Always been a big advocate of Islabikes but wondering what other options there are out there for 5 yr olds.

Trek MT60. Very adjustable (bars and cranks). Not too heavy. Good off-road. We had one and it was still rideable by Son1 at 10yo.

Specialized Hot Rock, Kona Makena, Scott Scale Jr.

All the big companies offer good quality AL framed bikes now. There are some cheaper good bikes from Ridgeway and Giant too. Look for adjustable metal brake levers, gripshift and an Al frame. Front suspension is de rigueur, but superfluous. Colour is probably the biggest factor for a 5yo. White and Silver is asexual so has a wider appeal 😉

I’ve taught children to ride Swinley singletrack on many of the above.

Islabikes rightly have their fans. But they are a niche player with good product diversification. If I was looking again, I’d go for a used Trek MT-60 for one child, new if handing down.

I tried to look at everything when I was buying at this stage a couple of years ago. There are quite a lote of nice bikes out there now (as said ^^^) – Spec, Cube, Scott etc all produce good stuff, but there was one thing that I couldn’t stop comparing them on, and that was weight. Islabike’s small Beinn 20 is under 9kg (8.8 quoted), everything esle I could find was a good way over 10kg, (eg the Cube http://www.cube.eu/en/kids/kid-200/kid-200-boy-team/ which is 10.5kg quoted) and a good bit more than that for some with sus forks.

That said if I was looking now I’d be sorely tempted by the latest Scott Scale JR 20 – it looks lovely. Heavier than the Islabike, but with sus and front mech that can explain that away a bit:

Lil shredder bikes look awesome!

It really depends what sort of riding the bike will be used for. If its just for paths and stuff then ilsa bikes probably. If the bike is likely to get some abuse then the scott voltage and the spesh are probably the best. The suspension on the trek and the kona was not as good as on the hotrock when I was looking.

My 6 year-old girl has just cracked it (starting off, turning, braking, stopping) on her Specialized Hotrock, which I picked up 2nd hand for about 40 quid. It’s solid as a rock, not too heavy, and she likes it cos’ I told her it’s a mountain bike like mine.

It’ll only be good for another 6 months or so though, as its got small wheels.

Im a big fan of the Scott Scale 24, great bike, tough, looks the part and If you want you kid to race then its the bike to have really easy to upgrade. Just so happens Ive got one for sale in the ‘For Sale’ tab if you fancy it.. 😉