So proud daddy moment today, in that we've had our first family bike ride with my eldest riding her bike.
However, despite her only being 4 she's very tall and her current 16" wheeled bike is already at the top of the saddle adjustment. It's not an issue yet but I imagine that one or two growth spurts and it could well be too small.
So I'm starting to look at the next size up which feels ridiculous but I'd rather she stays on the right size of bike and enjoys riding than make her endure riding on something which she has outgrown.
Question is outside of the early rider 20" trail (she's got a belter at the moment), what would people recommend? Given she is likely to be at the bottom end of the age range that size is designed for weight will play a big part of the decision.
Also where do people get kids bike gloves to give small hands some protection from the elements?
Raleigh Performance 20 or Giant ARX20
Both are built light, and built for kids. Old skool skinny XC tyres are perfect for the sort of riding she'd be doing, and they both look ace IMO. Early Rider are great bikes, but supply issues have plagued them for a while now.
Little Miss CFH is on the former (seen below), after a Belter 16, which has been handed down to The Boy. He'll be getting the Raleigh soon, as she moves up a notch, probably to a teeny tiny Whyte.
Frog bikes.
Good weight for a kids bike, decent kit and so easy to wotk on, and you'll pretty much not lose any money when you go to sell.
I'd second the Raleigh. My youngest is on his big brother's handmedown. It has been a great wee bike. Currently sporting a cheap pair of Suntour XCT 20" forks and a front disc wheel, although it is often on the original rigid fork and vees.
My lad had a islabike 20, then moved into a hoy bonaly 24.
I'd definitely suggest the bonaly in 20" , they're good quality lightweight bikes.
My son has done well on various Frog bikes. Bonus is shops sell them so you van go and try one.
We are in the same predicament.
Our 4 yr old daughter does amazingly on her belter 16 but is a little top heavy now. The trail 20 looks fab, but is just too expensive.
Her current favourite routes are the Comrie blue, Berm baby berm & blue velvet at glentress so a bigger wheel bike & some tyre flex will help loads.
She tried a specialized riprock 20 last week, though she is tall enough it is too heavy, it would be perfect in a years time. There is no way we can justify 2 good 20" bikes though
My current thinking is a Vitus 20plus or similar as a rigid saves a kilo or 2 over a cheap bouncy fork, then put narrow tyres on it for a while. I think the slack geometry will make it less agile than a frog/Isla bike, but there has to be a compromise somewhere.
Halfords Carrera saruna 20" is a good light bike and has very low stepover height / dropped crossbar for that wheelsize . My six year old has been on one for nearly 2 years
Not expensive now at 215, but will probably be about 50 cheaper at the end of august (think we paid about 160)
And she wanted a purple bike
and gloves - decathlon do decent kids gloves , but the sizing comes up a bit small.
definitely suggest the bonaly in 20″
Agree, the Hoy bikes are well thought out and very light. My daughter had a go on her brothers Hoy and was very reluctant to go back to her Frog (eventually upgraded that to a Hoy for her).
Got a pair of fingerless kids gloves for £1 in our local Halfords yesterday. These were plain red. They have a few other designs and some long fingered ones too for around the £6 point.
Both of mine on the exact same Islabike Beinn 20 large (two kids 13 months apart)
They love them, get ridden a lot
The cubes seem to work well for little ones, they have the advantage of sizing smaller than many so if they are on the cross over they tend to fit a bit better.
Madison do kids mitts. Called ‘tracker’ or ‘alpine’ if you want full fingers.
Good quality.
We moved from Isla bikes to a Vitus 20 when our daughter was four / five. She has just turned six and it’s been a great bike so far, she can do 15+ mile rides without much fuss and has just started doing the gentle reds at places like Dudmaston. The Vitus 20 plus is pretty good too and we would probably have that if mudguards were a possibility (we use bikes for transport and fun). 🙂 I am going to look at Hoy bikes when we move to 24 wheels as they look very good...
Giro kids gloves seem OK.
Obvious answer these days is of course 2nd hand Islabike or Frog, sensible weight and kit and you'll pretty much break even flogging it on down the line...
Ours got a cheap 2nd hand Hotrock 20" which have good frames (IMO) but try to find one of the rigid forked versions rather than the heavy, pretend suspension forked ones, discs have very little benefit until they're onto 24" bikes (also IMO)...
Same situation....5 year old about to outgrow a 16" early rider Trail variant that has been fab.....not quite sure people grasp how light the early rider bikes are compared to equivalent Frog/Isla/generic....same for the 20 inch trail....nothing to match the 8.1kg of the rigid fork model.
The Vitus range seem to get the nod from lots of MTB dads in various forums, and are not bad at around 9kg. A lot of the competition are 10kg+ which is significantly more weight for little legs. I like the look of the Vitus plus as we're riding 90% local bridleway and trail centre. The geo looks more trail orientated than the isla/frog/generic. Commencal do a similar 20" 2.6 tyre bike but its heavier and more expensive.They also do amazing front and full sus 20" bikes but all over 10.5 kg and starting at £700+ !!
Maybe a 2nd hand easy rider trail 20? They're solidly built and have more than one person mileage I'm sure. I'm going to keep an eye on eBay closer to swap out time.
As for gloves, have a look at the Wulfsport Stratos Kid Glove.....from £7.00-£10 if you hunt and sizes from age 3 to 10. excellent glove my 5 year old can put on himself.
Knees: Oneilpeewee's are excellent and small enough for 4 up
Elbows: Fox peewee titan elbow pads
Both have save a lot of grief and skin loss for our little speed demon!
Let us know what you decide on bike wise.....
I've put at least oneset of brake cables a year on our belter 16 - fresh cables just make the brakes so much lighter for little hands (we are in Scotland & if you don't ride in the rain/mud, you don't ride).
Hence, whatever we end up with will have a cheap set of hydro disc brakes fitted just to get rid of the crappy cables.
We have some little endura gloves. I can't see them on the website though, so they might be an old range.
Same here, boy just turned 6 and has come on a lot this summer riding blue trails and is looking pretty cramped on his isla 16 inch. I was pretty keen on the vitus 20 plus but I'm not sure how those big tyres would work for him on trips to the shops, local park etc I like the look of the orbea and the hoy as a pretty good compromise, the isla 20 looks a little bit to hybrid like to be decent for him off road. Having said that I'm probably sure it would be fine and the answer to these questions is always whatever one they like the look off and comes in their favourite colour.
I think I'm between the Vitus 20Plus (looks fab) and the Early rider trail 20 (because its an easy upgrade).
I think the first purchase as we start to move into Autumn (I know doesn't feel like we've had summer) will the gloves to get her wanting to go out on the bike (which is probably the main thing.
IF you have a Dawes or Claud Butler dealer nearby the Squish bikes are well thought out and lightweight.
My 6 year old lad loves his Giant ARX20. Light at around 8KG and comes in a few good colours (if that's important).
My boy loves his Beinn 20 bought from tomlevell off of here. Compared to his friends Frog 55's it feels a lot lighter and looks less "hybrid-ey". The frogs always look ungainly to my eyes with overly chunky tubes and long stays.
My eldest went from a Islabikes Cnoc to a Vitus 20 - the weight difference seemed quite a lot, but at the time I couldn't afford the Beinn and the Vitus was only £180!
She's now almost grown out of the Vitus and looking for a suitable 24" - think I might go back to Islabikes, they're very well made, all the components are perfectly sized and considered. The only thing I'm not keen on is they favour grip shift - my daughter uses triggers quite happily, so would have to spend money on swapping those out.