[Closed] £520 to save about 700g

Indeed. I've commented 🙂

Less than £1 per gram. That's pretty good value as weight weenie goes!

Ridiculous! Imagine how you'd feel the first time they ride into the garden and just let it drop to the floor!!

Ridiculous! Imagine how you'd feel the first time they ride into the garden and just let it drop to the floor!!

Too right - you'd need to protect those Islabike resale values! 😀

I'm sure they're lovely folk, but I've never been massively impressed with Islabikes, they're hugely overpriced for what they are.

I remember my last kids bike before getting a grown up one (infact I grew so quickly I think I went from 24" wheels to a 21" frame!).

Diamond Back, 4130 frame and forks, shimano group-set of some description, relatively light. But even with inflation it wasn't £1500!

I can see why it's £1500, but it seems a lot of ££££ for a bike that at 12-13 they'll outgrow in a matter of months.

Sailing has the right idea, most 'youth' classes are either older and un-cool (Mirror), or roto-moulded plastic (RS Tera/Feva) with cheap sails and hulls. I guess Isla bikes are for mountainbikers who if they sailed would buy their kids a 29er (the boat, not the bikes).

Give 'em a BMX and send them to the skatepark. They might actually learn how to ride a bike properly, and you can spend the day at home drinking beer and mowing the lawn.

IMO, islabikes are ok, but as above, nothing special. I think people only really buy them because they are light and resale value.

Surely the resale value will start to drop as more come on the market and more decent competitors come to the market.

We had a Cnoc 16 but my kids are now on a 20" orbea and a 24" self build and I honestly can't see me ever buying another Islabike. I can build as good if not better for less, and can always get a frame powder coated the kids favorite colour for £50.

ads678 - Member

IMO, islabikes are ok, but as above, nothing special.

Lots of people have jumped on the same market since, so it's not surprising that they have sought to differentiate themselves again.

The bikes look ace. They cost what they cost. I can't afford, but then the regular Islabikes have served very well indeed.

[i]I can see why it's £1500, but it seems a lot of ££££ for a bike that at 12-13 they'll outgrow in a matter of months.[/i]

IME my 3 kids didn't grow considerably until they hit 16, so the same bike was ridden a long time. Also consider buying a 26" one and putting 24" wheels in.

Give 'em a BMX and send them to the skatepark. They might actually learn how to ride a bike properly, and you can spend the day at home drinking beer and mowing the lawn.

🙂 Another pearl of wisdom from DTF.

In my onion Islabikes area more aimed at cycling parents rather than kids. All power to them.

The new ones though eyewateringly expensive do look great and have great attention to detail.

there is another brand selling kids bikes with carbon loveliness, I can't remember the brand - they sell them at One Planet adventure in Llandegla.

When they first arrived, they were definitely special. Nothing was even close in terms of child-friendliness and weight.

Agree to some extent, they were deffinitley better than the rest, but some were close. The Carerra blast/luna was heavier and had silly suss forks but was a very good kids bike with similar parts. We had a 16" blast and it was great.

Lot bigger market now though. And that's got to start to affect resale at some point.

Don't get me wrong I'm not knocking Islabikes, or people who want to buy them. Who am I to tell people how to spend their money. I just don't really see the point of the 16" & 20" bikes at those prices. Just buy a normal one and stick a 20" carbon fork from Exotic and some disc brake on it and save your self £500!!

Just recently been looking at 24" wheel bikes for my daughter and the weights do vary significantly...

Islabike Beinn 24 9kg
Frog bike 62 9.2kg
Pinnacle Aspen 24 10.1kg
Carrera Blast 24 16kg*

*Only one with suspension forks and triple on that list

In the end she got a Giant XTC 24 with suspension forks and triple, which I think/feel comes in the middle ground, but no published weight and my scales are not giving consistent readings. It certainly lighter than a Blast.

IME my 3 kids didn't grow considerably until they hit 16, so the same bike was ridden a long time. Also consider buying a 26" one and putting 24" wheels in.

Where as my eldest got just over a year out of her's but luckily we bought it secondhand. The youngest isn't growing so fast she has a Frog as she didn't want her sister's old bike. I must move on the Isla which I'd get more than I paid for it but wouldn't do that as it was mate's rates.

£520 to save about 700g

A lot more difference than that in price between Santa Cruz C and CC frames which saves ~300g IIRC.

Another pearl of wisdom from DTF

😀

Take Harry Main for example. Shredding Rampworx before he could walk. He's turned out alright 😉

[img] [/img]

Trying to do a self-build 26in wheeled bike for my 10yo son who is 139cm with 63cm inside leg, but can't find short cranks. Where do you self-builders find your short cranks?

My son says they've got a stupid name - "Why do they have "Bikes" as part of the name? That means you say 'have you got an Islabikes bike?'" He's got a point. 🙂

Almost worth having a kid for. Anyone want getting up the duff?

Take Harry Main for example.

My 4yo had similar coverage the other day having been let loose with a pack of Avengers tattoos.

Cakefest - see previous topics on suntour xct Jr 152mm cranks, about 20quid from amazon and can be converted to single ring.

I had a build thread on my daughters myka a few months back...

I reckon that Islabikes bikes parents were a bit upset that Islabikes bikes were so common, so Islabikes responded with the Islabikes Pro (for Professional Use Only) bikes.

Be interested to see now the second hand value holds up. What would a £1500 adult bike go for after 12 months?

double post

Good question, Harry.

Had a quick peek in the Classifieds, and, 1st post was this.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-2016-genesis-tarn-275-medium
£1200 new, asking £750.

Only a few months old, and looks in pretty good nick.

Another indication,
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/2015-brand-new-specialized-stumpjumper-carbon-evo-650b-medium-frame-1250-1253
Brand new, £2500 frame, being sold for £1250

So, it would be pretty fair to think that a £1500 bike, used for a couple of years, would sell for around £700-800.

Yep. Dropping 30ish% of £300 isn't a problem. 30ish% of £1500 however...

Could you do this on it?

Personally I went for a (secondhand) islabike 20 (small) as it was the only geared 20" wheeled bike with a standover height low enough for my 5 year old. The frogs looked good and would be better value new but my girl would need to grow 6cm to get on it comfortably. Once you have been riding a bit I guess you could cope with a too large bike but not when you are starting out.