As many have said – Isla really do hold their value making cost to won very low – we have bought 14,16,20 and now 24 in versions – all secondhand (and almost mint) and have put 2 boys through all up to the 24in Beinn – and sold on each for a small loss. SIngletrack – trail centres, forest trails – strathpuffer route – winter and summer. Can’t ask for much more for riding from age 3 to 9 so far.
I am sure the frog (and others) are cracking bikes but resale will be more limted as very few know their quality (unlike Isla).
Weightwise – Isla are great and the quality of components is very good.
Headsets and Bottom brackets are standard sizes – have replace BB on only one – and pedal bearings on another – also put a riser bar (cut it down a bit for length) and longer stems – again ALL standard – some BS coming from LBS I am afraid.
Mudguards are on and off in 10 mins for CX races here then school next day
😉

Just to throw another one in. The ridgeback mx16 is a great bike too. Can be picked up very reasonably second hand. My lad loves his.

Just to throw another one in. The ridgeback mx16 is a great bike too. Can be picked up very reasonably second hand. My lad loves his.

This is in danger of turning in a proud-parent-links-to-photo-of-child-riding thread. In which case I’m in! 😀

Micro_likes-food pedalling his Cnoc 16 at the local X race this December. He wasn’t quite 5. I can’t compare it to Frog’s I’m afraid but would say that if you did get a Cnoc you wouldn’t regret it. He’s now on a Beinn 20 small, but only because he kept winding the gear out on the Cnoc 16 and almost falling off as his cadence went atomic!

Supurb
they’re kinda the next notch up from Isla/Frog, bloody lovely.

Next notch up the scales maybe. 9.7kg…

kinnnel

We just bought a 20″ frog.
From the lbs because we can try for size, the guys in there are great (fantastic to my son too, treated him like a proper grown up customer) and its a brilliant local business from a retail customers perspective.
It’s lighter than the 16″ wheels saracen it has replaced despite an extra seven gears.

our family have gone through a rothan, cnoc 14, cnoc 16 and a beinn 20. The eldest is now on an Orbea Team 24 that I picked up 2nd hand for a bargain but he’s constantly telling me he wished I’d got him another Isla as his little brother is faster than he is. The eldest had a crappy 20″ apollo for a couple of months while we were waiting for his birthday and his brother on the Cnoc16 could easily leave him behind, which in turn meant the eldest wasn’t as keen to go out as before, so weight is something that I shouldn’t be overlooked.

Our boys were managing gentle/flat 5 – 10k rides on the CNOC 16 with no problems. We have a friend with a Frog which as has been said seems nicely built but I’ve no personal experience with them

Micro_likes-food pedalling his Cnoc 16 at the local X race

How did you find a cx race that took under fives??

Go Ride.
Search the British Cycling calendar.

Depending on the child a lot of them are aimed more 6-8 and are too long for under 6s.

There are some shorter events though.
First round of the Scarborough series this weekend which is good for U6s as single short laps or multiple for the older groups.

Thanks Tom, I think I’ll have to wait until he’s 6

U6 can race in U8 if there is no U6 (not sure it’s an official class really) but a lot of the events I look at are 15minutes which is beyond their ability/interest.
3 minutes round a grass based course in 3 different races works well.

Anyone got any experience or thoughts on how the new Genesis kids bikes compare to Islabikes/frog?

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/youth/mountain-/core-24

BillOdie – I just bought my son the Genesis Core 24 for Christmas.

Great bike with proper Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and a 1 x 9 drivetrain.

I looked at the Frogs as my LBS sell them too. TBH I went for the Genesis without seeing one in the flesh but it was the discs and drivetrain that sold it for me.

When I picked the bike up we compared it to the equivalent sized Frog and the Frog was a bit lighter at the front end but also a lot lower.

This years model also comes with a rigid fork as in your link but the geometry will take a suspension fork. There are a couple of lightweight air forks on the market for 24″ wheel and can be bought from Germany for less than £150 new.

I have just bought him some shortened Sram cranks from the USA which will then get a narrow wide chainring fitted. Probably a 32 as it currently has a 34.

Whether I put my spare 10 speed XT kit on it is another matter. A set of carbon bars and seat post will see a chink of weight knocked off too but I must try not to get carried away! It’s the bike that I never had when I was his age.

It’s genuinely a great bike and he has done 10+ mile rides over Cannock with ease.