[Closed] Middle of the road kids first bikes

If you can get your head around the top end prices you'll likely sell it on later for less outlay than the cheaper options, especially Isla Bikes.

You’ll find you’ll possibly struggle either way, if she’s not into cycling a heavy, upright bike with flowers and a basket on it won’t help her much, but if she’s anything like my kids she won’t want anything else.
My daughter was 6 when she learnt to ride without stabilisers at which point we’d been through a basket bike, an Isla, two hotrocks (one she finally learnt to ride) and my son (4.5) has had a Cuda that he liked but couldn’t ride (very tall bike, terrible proportions) and now has a wiggins that fits him well, is light and stable and generally great but he doesn’t want to ride it because it’s not a space ship or motorbike.

Basically, either buy whatever she wants in the hope that will encourage her to ride it, or buy a Frog or Isla so you can sell it for nearly what you paid if she’s decides she isn’t as into it as you’d hoped!

Ps, my kids have also always been lightning fast on their scooters - it’s been the biggest hurdle to getting them to ride bikes in my experience

How old and how tall, will she need a 14" or can she manage a 16", i'd avoid stabilisers as well, better to remove the cranks and chain and have it as a balance bike, the big issue is that they can get lazy with stabilisers, so not learning balance at all, plus they are slow, cornering with stabilisers is horrific to watch!

If she can get a 16" then i bought a carerra cosmos, half the price of the islas and so on, but with the same kit fitted.

There are quite a few reviews on the Cycle Spring website. My opinions below.
Weight is one of the important factors for actually getting little ones riding. Our kids have frogs (one bought new and one 2nd hand a year an a half ago before bike madness) and they're great, slightly lower spec than Isla but good and resell easily. Hoy and Wiggins are also good but near enough the same price.
Wild Bikes from Go Outdoors seems OK. Our neighbours kids have them. Alloy frames and slightly cheaper components (and prices).
Giant and Cube have plenty that love them but I've not seen up close.
Ridgeback produce some Ok kids bikes but some (particularly smaller ones) are mainly good for improving parent muscles when carrying them as they are so heavy.
Hope this helps.
https://www.cyclesprog.co.uk

I always found Ridgeback kids bikes to be a good compromise between cost and quality.
Will often pick up good used ones on Facebook marketplace or eBay and then able to sell on after a couple of years use for most of what you paid.

Until she's 4-5 she isn't "really" going to be able to ride anywhere with you anyway...
Scooters are lighter and easier for the parent to carry and as others have said faster up until a certain age.

Much as we love bikes maybe this is a battle best left to when it matters ?
I mean .. we know how cool bikes are but I suspect you will get the bike then it will not get used as you plan... then when it comes to the next bike (that can) you're fighting that misconception already?

My daughter (4y 3m old) rides to school 2-3 times a week as do several of her class mates. They aren't likely to do big leisure rides with you, but it can be a useful form of transport at that age.

In contrast to the op my girl never liked the scooter and was pretty keen on the balance bike from about 2 and a half. Being good on the balance really helps learning the pedal bike and you can skip the stabilizer stage.

Pinnacle and Ridgeback do bikes of similar weight to frog I think and are a decent amount less. Decathlon worth a look too. Or second hand frog/Isla is the other option.

the big issue

The big issue for MTB or BMX as opposed to road is they get used to putting their feet down on balance bikes and sitting/not moving around the bike... and this is much much harder to break than cornering because it is often a panic/instinctive reaction.

The best parallel is swapping your brakes round... its fine till you need them in a panic.

cornering with stabilisers is horrific to watch!

Hitting jumps, drops and features sat down or watching kids try to stop putting by their feet down is actually horrific

Halfords Carrera star or cosmos.
Come on 14 or 16 inch
Really light for the price, ally frame. Same components as Isla, about a third the price of you time the special offers right.
Was perfect for my two from about 3
and a half

Ps get the star over the cosmos, Lowe to tube really helps confidence and comfort

I can second the Halfords carera cosmos.

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/kids-bikes/carrera-cosmos-kids-bike---14in-wheel---white-606153.html

We had a 14” one for our four year old to learn on after he point blank refused to get on the balance bike. You have to buy the stabilisers separately (and they can be a bit of a pain to fit depending on where the rear wheel is sitting in the drop outs) but the kit and frame aren’t a million miles of what you would find on much more expensive frogs/Islas.

We found that once he’d got the hang of peddling the bike with stabilisers it was fairly easy to transition to using it with the pedals and stabilisers off. Once he had the hang of that the pedals when back on and he was off without any help from us.

The only thing I would say if you do go down the cosmos route is think carefully about the choice between 14” and 16” wheels. We went with 14 as it was what was in the shop the first time we went but this meant there was a period when he was too big for that bike but just a bit too small to stretch all the way up to a 20” (though a few months in he is riding that fine now). So, if she can fit a 16” model may be a slightly better long term investment.

I have been impressed with the Raleigh Performance range. In their standard set up they are nice and light with a good riding position and not crazy long chainstay (Frog!).

We have had a s/h Isla Choc 16, then we bought a new Performance 20, and now a s/h Performance 24.

The Performance 20 is available second hand if anyone is interested, along with a set of Suntour XCR 20Jr suspension forks and a front disc brake & wheel.

Thanks all some good options and thoughts there that I’ll have a dig through. It does seem like kids either like scooters or balance bikes when younger. I think probably 14inch is going to be needed looking at size charts but I have a nasty feels she will have a growth spurt as soon as I order something!

Raleigh Performance 20 is a good call. Very light, well made and looks great too.

Also, have a look at Giant.

I'd go for a second hand Islabike for the price of a new carerra. Kids won't notice the difference and you'll get your money back when you sell it.

I would go straight to 16". They are far more common than 14", and they are properly rideable. I found Ridgeback to be a bit heavy.

Got a Carrera Cosmos for daughter’s first pedal bike and recently got a Raleigh Performance 20 for next bike. Both secondhand and way less than Isla/Frog alternatives but have all the same good stuff - light alu frames, kid sized brake levers, proper threadless headset, Kenda tyres etc.

Another vote for the Carrera Cosmos, we picked up a barely used one for £50 and it's lovely and light with nice kit on. Had a Ridgeback before, which weighed a ton in comparison.

Pinnacle. As good as Islabike IMO, and much cheaper. Very well thought out on a number of fronts.

One thing to look for is wheelbase. A lot of cheapo kids bikes are very short and you see little kids weaving all over the shop on them as they pedal along, often looking at squirrels in the bushes and so on. Our Pinnacles, 16, 20 and 26 were much more stable with longer wheelbase, longer rear centre and slacker head angles.

Thanks all some good options and thoughts there that I’ll have a dig through. It does seem like kids either like scooters or balance bikes when younger.

Mine was all scooters he even saved for his own £15 2 wheel thing aged 4.. then he asked for a "real bike" if he could pedal the Fireman Sam with no stabilisers.
That's the last time he used the scooter... but I'm sure the scooter made the transition so easy, he was used to leaning into corners etc.

I think probably 14inch is going to be needed looking at size charts but I have a nasty feels she will have a growth spurt as soon as I order something!

She'll do that a lot!!! Not just bikes, winter coats and anything expensive.

This. Early Rider, Isla and Frog have really good resale value.
We bought a new Frog balance bike for £120 and sold it a year later for £100. A Carrera cheapie was £50 new with a resale value of about £10-15.

My two started on second Spesh/Ridgeback bikes. Not as s****y as Isla etc, but the kids didn't know any better. Bought for around £80 and sold for around £75.

Both got riding fine. If you can't afford a higher end brand they are still a reasonable option.

benman

Another vote for the Carrera Cosmos, we picked up a barely used one for £50 and it’s lovely and light with nice kit on. Had a Ridgeback before, which weighed a ton in comparison.

Earlier this year, I got my daughter a second-hand 14" Carrera Star (like a Cosmos, but with a dropped top tube) for £45.
The same seller had a 16" Ridgeback Dimension for £100 so I bought that as well to stick in the loft.

She loves the Carrera & doesn't know about the Ridgeback (it's hidden in the loft until she eats her greens & grows a bit).

Even though the Ridgeback is larger than the Carrera, it actually feels lighter.
I think that the Ridgeback Dimension range are more akin to Islabike/Frog etc. while the MX range they do are cheaper & quite a bit heavier.

I started my oldest on an Early Rider balance bike, then he progressed to a 14" Early Rider Belter, which I picked up 2nd hand. About to pick up a 2nd hand 16" Belter. The Early Riders are very light and built like proper bikes, I'd been impressed, also hold their value pretty well, although his little sister will be progressing onto them when she's big enough.

@ferrals our v2.0 is on a frog 43 (I think) pedal bike. He likes it but he is getting a bit big for it now. He’s 4/114cm tall and the issue is his legs (shocker given his mam is 6’4” 😄 ) getting near the bars when pedalling. We’ve been looking at next options and are falling into the Isla/frog/hoy grouping I think so it’s good to hear of the other options mentioned 👍

Both ours had 16" Ridgebacks, bought second hand for £30 and sold for £30, they are slightly heavier but for riding in the park up to an hour they were fine.

The market for decent lightweight kids bike has grown massively, the Dawes Academy bikes are a good choice that haven't been mentioned yet.

Orbea MX are worth a look - we've had 2 in different sizes for my daughters and can't fault them for quality or value

Also had a Dawes Lottie which was much nicer than the ones Halfords sell for half the price that appear to be made of lead and cheese

https://www.bikebasesouthend.co.uk/index.php?CATEGORY=4&SUB=4&THISPAGE=1&RADIOSORT=4&PICFILE=1852&STKNR=1852&STRH=2856&ORDN=2632&RNZ=816542

Impressed by Specialized Hotrock we had too.

Cuda Bikes are worth a look at as well. Another brand in the 'like an Islabike buy not as expensive' category.

https://cudabikes.co.uk/

Bought my daughter a vitus 14 in march. She was 4 in may. She used it as a balance bike (pedals off) for a couple of weeks but was pedaling away in no time.

The bike is ace and I would highly recommend it. She'll out grow it soon enough, but I reckon I'll get her through the winter on it then look at the next step.

Probably not got the resale value of a frog or Isla bike etc, but it should do alright and will partially fund the next one.

Vitus 14

Until she’s 4-5 she isn’t “really” going to be able to ride anywhere with you anyway…

My 3yo daughter just did her first 10k gravel ride, albeit quite flat. They can go much further than you'd think with a bit of sugar encouragement!

OP - just buy a second hand Isla. It works out a lot cheaper in the long run. Sell it once too small for same price you paid or take some time to really shine it up and you might even make a profit!

The new prices keep going up, taking the second hand prices up too.

THanks all, made me realise ther are a lot more options than I'd found. The go outdoors ones look ideal to me; but I think the Dawes Lottie will probably appeal more to my child as its more visibly pink and flowery!

Looks like going to go for the go-outdoors wild bikes range. The size guide isn’t that great as they only provide minimum heights. Could someone with the 14 in bike let me know how much growth room there is? There isn’t a contact option on their website.
Cheers 👍

Looks like we are at the top end of the 14 and the 16 doesn’t come in the right colour 😂

Any thoughts on the ridgeback melody 16 bikes? I can imagine the slightly dropped top tube could be an advantage

I’d go for a second hand Islabike for the price of a new carerra. Kids won’t notice the difference and you’ll get your money back when you sell it.

Yup. Ours get passed from older to younger sister, then sold for not much less than we paid.