Need a 20" wheel bike for my son. Want V-Brakes and some gears at the back. Looking to spend no more than £200, will consider 2nd hand.
Your recommendations/ experiences please...
Considering Ridgeback MX20, would be great to hear your views and opinions on this and other brands.
Cheers in advance
Dave
My islabike beinn 20 large. £200. Manchester.
Orbea MX20 - all the others look like BSOs in comparison and they're very cheap 2nd hand compared to Islabikes and it's a proper little MTB not a hybrid like Isla/Frog/etc.
May need a shorter stem though that won't break the bank as it has a proper sized steerer.
I just got my eldest a Hotrock 20" - he loves it
+1 on the orbea, bought one for my sons about 3 years ago, my daughter is on it now. great bikes.
I think at that age he had an Isla and a CUBE. He found the CUBE heavier but more inspiiring and confident to ride. He could also fit bigger tyres on the CUBE. The Isla only allowed tiiiiiiiiny tyres.
We're not middle class enough for Islabike, so I found a used (pink) Hotrock 20 on ebay for £50.
Splashed some parts from the spares bin on it to save a little weight, Forks are crap and quite heavy, I took out 1 spring but it didn't really help improve them much, in retrospect I should probably have found some rigids.
The frames on the Hotrocks are very good IMO, Aluminium, sensible weight, use and proper parts standards so you can mount a proper BB, mech, hub etc, other than the forks it's done the job very nicely for our eldest, and our youngest will be taking over ownership soon so £50 well spent IMO, and I expect to get the money back when I flog it on...
I have a 20" Evans Ash in Surrey ... was only used for 9 months... that being the amount of time it took Jnr to be big enough for a 24... it's pretty much mint (couple of scratches on forks can have stickers) and has a load of spares/optional including freewheels, spare rear wheel (fast rolling) .spare mechs.. etc. etc. Mechanically sound...
If you are interested I'll list the whole lot...as it could be 6/7/8 speed... trigger or grip etc.
The Orbeas are really good though but its a question of how long and how much to spend.
Ridgeback MX20 is a great little bike, both of my two had one. I like the look of the Orbea too.
I wouldn't bother with the Isla/Frog hybrids, they're good bikes for sure but too limited in scope
My islabike beinn 20 large. £200. Manchester.
This. We paid about that for my daughter's Beinn, it was her sixth birthday present. It'll be handed down to my younger daughter, then sold on for not much less than we paid for it.
With guards and rack fitted, it's an excellent choice for the school run, and she enjoyed riding it round some gentler mtb trails. Furthest distance so far is 17 miles, we're trying for 27 miles in a couple of weeks' time.
To my shame I've just bought a carerra saruna from Halfords.
They had a big range to try, were willing to order online stock to try out, and allowed me to discover that trigger shifters aren't necessarily the best solution for little hands. Oh, and saddles make a big difference too.
So I bought the bike that fitted best and was easiest for her to use. I was planning on the equivalent wiggins but it wasn't to be.
Worth a look, go in with your eyes open and try some out would be my advice.
Commencal Ramones? Wee man has the 16" version and it's very cool. They do a 20 too.
