Need to get the next size up bike for my boy. He's currently got a 16" specialized hotrock with the backpedal rear brake.
I'm after a 20" wheeled, two hand operated brakes, rigid forked, lightweight bike to fit a 6 year old boy with 24" inseam. The Cube Team Kid 200's look good, the islabikes have a good reputation, any other brands worth looking at?
Felt do a good cheap 20'' kids bike. Check out the Evans sale pages.
I'd recommend this
Really good spec, compared with suitable equivalents from the 'big' manufacturers', including a decent SRAM drivechain, Suntour SR forks that are preoperly damped and actually work. Proper kids sized compnents. Great frame geometry for the little un that is pretty light too. Its a 'proper' bike at a bit more than bike-shaped-object money.
My daughters got the somewhat pinker version and she loves it. I paid more than this for it. They're on offer at the moment and a bargain at that price. Highly recommended
Isla.. beinn 20 - can't fault the one we got.
Binners, any idea how heavy it is? I'd thought that I'd avoid suspension forks due to the extra weight, but that seems good value.
Its not too heavy at all. I think you'd be in a similar ball park with any similar bike. Its a light alloy frame, not made of pig iron like some at that price point. My 7 year old managed an epic 16 miles on hers last month. So she certainly wasn't struggling with the weight
I'd say its worth the slight extra weight of the suspension fork as its not some gimmicky add-on, they really are a decent set of forks. Takes the edge off her constantly bumping up and down kerbs.
Like I said: bargain at that price. Think I paid £230 for hers
Merida bikes seem to have a good range, my lad's on a dakar 16" at the moment and has all of what your looking for, albeit smaller wheels - there is a 20" version of it out there...
The Speccy Hotrock @ £250 RRP is my next port of call, suss forks but once they're ready for 20" wheels they'll already be badgering you about shocks and no amount of patient explanation is going to cut it with a truculent 6 year old 
Plus the Speccy looks mint, which is important - they like the bike, they ride it more.
Islabikes Beinn 20 Large is spot on.
I would prefer a slightly lower gear range, but apparently you run into problems with mech length and/or it's hard to find child's chainsets smaller.
They hold their value incredibly well - look at past auctions on ebay for examples.
+1 for Islabikes; had the young 'un out on his beinn 20 last night; though the poor lad had his first OOTB experience and some gravel rash ....
+1 for Isla Bikes. They are worth the extra up front because resale value is so good
+1 on the Spesh Hotrock. Thankfully didn't pay RRP though!
+1 for the Spesh Hotrock.
Wish I had something that cool when I was 6.
Suntour SR forks that are preoperly damped
Uh..huh!! 
Have yours been a bit bouncy when you've been hucking off your rabbit hutch then GW? Maybe they need a service. Or you need to maybe stop being so, you know, like TOTALLY AWESOME dude!
Binners - before you go making a tit of yourself talking even more shite, having another tantrum or attempting to insult me I may actually have had a set of Suntour XCTs apart 
FWIW they are a heavy, basic fork with a simple coil spring and no lubricating oil never mind damping oil, the only "damping" you can feel is a combination of the weak spring and friction from the basic slider/seal assembly.
But as you say, they do work fairly well for 7yr old girls
so if they work, what's your point caller?
Point is you were talking complete and utter shite.
In that case I defer to your vastly superior knowledge of budget 20" suspension fork construction. The absence of detailed knowledge on subjects such as this are a constant source of disappointment to pretty much everyone who knows me
you're welcome
I bagged an old Giant for £30 off ebay. It is in great condition has rigid forks and decent enough gears, but it weighs a ton compared to her old Ridgeback.
At school theother day I picked up an Islabike Benin 20 Large and instantly had bike envy. It must be 8 pounds lighter!
My daughter likes cycling and I love seeing her ride and have fun and I'm seriously thinking that she deserves an upgrade to the Islabike.
I would consider a Specialized Rockhopper but they are heavier and I don't see the point of such a basic ineffective suspension fork. Perhaps when she gets the next bike up and was really into mtb then yes.
Ridgeback make decent bikes and are top quality.
Its great to have the option of buying British and that they are the pick of the bunch.
boxelder - MemberIsla.. beinn 20 - can't fault the one we got.
Likewise ,plus they do a buy back scheme.
I bought my lad one of those Carreras last year and it's been spot on. Gear need a bit of a tweak but otherwise nothing to report. We've regularly done 10 mile plus rides and he did the best part of a day with me at Swinley at Easter , so no weight or fork issues.I think you get a bit more off if you pay online.
Can anyone weight their Carrera? It's a 25 mile trip to the local halfords, so don't want to waste a trip. His current bike is 9kg, and the halfords site says it might weigh 14.5 kg which is a bit high.
Cheers
Beinn 20 is excellent. My twins had 2 of the older versions that fell between the small/large they now do, and they lasted really well. Still got one for sale actually, plus a 24 that my daughter has grown out of. Boys are now on Beinn 26's...
Just had a do weighing the bike had to improvise with bathroom scale and a length of floorboard. All in Carrera was 11.1kg. I also weighed my daughters Hotrock 20" using the same method and it was 13.1kg.
Hotrock felt heavier soon as I picked it up but its a few years older and is well built.
Hope that helps.
My son had a 14" isla bike.replaced it with the carrera mentioned above and lifting them both up to the weight difference was not huge. TBH the welds in the carrera are better than the isla bike. Some of the components aren't as good and QR wheels would be good but the price difference isn't warranted in my opinion.
Get one you won't be disappointed.
This Haro I got my boy after a recommendation on here, is brilliant. I'd ordered a Viper from CRC, but they got the order wrong, so needed something else quick.
That was 2 years ago and he's still hammering it now. Great bike. Was about £150
I bought Cube for my son, it's ok after few of updates but not great. I never thought I would write this but it really could use slacker headangle... 
My brother has one of these
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-XTC-1-Jr-20w-2011-Kids-Bike_39493.htm
Really good quality and its quite light too but was expensive for a kits bike.
Thanks lalazar, I think I'll save a few quid and get that Carrera, I'm sure there's a few old bits in the shed that can lighten that build a bit.
Obviously it's a cost consideration (and there's definitely an Islabike premium), but it's worth pointing out that an Islabike Beinn is sub-9kg (listed weight anyway), which was the decisive factor for me. I'd definitely recommend them, but there's a pile of good value bikes to be had out there, especially if you're prepare to "customise" a bit to cut weight, which is the main cost-based factor it seems.
They definitely don't need sus fork at the age, it's just a heavy thing that'll stop working at some point. Rigid fork with fat(ish) tyres being rocked over all sort of lumpy stuff here with no problems...
Saul on one of about 100 laps of the Dalby pump track this morning by Jonathan Bateman, on Flickr
+1 for the Carrera. Lots of bang for the buck. Has been flawless.
Had I not picked up a Beinn 20 (small) for £130, I'd have defineteley gone for the Carrera blast & ditched the sus fork. I picked a Carrera Blast up in Halfords last night (after reading this), & I'd say there was no more than a pound difference between my lads Beinn & the Carrera. I've put some Michellin Diabolo tyres on my lads, that are a good compromise in terms of tread, & were only £8 each from CRC.
That Carrera looks a bargain. I had a Trek MT60 that was great, one of the first Aluminium framed bikes and very adjustable, but more money.
Modern smaller MTB's have come a long way over the past ten years, I don't think you can go wrong with any to be honest, Apollo aside.
You must log in to post.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
