Childhood Comes Late: Adults Pay US$110 to Learn How to Ride a Bicycle!

Would you pay 800 yuan (US$110) to learn how to ride a bicycle as an adult?

Apparently, yes. What was once a childhood rite of passage has turned into a popular paid service for young office workers.

According to the Shanghai Morning Post, 25-year-old Yao, a postgraduate at Shanghai University of Sport, has been offering one-on-one cycling lessons for two years.

He initially expected children to be his main clients; however, adults in their 20s and 30s now dominate his bookings.

"Adults are harder to teach," Yao told the newspaper. "Most want to use bikes for commuting, while some just need them to cover the last kilometer to the Metro."

Yao noted that the fastest learner was able to ride in just an hour, and nearly 90 percent of students can ride independently after two sessions.

The report indicated that private "learn-to-ride" tutoring was also popular, with coaches charging around 800 yuan and offering "guaranteed results."

The trend has sparked debate online. Some users mocked the idea of paying for skills they acquired through trial and error in childhood. "I just rode down a slope until I stopped falling," one commenter wrote.

Others admitted they still can't ride. "I'm in my 20s and never learned," another user shared. "It's embarrassing but true."

Shanghai's on-demand home services are rapidly expanding, covering everything from pet sitting to home cooking and even sports coaching.

This trend aligns perfectly with Shanghai's booming on-demand lifestyle economy, where nearly anything can be delivered, outsourced, or customized, including at-home coaching for jump rope, basketball, and tennis.

As one netizen summed it up: "In Shanghai, if there's even a tiny demand, someone will turn it into a business."