EZ Transitional Training Wheels
Invented by 5-year old Jacob Schwartz
 

At the age of 5, Jacob was facing the scary right of passage of having the training wheels removed from his bicycle. He was nervous about the abrupt transition from riding on a bike with four stable wheels to having to ride unsteadily on only two. It occurred to Jacob that there must be a less scary way for kids like him to make this change. He came up with EZ Transitional Training Wheels, which allow a bike rider to easily transition from the full safety of training wheels to having no training wheels at all. 

Jacob’s EZ Transitional Training Wheels are an adjustable variant of standard training wheels that have ten settings. On the first setting, the wheels are the same distance from the bike as traditional training wheels, forming an extremely stable base. With each new setting, the wheels are moved incrementally closer to the bike, allowing the rider to work on their balance and confidence. When the training wheels are eventually removed altogether, it is not a scary adjustment at all. Jacob designed his EZ Transitional Training Wheels for use in a multi-day process so that a kid does not feel a harsh change moving from one setting to the next. In addition, more apprehensive riders can stay on one setting for as long as they wish, and more adventurous riders can skip settings. With Jacob’s EZ Transitional Training Wheels, a familiar right of passage can be changed forever, eliminating wobbly bikes, skinned knees, and scared kids.

Jacob won the By Kids For Kids Xerox 2005-06 Invent-A-Toy World Games.