My son has turned 4. He’s a bit too big now for his like a bike and I want to get him something with pedals. What have you bought that you can recommend/avoid?
Thanks

Are you based in Oz? I just bought a Trek Jet 16″ wheels for my four yr old. It has many features specifically designed for young, small riders. He loves it and because its quite lite can pedal up hills and gets around much better than on his 12″ repco clunker which weighed a ton!

No, I live in England. Is a 16″ wheeler ok for size for him then? Has it got brakes?

Dont go anywhere but the fabulous Islabikes

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/cnoc16.html

Cost a bit more but well worth it. Light aluminium frames, nice parts, my kids love theirs, we have a stable-full.

Most kids bikes are a disgrace. First 16″ bike I bought for my eldest weighed more than my 26″ hardtail. Not kidding.

yeh 16″ is fine for him, it has a front brake and the coaster brake – he learned how to use front brake pretty quick and no major stacks yet

CNOC 16, you can’t go wrong.

another Cnoc16 family here.

Stoner Jr progressed from his balance bike to the Cnoc on his 4th Bday.

Another vote for islabikes for all the reason mcboo said

Isla are cracking bike but a tad expensive which is all good if you have the cash. The only saving grace is the high secondhand price when you come to sell it on.

expensive

Id call it an investment. I like that Jr wants to go for a ride every single day. Him enjoying cycling is enjoyable for me too.

And as you suggest, the depreciation is IMO much less than for a halfords BSO esp as ours will go own to his little brother in due course becuase its built to last and not rust away.

Dont go anywhere but the fabulous Islabikes

Bit of an exaggeration. Specialized/Giant/Trek et al do perfectly good kids bikes too. But that said Islabikes are great.

My eldest rode a 16″ Hotrock straight from his 12″ Hotwalk – has backpedal coaster brake which works better for little hands as they may not have the strength, even if the levers do fit their hands.
He has always been small for his age, and it was a bit of a struggle at first to be honest but kids are very adaptable and he’d have outgrown a
12 or 14 ” quickly. Of course now he wants gears ^^ even Charlie’s stickers aren’t persuading him of The One True Way after the downhill fun singletrack is done.. though I think a gatorbar should stave off another purchase for a while.

I was looking at the Carrera range in Halfords the other week. Some of them are pretty decent these days. Certainly almost on par with my lads 20″ Islabike, & £100 cheaper.
I baulked at paying £140 for our Cnoc 16, but considering the use its had, plus its now the youngest lads bike & what it will be worth when sold on, it was money well spent.
Dont consider anything with suspension, pay more attention to the adjustability of contact points like bar/stem, saddle, brake levers. And ditch daft knobbly tyres for something smoother rolling.

my then 4 year old has been riding a ridgeback mx16 great little bike
light well made and all the right features for a little person.
He’s 6 and just moved up to a bigger bike and im expecting a decent resale on the ridgeback.

Just to bring some balance to the Islabikes love-in.

The rear mudguard design on my daughter’s beinn 20 is useless and ends up being constantly knocked and moved.
Fittings rust like hell – stem bolts, cable noodles etc.

These aren’t hard things to fix at source or after-market, but it’s pretty disappointing considering their price. Fundamentally though, they’re very good bikes.

another vote for islabikes here, we have had 3 – Cnoc 16 (recently sold on here), Beinn 20, Beinn 26. Thye are light, no frills, well made and up for the knocks kids give them. Our Cnoc 16 did both our boys and was sold for half it’s curent retail.

Purchased a cnoc 14 as a first bike. Can’t fault it apart from the price. When it came to upgrading we looked at a 20″ wheeled bike. The isla bike beinn 20 cost £249 whilst a carrera blast from halfords cost £159. Weighs about the same as the old cnoc 14, has a rather pointless suspension fork but he likes it. Only problem so far is that the wheels aren’t QR. In my opinion the isla bike isn’t worth an extra £100.

My little lad started out on an Isla Bike Rothan and we looked at getting him a CNOC 14. However, the price hike in the last couple of years is a piss take. I think they are making the most of the MTB dad’s love in.

We got him a Ridgeback MX14. Build wise it is OK but admittedly not as nice as the Islabike. However, the Ridgeback has a grip under the back of the saddle which is very useful in those “catch him before he falls off” moments.

My lads riding around on a Merida Dakar 16. It looked better built than the Trek/Spesh/Carrera and it had two normal brakes – some of the others had coaster brakes.

Definitely go 16″. A 14″ bike is a bit of a dead end. A good incremental wheel size is 4″ hence 12-16-20-24-26/700C is the route that we have taken.

Bought a Raleigh Kobo16 10 years ago and it’s still in service with friends. Solid, steel, alloy wheels, about £80 new. Anything cheaper will have significant cost cutting – check for caliper brakes, plastic levers and steel wheels. We rode that bike to school down the lanes from age 4 over distances of up to ten miles (it was pretty flat).

As already mentioned, Trek, Giant, Specialized etc have moved to quality (read Aluminum) lighter bikes, V brakes and metal levers. Just check for singlespeed, adjustable brake levers, size-appropriate bars and pedals and ability to fit mudguards and a small waterbottle – the kids love that. I think I also lopped about 1″ off each end of the bars. Fit is more important than weight. Oh and add a stand and make the kid use it, otherwise the bike gets dropped and you will be replacing grips.

However, the price hike in the last couple of years is a piss take. I think they are making the most of the MTB dad’s love in.

really?

how much would you pay for a singlespeed v-braked chromoly framed rigid hardtail with small-order bespoke parts like childs sized tektro brake levers, spokes and tyres?

The cost of materials is not the bulk of the price, but the production and building is and IMO there’s not much difference between a Cnoc and an SS rigid inbred in terms of comparable quality and spec.

I’d pay £30 for used quality steel, £50-70 used quality aluminium, £100-150 new provided I had other children to hand down to. I note that Islabikes and Trek Jet are about the same price, at £150.

EDIT That’s a lot more less than a singlespeed MTB

We have the ridgback MX14. Nice little bike, alloy frame so light. Bought off a keen cyclist from ebay so in good nick and I expect I will get the same back for it when I sell.
Recommended.