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Hi,
Can we talk about Islabikes please. I want to get my daughter her first pedal bike for Christmas. I measured her last night and her inner leg size is 39cm and her height is 101cm.
According to the Islabike website, the minimum inner leg size for the Cnoc 14" Small is 34cm, maximum 42cm. Minimum height is 92cm.
The minimum inner leg size for the Cnoc 14" Large is 38cm, maximum 48cm. Minimum height is 98cm.
As you can see, she is just above the minimum measurements for the Large.
Which bike would be better for her - 14" small or large? I ideally want to get her a bike that will last her a little while (I don't want to have to buy a new bigger bike in a few months' time), but at the same time I worry that the Large will mean that she will be unable to put both feet on the floor comfortably, which I think is vital when teaching a child how to ride a pedal bike.
Does anyone have any experience of their child using the Large, who had just met the minimum measurements? How far off the ground was their feet?
Thank you.
I had the same dilemma when I bought my daughter's first pedal bike. Go big would be my advice! She'll be fine.
Yep - go big. especially if she already meets the sizing recommendation. You can always take the pedals off at the beginning so she can use as a balance bike to get comfortable. If she already used to a balance bike she'll be straight on it.
Large will be better. Mine grew out of theirs very quickly - fortunately Islabikes hold their value well. Keep the box if you can..
RAther than teahc kids to put both feet flat, try teaching them to lean the bike to one side and have one foot on the floor - just like you ride a bike. Once they get the hang of this it means the saddle can be the right height for pedalling, and they can go on much longer rides. My kids managed this from 3 (on Islabikes), so not that hard.
Get a CNOC16.
I got the boy one when he was around the same measurements as your daughter. He was coming from an Isla Rothan so for the first few months he didn't have the pedals on anyway as he just used it as an upsized balance bike.
If you're open to secondhand the pre-owned islabikes group on Facebook is excellent for getting hold of one below the frankly ludicrous new prices. It was a few years ago now but I got the 16 for £140 and sold it for £100 a couple of years later.
I would definately go for CNOC16, having had over the years probably every Islabike size for Grandchildren & Adult (me), I appreciate your concern on sizing. I always had bikes that were not too big for them but have found that the actual recommended sizing Islabikes give was smaller than the children were happy on. I have an Adult Icons Jimi, I was apprehensive going up on the recommended size on it but glad I did.
Large, the small has only existed for a couple years and seems a bit pointless to me. From large 14 you can then go straight to 20.
By Christmas she might be on minimum height for a 16, so 14L or 16.
As said above, 14" bikes don't seem to last very long as they grow. Child #3 was on her's for a grand total of 4 weeks before the 16" came into play. Then a few (6) months later she was on a 20"...
Might be worth finding a cheaper older 14" cnoc (which are a L) to get her going, then 20S?