My daughters Beinn 20 small is just over 2 years old now and I was looking at a new bike for her. We popped down to Islabikes to have a look but the one I wanted to get her (Creig 24) was just a tad too big.

All the Beinn’s have had component upgrades following feedback from customers so rather than get a new bike I bought a load of stuff to upgrade hers.

Tyres, riser bars, lighter stem, plastic flats (the current metal ones had really poor grip)Saddle, inline seatpost and slimmer grips.

You wouldn’t believe how much a few subtle changes have transformed her riding. There were reports that the older saddles were to wide for children’s hips so they went for the slimmer one, you could see the difference with this new one. The new bars give her a better riding position too.

If you do have one of these bikes and are thinking of changing it, consider the components upgrades first. Islabike reckon that by adding these components I could get another 18 months to 2 yrs out of this bike.

They now do a lighter crankset so may consider that in the new year.

Did something similar to a beinn 26er after about 18 months. Knobbly tyres, triple cranks, riser bars & paddle shifters. Did get another 18 months out of it. Well worth the investment in the long run.

Saved me £650 for a new bike. All that cost me about £80. 8)

Just assembled (popped it together) my m8’s daughters christmas present a Beinn 26, it is a lovely bit of kit, so well made. So glad I convinced them it was money well spent (they then researched it independently & agreed)

That looks lovely. I’m going to be ordering one in the same colour for my daughters 4th birthday in January.

Wish I had had a bike as cool as that when I was a kid….

Looks great! I do think people try to move kids onto bigger wheels sooner than they need to. If you can get the saddle height rights and a good bar position then they’re likely to enjoy the smaller bike more than a bigger one. I did it with a small Beinn 20 too – wide carbon bars made the biggest difference, and clipless pedals as the small wheels clatter about a bit. Be careful about setting the bars too high though. Obviously go with whatever she’s happy with, but higher bars don’t mean better control.

Was trying to find a pic to illustrate it. When you look at it it’s easy to say the bike is too small, but his position is great on it, so really it’s still the right size (if you see what I mean!)…

Watching the opposition by Jonathan Bateman, on Flickr

I helped at a wider MTB event at end of summer / start of autumn.

There were various parts to it but there were schools MTB races. At one point it was like Team Islabike went past, never seen so many bikes of the same kind! Ideal bike for that age range TBH..

My lads got same bike and I can’t get the grip next to the gripshift to stick in place. Tried hairspray, no use, it keeps working its way off. Any tips?

twoniner – Member

Saved me £650 for a new bike.

Buy her a dropper seatpost, then! 😉

Jonathan,

I take it that photo is of yours racing? I’m trying to find a race circuit for my lads to get into, and advice would be great.

Thanks.

Yes – been racing for a few years, but really only properly clicked for him this year (when he discovered that if he went fast he might do quite well!).

We’ve got a local club (Richardsons CC in Scarborough) that runs a Go-Ride badged summer MTB series, and they’ve now started doing a few more events over the winter too. He also did a CTC organised hill climb a few weeks ago. I’d say have a look at the British Cycling Go-Ride pages (http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-rideracing) and also have a search of their race database as a lot of mtb and cross races will have under 12 and Go-Ride categories. His first race was in under-12s at a cross race – he was three, it looked silly but he enjoyed it 😉

Saul and Greta looking small, Tod Cross, January 2009 by Jonathan Bateman, on Flickr

And if there are any local races it’s always worth just asking the organisers if they’re doing anything for kids. Some will be, and some might decide to if you just ask. You just got to be careful with expectations though as age catergories can be farily random and quite wide, depending on turnout.

@ Twoniner

I’m a bit confused – was the bike in its old incarnation too small or just a bit shonky? Have changes to the seatpost/bars/stem allowed it to fit a bigger child or just added a new lease of life? I’d expect most Islabikes that are bought new to be outgrown before they’re worn out.