Time for the youngest (6)to have a new bike.

She’s outgrown her Hello Kitty single speed and I want to get her something with gears and not too heavy.

I’ve ruled out Isla bikes due to the fact that £370 for a kids bike is ridiculous.

I’ve also ruled out Decathlon’s range as they look like they were designed by Stevie Wonder and weigh a ton.

Wiggin’s is also out as it only comes in a ‘blokey’ colour and recurve the forks look weird and not sure about the gear ratio’s.

Friend of ours Son has just got a Frog 52 which looks superb and he had no problem with the gears even though they’re thumb-shift.

Not sure if the 52 will be a bit small for my youngest as she’s quite tall for a 6 y/o.

The next size up is the Frog 55, with this going for £260 and weights 8.8kg – can’t seem to find a way of getting any discount on one though.

Have also seen this Cube 200 on CRC which is coming in at 10kg (just over 1kg heavier than the Frog’s). With British Cycling discount will be just about £195.

There’s also the Pinnacle Ash from Evans at £240 and 9.1kg.

Also found the Merida Matts Jr 20W which apparently comes in around £170 and 10kgs

I notice that some come with thumb shift and others with grip shift – how do small hands cope with either and which is best? I’m guessing the grip shift on a £200+ bike is going to be better than a cheaper bike?

Any other recommendations?

Used Isla, buy well and you will not lose cash.

I got a Saracen Spice for the kids, which has worked very well, and is not too heavy.

wiggles’s own brand 20″ bike looks not bad for the cash.

Orbea MX20, great little bike. We got the ‘Dirt’ version without suss forks, and have no complaints at all.

Saying that though we also had a 2nd hand Isla Cnoc 16 that I sold for £10 less than I bought it for!!

I echo the used Isla comment but be quick – prices will firm up for Christmas.

My oldest has used triggers on her MTB for a year or 2 now (she’s just turned 8) and likes them…but then takes seconds to adjust to the gripshifter on her used Isla bike

Used frog bikes are cheaper on ebay than Isla..

@ads678 the Orbea looks good. What’s the weight like on it?

Go for the lightest you can afford at that age 1kg is about 5% of there body weight. The equivalent of adding 6kg to your bike. But it depends on what you want to do with them is it just to ride around the nieghbourhood or are you wanting to go all day adventures of varied terrain.

My sons came with a grip shift that he could not use. So changed to a thumb shift which he can when he remembers he has gears.

Would add the hoy to your list. More expensive than the frog but lighter

She wants to do some longer rides with me over the Chase – so ideally something that’ll cope with fire roads and rutted/rooty paths.

I don;t know the actual weight, i’ve never weighed it but it’s not as light as the Isla but it’s certainly not a heavy kids bike. Perfectly acceptable weight IMO. I’ll see if I can get a weight on it tonight……

Frogs are good.. You get 2 sets of tyres (urban and off road), mud guards, bell and reflectors.. Nice quality too

My Daughter has the Cube you picture above and came off an Islabikes 20 small which went to her brother. It is a lovely bike and the weight has made little difference. Its still not a heavy bike.

She was unable to use the gripshift on the Isla but on the Cube it is much lighter She much prefers riding on the Cube.

Can highly recommend.

Hoy bikes are as light as Islabikes and the 20″ Bonaly is £100 cheaper than a Beinn, weighing exactly the same (8kg). Just got one for my son for Christmas (organised, for a change…) and it looks nice, better looking bike than the Beinn in my opinion. Doesn’t have gripshift but the trigger shifters look very easy to use and fairly decent quality.

Pinnacle ash here, very happy.

Lovely paint job
Long wheelbase for stability
Mudguard mounts and rack mounts
Bottle cage bosses
Crud catcher bosses
Chunky tyres for good rolling over rough trails
STI shifter hasn’t been a problem for us
Weight is good and would probably be as light as Isla bike if we fit those skinny ass tyres
Standover also better than most.

Just looking into this myself.

Top of the list so far is trek Superfly 20, 8.1kg and has proper MTB sized tyres, proper bars etc (only issue with it are cranks that are a bit long)

Next is the specialized hotrock street (lighter than the normal version as has rigid forks) just needs MTB tyres.

He’s on a frog 48 at the moment, but want more of a proper mountain bike as he gets more adventurous.

Isla have caveats that say the bikes are only for “light off road use” or something like that so not brilliant if he snaps it in half and hurts himself trying a drop…

She wants to do some longer rides with me over the Chase – so ideally something that’ll cope with fire roads and rutted/rooty paths.

.

Mine has the frog 52 and my sons has done a mix of swinly blue/red, 15 mile wiggle event over the South Downs and a 25 mile trip across Denmark on his so would say the frog would happily Cope with longer routes as well as ruts and roots. I would say make sure your gear cables are greased and running smoothly as little hands feel the resistance of imperfections in the cables a lot more than yours will.

As per Blakec above. Our son is just outgrowing his frog 52 at 7 and a half. It’s life has been extended with a longer stem off classifieds here. One of his friends has a 55 and if she can manage it I would go for the larger one. My son came from a smaller 16″ bike that he’d seriously outgrown hence the 52.

His has been round Queen Elizabeth park blue trail more times than I can count as well as up and down proper hills in the South Downs. 15+miles and 1000ft+ of climbing is be a reasonably normal ride for him on it in decent weather.

I’m still dithering over its replacement at the moment.