We bought my daughter an islabike cnoc 16 for her birthday on sat. Islabike have let us down, in that they promised stabilisers would be delivered at same time but on chasing today now say they have no stock till end of April. I have an upset girl with no bike to ride (she did not get on with her previous balance bike and lacks confidence on two wheels, so needs to go stabiliser route). Does anyone have a spare pair of these in their garage I could buy (see also duplicate post in wanted section of forum)?

Your LBS should be able to sort you out.
Hope you get sorted.

These are an option – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Children-s-Bicycle-Stabilisers-12-18-Universal-Training-Wheels-Easy-Fit-Bike-/311055420888

Plenty of others on ebay

Plenty of universal fit options around (as above).
Learning to balance is the key though and stabilisers hinder this.

How old is your daughter? If she is ready for 16″ wheels, she is ready to ride without stabilizers.

Outside pedal down and scoot along a kerb with the inside foot. Reverse. Repeat. Then steer into the fall as you walk fast next to her with a hand on he bars. Then lightly support the saddle as she pedals.

About an hour’s worth of teaching broken down into six lessons. Done this many times and never needed stabilizers on a 16″ bike.

she did not get on with her previous balance bike and lacks confidence on two wheels, so needs to go stabiliser route

sorry to say this but she needs to get back on her balance bike! Stabilisers teach them nothing useful. In fact they are worse than this, as the child has to un-learn the steering from stabilisers in order to learn the proper balance steering. I use stabilisers as a good example of bad design, in my lectures, as they are a cultural reality with no benefit.

Why doesn’t she like her balance bike? Is it a decent one?

My little girl made the change from a 12″ balance bike to a 16″ pedal bike at 5 years old, which felt a little late before the change – but on reflection was ideal as she got the hang of pedals right away.

My 2.5-year-old boy inherited the 12″ balance bike and it was clear that it was too big for him. Even though I think it will only have a useful life of 6 months or so, the even smaller Puky I bought him has made a world of difference to his confidence and enjoyment.

The message being: keep it small and keep them happy!

Can’t you just take the pedals off and Bb out? I wouldn’t go stabilisers, just use it as a balance bike.

Halfords will sell you stabilisers but I agree with the others. Turn it into a balance bike or teach her to ride. Stabilisers will not help her learn to balance.

I think I might have a set of Isla ones in the garage. I know you’re not meant to – but the first one had them on when she got her Cnoc 16. I am pretty sure the bike went to the cousins but the stabilisers are still in the garage.

I’ll check tonight if you still need them.

I agree with the general principles of what others are saying but the fact that my youngest had stabilisers was key to getting her on the bike at all. As soon as she was on and joining in with her mates around the local fields she then wanted rid of them as her mates had progressed without them – peer pressure! That wouldn’t have happened without stabilisers – not all kids of cyclists will naturally love cycling.

Barney…
I may have some redundant stabilisers off a 16″ wheels bike in the workshop at home. Both mine are off them. If euain above can’t help then give me a shout.

Hi all,
Thanks for posts. Euain – am still looking for stabilisers if you have them.

Barney

Hi Barney,

I’ve found them in the garage. They are slightly used but perfectly serviceable.

They’re yours for £10 posted.

Edit – send me a mail if you want – should be in my profile.

Euain

Thanks Euain – I’ll mail you

Barney

anywear near Manchester?

I also have a set if you need them

I often how all these people saying stabalisers are useless,learnt to ride a bike.

My daughter hated her balance bike but liked riding her bike with stabalisers. Once she got.to a point where I wanted her to loose the stabaliser I just took a spanner to the park with me and took them off for a bit then let her put them back on again when she’d had enough. Didn’t take long till they were off completely.

As long as the kids are happy the parents are happy!

We never needed stabilisers, I refused to let him have them on as he’d had a good year+ on a balance bike so I perceived. Took a day max!

I told him to treat it as a balance bike- then pedal after he’d got his head round that bit.

But if the kids don’t like balance bikes, when you say treat it like a balance bike they’ll walk away from it.
Some kids don’t get on with balance bikes. My two were completely different in that respect.

My daughter inherited a bike with stabilisers off a friend. We upgraded to an Isla but by that time she was used to them and wanted stabilisers – I’d rather she’s on a bike with stabilisers than refusing to go on her bike without.

The second, we planned a bit better and he was scooting about on a balance bike for a few months and then onto the cnoc 16 without stabilisers.

Both were happy cycling into nursery and love the blue route at Glenlivet – so I’d say the end result is OK in both cases :).

Stabilisers have now arrived and I have a happy 4 yr old riding up and down the street – thanks Euain. I’d have preferred to have gone the balance bike route, but she did not take to her old balance bike despite having it for 18 months. I think she would not got on the new bike at all had I persisted without stabilisers – I guess different kids learn in different ways.

Hi mst – Do you still have a set of CNOC 16 stabilisers you might be willing to sell? Im in a very similar situation to the OP. Or anyone else who may have set they might be willing to sell?

They look very similar to some of the ones Spesh supply with there kids bikes. But not sure if they sell them on there own