services. I am now capable of riding a bike.

John does a great job of breaking down all of the steps needed to go from a total newbie on a bike to riding in circles around a parking lot fairly smoothly. The steps are easy to understand and the bike is not too intimidating after a while.
Highly recommend!

It was totally amazing! John is so professional in teaching. He taught every detail carefully in the beginning and let you try by yourself step by step. Now as I can bike I found a whole new world in front of me! Thank you, John!

I had been putting of learning how to ride for years but with John I was able to learn within an hour! He is an incredible and patient teacher who offers advice as you learn how to balance and pedal. He even let me practice in the parking lot for an hour after! I 100% recommend his lessons for any adult learning to ride and having fears about balancing (his without pedals technique is incredibly helpful)! Will take his urban cycling classes when I’m ready to hit the streets!

I am a 35 year old mom who has pretty bad balance issues. I always wanted to ride bikes but didn’t know how up until very recently. I attempted to learn how to ride many times in my life but failed, until I met John! I found him on Unilocal and decided to give it a shot as my last resort and booked a two-​hour one-​on-​one session with him.
He was an amazing teacher, very patient and knowledgeable about bikes. He patiently taught me the tips and tricks and allowed me to practice ample times before moving onto the next trick. I never felt that he’s rushing me, which helped to build my confidence. After the first lesson, I was able to glide with both feet off the ground and started to keep one foot on the paddle but was still struggling a little bit to get both feet on the paddle. So John suggested a second session (90 minute). He told me that I am 98% there; just need a little bit more time. And he was absolutely right! 10 minutes into my second lesson, I started paddling with both feet, a little unstable at first but getting more and more control with practice. By the end of my second lesson, I was comfortably paddling, I was able to make turns, stop, etc.
My second session was only on August 18^th. And today I got a new bike and practiced riding by myself. I seriously cannot believe I can ride a bike now. So if you are thinking you are too old to ride a bike or you can’t do it, stop your thought right there and book a lesson with John. With John, rest assured it’s only a matter of time that you’ll start riding a bike!
Thanks for changing my life, John; you are truly the best! It was more than worth it!

My daughter took one class with John and after that she was able to ride like a master! John is a really good teacher! I recommend him at 100%.

I was a strong and enthusiastic rider (now in my 70’s) until balance problems forced me to quit about 8 months ago. I could not start from rest without swerving sharply to the left which was dangerous. A local bike shop recommended John and we arranged a lesson. John analyzed the problem quickly, and said that it was poor mechanics rather than balance. He patiently went through the several steps of a correct start. Starts improved during the lesson and even more during my own practice sessions. Due to his intelligent and clear advice, I can now foresee getting back to the hobby that I love. I recommend him highly!
DanF

Diane Serafini was a great teacher. She had our son up and riding within an hour. She guided him through all the different steps of balancing, gliding, braking, pedaling and turning and had tremendous patience and was extremely encouraging. I can’t say enough about how impressed I was with their success. I highly encourage anyone who is interested in learning how to ride a bike and has had trouble in the past to sign up and take the lessons. It was well worth the money.

John is a great teacher.
He taught my 4 year old to ride his bike in one hour.
He is patient and puts kids at ease and is able to communicate clearly and effectively.

I now know why all these reviews are five stars. When you’ve spent close to thirty five years trying unsuccessfully to learn how to ride a bike and you manage to do it in a couple of hours with Bicycle Solutions you are automatically a fan. When you get a patient, thoughtful, and expert teacher as John, it’s as good as it gets!
The review from Vi H. breaks down the methodology pretty well, so I’m not going to repeat. All I’m going to add is that it’s not a question of IF you’ll learn how to ride, but how many hours it will take (based on your fitness level because John will stop the lesson if he sees you are getting tired). You WILL learn. John will also teach you safety, and more information about bikes than what you would have learned from your dad.
Don’t even think about it anymore. Sign up! It’ll be the best money you’ll ever spend. I would have paid more… Thanks, John!

We made a goal for 2015 that our 4 and 7 year old would learn to ride bikes without training wheels. Thanks to Bicycle Solutions, we can’t keep the 7 year old off her new bike and the 5 year old is no longer afraid to try to keep up with her… great road advice for dad, too.

Diane Serafini is an amazing teacher and person. She is so sweet and a great conversationalist. The time flies by quickly. I felt safe and gained confidence and skills I didn’t think I would after only one 2 hour session. Can’t recommend her enough.

Amazing. I tried to teach my son to ride and failed. Others tried and failed. John met us. He was on time and had all his gear + 2 extra bicycles. First, he went over the bicycle (tire pressure, breaks, the chain). Then he showed my son how to get on and off and made him practice. Then he had him walk with the bike practicing the breaks. BTW, there is a certain way to walk a bike with ease.
Then he removed the pedals and had him glide. Then glide with 1 pedal. Then 2 pedals and voila — he was riding !! Thank you John so much.

Everything about my bike lesson with John was easy and enjoyable. I could barely ride a bike at all at the start of the lesson, but by the end I was riding all around the City College parking lot. I’m totally ready to buy a bike (he gave me some tips on that too) and start practicing on my own.
John is very calming presence and he describes how to ride a bike really well. Easy online booking. He provides the bike. All I had to bring was the helmet.

We can’t say enough great things about John. Our 9yr old wasn’t able to practice consistently so his interest waned. After about 10 minutes with John, he was up riding and now can’t wait to get on his bike. Here are his comments, «I wish I could give John 100 stars».

I promised myself I would learn to ride a bike before I turned 30. I am 31 now and until a few hours ago, could not ride a bike.
I will spare you the childhood history and the anxiousness I felt leading up to my lesson (what if I still can’t ride a bike??? Everyone on Unilocal learned!) and give you a brief summary of my experience:
1 — Signing up for a lesson: easy to do online and John responds to emails extremely quickly. His system is also set up to send a few reminders about when your lesson will be (not an annoying amount, just enough to not forget). Hardest part is probably the internal struggle you have with yourself.
2 — What to bring: If you don’t have one, buy a helmet. Ladies, I recommend Bern, they are the cutest ones I could find… cute for a helmet anyway. Also, bring water and wear sunglasses if sunny. Obviously wear tennis shoes. John will provide a bike based on your height.
3 — The location: I met John in the parking lot of Alemany Farmers’ market — a big lot with a slight incline to help your momentum. I was lucky enough to have motorcyclists, skateboarders, and a group of firemen watch me — but I really didn’t care because I was extremely proud of myself for just showing up. Plus. there was always a ton of room so don’t worry about crowding.
4 — The lesson: John will give you a basic intro to bikes and based on your experience and his evaluation of your first few attempts to glide (more on that later), he will customize his lesson. For me, it was a 3-​phase class — first, I learned to glide without any pedals in order to balance on a bike (this was definitely the most difficult part for me). Second, I glided with only 1 pedal to get a feel for the pressure I would need to put on the pedal and to continue working on braking, slowing down, balancing, etc. Third, I rode with 2 pedals, practiced turning and coasting. I don’t know how, but I was able to pedal without falling on the first try. I almost wanted to cry I was so happy.
4 — John might be the most patient person ever because even I was getting annoyed with myself during the lesson (see phase 1), but he was nothing but encouraging the whole time. He was also detailed about how to position your body on the bike and did a really good job demonstrating on the bike and providing analogies to help me translate skills I already had into riding the bike.
I really can’t say enough about how amazing it feels to finally be able to ride a bike. I honestly tried maybe 2x in life so if I can do it, anyone can. I felt safe the whole time because John was knowledgeable and made me feel comfortable (he will adjust the bike several times to ensure your ride is as easy as it can be). When the lesson was over, he gave me even more info on where to go from here — places to practice, videos to watch, safety classes to take, bike shops to buy a bike, etc.
The freedom and relief I felt once I learned was worth about 5,000% more than the 2 hours and money spent on the lesson. I am probably going to take another lesson!