Spurred on by the review on the front page I’m looking to get my daughter her first bike and wanted to know if any of you felt there was a better option than the Islabikes Rothan?

sorry to be a pikey but skip/tip bike with the cranks taken off, plus a couple of cans of pink paint worked for my 2

You also get to put the cranks back on when they get the balance sorted (though really needs a bigger bike for pedalling it’s nice to stay on what they know just at first – IMO)

I’d save the “proper” bikes for later

isla bikes are excellent and the good thing when they have grown out of the bike they have very good resale value. I sold our cnoc16 for £90 4 years and 2 kids later.

I got a specialised hotrock for my little girl, and will be using it for the next one, when he is old enough.

My girl is getting ready to make the step up to a proper bike with pedals soon 🙂

Second the Specialised Hotrock.. Our 2 year old (3 next week) would spend her entire life riding round on hers given the opportunity!! She did a 3 mile offroad loop round Rydal Water last week including all the bumpy bits where she shouts ‘Wock Garden… Wock and Wowll’!!! We can now just about keep up with her whilst walking at a decent pace!

As a way to get your children into bikes they are highly recommended! The only thing I’d say in favour of the Isla Bikes one is I believe it now comes with a brake…something which Alice (or more specifically her poor shoes!) could really do with!

Paul

Ridgeback scoot is excellent. Spesh hotwalk is the equivalent and also looks good.

Like a bike Jumper is similar but has rear suspension. RRP is much higher but it can be found for the same price as the Rothan. Excellent quality bike that my little one loves – also comes in a range of colours

ridgeback scoot here little lady had her first proper ride other day 🙂

My nephew has a Ridgeback Scoot, and its great. It is however a little bigger than the Islabike.

Ridgeback Scoot here also – although I made the mistake of getting a pink one for my daughter. My son is now discovering his feminine side with his pink bike. But then he does wear high heels also. 🙂

The Kokua is well made and has suspension, which is actually not just a gimick, it works well and they can go off-road and ride up kerbs etc. The only downside is it doesn’t have a brake, but I’ve fitted one myself to solve that.

Just bought an Islabike Cnoc14 as my girl is almost 4 and ready to pedal. She went from the trainer to pedalling in about 10 minutes. No messing 8).

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this is my lads bike we got from sjs cycles on ebay it was about £40

My boy has an early rider lite series, again have been amazed by how quikly they pick he up (aged 2).

They are all much the same. Thick bar end rubber / foam is a must as they get dropped / pushed over lots is my only recommendation.

Another Specialized Hotwalk here – my son loves it and like others would use it everywhere if he could. My only concern about the Hotwalk is the lack of adjustability seatpost wise, there doesn’t seem to be much scope for raising it as he grows, which the Islabike seems to be better for.

Better no – there are other options though, as already mentioned on this thread.

The reason for not using a standard/skip bike and taking the cranks off is that in general normal bikes don’t come small enough. Certainly I’ve yet to see a normal bike mini-aracer #1 could reach the ground from the saddle on (it does of course depend when you’re starting them – he got his for his 2nd birthday).

All hail the Ridgeback Scoot;

PS: That’s the bloke over the road’s garage that needs painting/curb that needs weeding 😉

we got our 3 year old a 2nd hand rothan and he loves it. Build quality is great, and he loves it.

I reckon most of the scoot-a-long bikes would do the trick tbh though

anyone got a balance bike suitable for a giant 2 year old for sale?

I think they’re all much the same, Our Ollie has a Little Tykes one that we got for £20ish from Tesco, he’s freewheeling all over on it and he’s not 3 yet, but I would just buy whatever is cheapest. That one Rob has shown above looks the same as the one we bought.

What age/size were your nippers when you started them on the balance bikes – My son is 17 months but pretty tall. His birthday is January so not ideal riding weather but don’t want to be ‘pushy dad’ and try to get him going too early.

Our Ollie is tall, but could only sit on the bike at put his feet flat on the floor at well over 2 years old. I’ve actually drilled 2 holes in that seat mast on the bike to allow the saddle to drop lower. yet he prefers to sit on the edge of it, where it meets the bike frame

I bought one from Tesco Direct one for around 35 quid. Nodoubt it wont last as long as the Islabike but as they’ll be no more kids on the way who cares.

Sorry – should have said the £35 looks like the Rothan rather than the wooden one pictured above on the thread.

going on what paulo said above, there’s one available from tesco and JL amongst others that looks like a decent option – £40 so not bad.

might get one of those – it’s for a friend’s little chap, so although i want to hook him up, can’t really stretch to £80 odd.

Our lad has had his Rothan since he was 22 months (he’s now pushing 3 and a 1/2) and loves it, so much so he doesn’t want a new bike! He is ready for pedals and a brake though. Great little bikes, will be re-sprayed for our daughter.

I got my son a Scoot when he was about 20 months and although he was tall enough he didn’t really have the strength to hold the bike up and ride it properly until he was about 24 months.
The metal Tesco one looks like the saddle doesn’t go very low and if its steal the weight might be an issue. I think the cheap wooden likeabike copy might be the sensible option.

is a brake that necesary? Most don’t have them – there must be a reason…

Look out for secondhand Lidl ones branded as “Bsquare”. They are brilliant, and hugely hardwearing. I needed to relieve the narrow steering limits with a wood rasp, and I also fitted a rear brake easily to my daughters one. (There are lots odf steep hills here). By the age of 4 she had superb braking control, even down our local 1 in 4 hills.
(It’s pretty worrying watching your kit on a brakeless bike when it’s hilly!)

The wooden bikes are brilliant because you can also attack them with woodworking tools and attach brakes, trailers, lights..

This is the Lidl one originally moodified for a very small child unable to normally reach the ground. I have not got the rear brake fitted in these photos, but I mad a steel caliper mount which screwed easily to the rear plywood hull.

And later:

There was a 4 year old going down the 4X track at Fort Bill at the weekend. He has his Dad wrapped round his finger. When he got to a bit too steep to pedal back up, he dumped his bike and shouted dad to come and get it and carry it to the top of the run in. Then he dropped into the big berm, over the rollers and got the biggest cheer of the weekend 😀