Just after some general wisdom here as our local independent bike shop shut.

We are looking at getting a bike for our 4 year old for Christmas (this said his height is more like a 5 year old) and wondered if anyone had any recommendations of where is better than not to buy? Guessing he will need to be fitted so will take him to see.

I am not after some replica of a bike I would like to ride and at this age see suspension of any form a waste of time and cash as he will probably only ride on pavement/fire track road.

Any pointer greatly appreciated.

Thanks

We

we just went for a frog. seemed like a good balance of weight/spec.

~30% cheaper than a islabike and only 10% heavier.

plus one of my LBS is a dealer for them.

I’ll be the first of many to say that Islabikes whilst expensive, hold their value incredibly well and are excellent bikes. You can buy them second hand and sell them again a year or so later for the same price, or at a negliable loss if you buy brand new.

Pinnacle. As good as Islabike, cheaper and with nicer paintjobs.

We went down the second hand Ridgeback/Spesh etc route, but youngest now has a Frog. Almost as light as an Isla but lower cost.

Hoy and Dawes are doing decent kids ranges. Isla still seem to be the aspirational brand but lots of choice now compared to even 8 years ago when my eldest started riding.

We’ve had Carrera, Islabike and Orbea.

Carerra’s are decent for the money but heavy and with pointless suspension.
Islabikes are great and light but expensive, although as said above do hold their value.
Orbea IMO look better and are not much heavier than the Isla.

Personally, if you can stomach the initial outlay I would go for an Islabike Cnoc 16 for a kid that age. I bought a second hand one off here and sold a year or so later for £20 less than I bought it for.

Frog, Pinnacle, Hoy, spesh & dawes are all good bikes as well though.

My boy is 5 in March and he starting to look a little big on his 14″ Islabike.

I have spent some time looking at the options and am current leaning toward the Commencal 20″ Ramones.

http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/ramones-20-yellow-2017-c2x19924977

I’ve got a 20″ Specialized Hotrock that’s in v. good nick, didn’t get used much before my weeds grew out of it.. Have been meaning to get it up for sale but haven’t got around to it yet.