My son’s outgrown his balance bike in terms of both size and skills. He’s 3.5 but more like a 5yr old size-wise and can do the balancing thing well enough to progress to pedals.

Islabikes’ site suggests a Cnoc16 or even small Bein20 ( he’s 110cm tall and 48 cm inside leg measured to the ground) so the cnoc16 is one obvious option as is the similarly sized and priced Spesh Hot Rock.

Anyone care to comment based on experience on size or other bike suggestions?

thanks all

Not looked into the Hot Rock but I have a Cnoc 16 for my 4.5 yr old and it’s excellent. Longer wheelbase and bigger wheels compared to the Cnoc14 mean it’s more stable and a better ride, so if he fits it get the 16.

yeah, cnoc14 is just too small and the bein20 seems ott as he definitely doesn’t need gears yet.

thanks for the reply.

110cm / 48cm inside leg & he’s only 3.5…!!!

Just measured my eldest (6yrs), he’s 118cm / 46cm inside leg, he’s mid way through his Beinn 20 small. I’d say your lad has already outgrown a Cnoc16.
Whats his reach like…? I had to put the saddle right forward on my lads Beinn 20 at first. Its quite a long(ish) top tube.

Funny, I was looking at a replacement for my son’s hotrock 12 today. He’ll be 4 in August. I’m thinking, I’d like him to have another Hotrock. Islabikes seem to hold their value well, so I might struggle to get one for £50/60 (which is what I’ll spend – Yeah, I know I’ll probably get it back, but its the outlay).

For a lowish budget Ridgeback kids bikes are good. I got a little used MX16 for my eldest for around £50. She used it for a couple of years and then passed it onto her sister. It then went to a friend’s son.

Size and fit is everything. Gears don’t matter either way – they use them when they’re ready. Bigger wheels ride better – but not as better as the right size of bike. Elder son went Rothan, Cnoc14, Beinn20Small but the big issue was whether he felt comfortable on the bike – if he did he was happier on the bike and rode more and rode better. Don’t know if that helps.

PS his Beinn20 currently has a 40mm Husslefelt and an in line BMX seatpost to get the right reach.

PPS Clubber I’ve just noticed it’s you. Three and a half you say – well if your son takes after you I’d buy the 29er now.

🙂 I think he’s going to make me look short by the time he’s fully grown… (just thought though, he is more like 3 2/3 now…)

I did wonder if he’d outgrown the cnoc16 already. I guess my main concern with getting a bike he’ll ‘grow into’ (eg the Beinn 20 small) is that he loves riding offroad (good lad 🙂 ) and I don’t want to put him off that by getting him a bike that’s too big for him to be able to handle properly and put him off when the inevitable crashes happen. oh that and the fact that Mrs clubber will probably consider the £270 price of the Beinn too much.

incidentally on that point, are there kid’s knee pads available? His crying when he came off yesterday would have woken the dead…

I saw another boy out on a ridgeback yesterday and he seemed to be doing well. how heavy are they?

My son wears my 661 elbow/forearm pads as knee/shin pads – as I don’t wear them on the kind of rides we do together that saved a few quid (or would have if I hadn’t bought kids pads first – they were rubbish and wouldn’t stay in place).

Swapping the Beinn’s 60mm stem for a 40mm required a couple of shims to get a stem at a reasonable price (1″ steerer and bars) – and it’s a stem I might use myself later.

I also swapped the layback post for an inline one – standard BMX sized post.

In total that took about 1.5 to 2″ off the reach – which is like taking 4″ off my bike’s reach. Made a big difference to how stable he was.

As he grows the original bits will go back on.

Islabike’s size charts are pretty good for height – it was just the reach that needed playing with.

Where are you based Clubber ?
If your near Cannock Chase your welcome to try my lads Beinn.
Islabikes have an open day in March. A really great day, plenty of stuff going on & a nice safe area for kids to try out the bikes. My lads came on loads seeing all the other kids riding around. Oh, & a great part of the world. Ludlow is well worth a visit, the castle is good.

There is a bycicle speedway shop in Wolverhampton, who do what is basically a zero length & rise stem for a 1″ steerer. Common on speedway bikes apparently. Was about £15 IIRC.

My Son had a 16 Spec Hotrock which he out grew.

It was replaced my a Islabikes Beinn 20.

The Beinn 20 is so much lighter, even though it a size bigger

Hotrock has coaster brake which was good as his hands were too small to pull on a lever very well.

thanks takisawa but I’m in Bristol.

The Islabikes open day sounds good though. hmmm….

Don’t dismiss the 20″ Carrera (Blast???) from Halfords. It’s a decent bike. Not much heavier than the Beinn, & that’s with a suspension fork. Ok, its only a Suntour but it seems to work well enough. I had a good look at one for the Wifes friend. I’d have happily get my lad one had I not found a nice second hand Beinn.

Halford seem to suggest the 16″ version of the carerra for his size. It does look quite good though. might have to go and have a look in store then. Thanks for the heads up.

bump for the weekday crowd. ta 😉

I’ve just bought my little ‘un (4 year old) a Hotrock 16″. The frame has a curved toptube so it has a very low standover height. She graduated straight onto it from her Islabike Rothan

My oldest (7 year old) has the Carrera Luna 20″ and they’re a fantastic bike. An awful lot of bike for the money. Decent suntour fork and a SRAM drivechain. She got the hang of the twist-grip gears in no time. They do a 16″ Luna (or blast) too. Actually… I’ve just had a look and they’re got them on offer. A steal at this price

Carrera Blast

What is the 20″ suntour fork? I’ve been toying with the idea of sticking suspension on the Beinn as our son gets older.

The downside to Islabikes is the lack of actual bikes to sit on unless you are near the factory.

Since my lad was huge for his age it was a concern. Spesh Hotrocks have been great for him, he moved from one to the next as he’s got bigger. There’s always a Spesh dealer with a mile of where you are in the country. When he slings a leg over one it’s obvious what fits.

He is 8 now and on a 13.5 Hardrock (26″ wheel) which is great for him. I’d be able to get soemthing back for his old Spesh’s except the little un’s have claimed them.

Yeah, I’m interested in that Carrera – if the fork actually works then it really looks like it might be spot on, particularly for the mtb aspect of it.

Except that it’s red and my son wants a blue bike… 🙂

As above, fit is king with kids’ bikes. My eldest went from a Cnoc16 @ 3 to a Spesh Hotrock 20 @ age 5. Get yourself down to the Spesh concept store on Park Street and let him have a go on the 16 and 20 bikes to see which works best?

@igm – if the Suntour fork is the same as the one on my son’s Hotrock 20, it’s a Suntour XCT-JR20

So is it any good – eg does it actually work as a sus fork or is it effectively just a heavier rigid fork?

Was planning to go to the Spesh store on Friday to check them out. The thing that puts me off the Hotrock 16 is that it’s got a kick back brake which doesn’t sound great for offroad.

it’s a very basic elastomer fork – oversprung for littlies IMO. Does break in after a while and performance improves if you lube the stanchions.

It’s a bit like a RS Judy or RST fork from 1995

LOL – ok, well useable then – I remember the revelation that fitting Mag 10s with a huge 43mm travel to my Marin was in 1995 🙂

totally! they’re better than nowt and not that heavy – although my son does point out that he can see my forks working and his don’t seem to move…
They’re good enough to take the sting out of the trail – perfect for local Brizzle trails

He’s currently running 2″ tyres (equivalent to fat bike at his size and weight) but I’ll check that fork out. Thanks