My son is right on the cusp of the Beinn 20 Small scale. We want to get one for his christmas present but we are concerned he might be a bit small and the reach to the bars could be too much. We don’t really want to buy a cnoc as he will grow out of it pretty fast. Does anyone have one in the Guildford area that we could measure him against before we commit?

Thanks in Advance

ND

it would be worth giving Islabikes a call with his measurements if not done so already – they are extrememly helpful as I have found in the past. The sizing is quite conservative, so if on cusp probs go for the 20large if you don’t manage a trial on one

Iain,

Thanks for the reply. Spoken to Islabikes who suggested both would fit, he is within millimetres of being too small for the Beinn so it is more a case of confidence on a bike that would be a lot bigger than his current bike.

Why do I end up with odd sized kids?

ND

We have a Beinn 20 Large (nowhere near you though) and a mate had the samll one – there wasn’t much in it reach wise, if anything. They come with loads of headset spacers so I’d be going for the big one with a ‘slammed stem’ and the seat right down – it’ll be bang on size wise within a few months, whereas on the small one he’ll be out of it by next Christmas. We had same quandary with eldest on his currrent one , which a 26 small – started him off all as low as poss a year and a bit ago and now he has a good 100mm of saddle up :

and now :

would you have a Rothan in Guildford (or nearby) your little ones have grown out of?

Iain, Thanks for the advice, Mattjg, sadly not, we used a Puky bike instead of the rothan as our son was too small for the rothan. I think one just appeared on the classifieds tho!!

ND

My lads Beinn 20 Small.
Just measured, seat fully down – pedal lowest to saddle top is 17″.
If you swap the seat pin for one without a “neck” (like Thomson), you can get another 3/4″ off it.

IMAG0683 by pten2106, on Flickr

No, Staffordshire isnt bathed in glorious sunshine – its an old pic.
🙁

Apologies for the thread hijack – could any of you with Beinns comment on how your respective little ones got on with the gears? We’ve just bought a Beinn for our eldest who’s been riding a Cnoc for 18 months or so and I was considering single-speeding it before he gets it for Christmas. Thoughts?

My lad struggled at first. Was ok changing down, it was twisting the shifter back up again that was the problem because he lacked the strength. I stripped & lubed the shifter but to no avail. Is ok now though.

Netdonkey – yep got what you want and live nr Holmbury St Mary. You’re welcome to try it.

All kids struggle with gears at first.Shame kids bike don`t come with Sturmey Archer 3 speeds these days!

I`d always go larger if you can.I bought my 3 kids the correct size last year and they have already progressed to the next size up.

All,

Thanks for the advice, HeiHei it would be great to take you up on your offer I will drop you an email

ND

If you also wanted to try the Beinn 20 Large I have two over in Fleet (but going on ebay this weekend so only around for another 1.5 – 2 weeks).