I have the task of finding three similarly specced decent quality, but importantly, decent [i]value[/i] bikes for our two six year olds (one male, one a not pink obsessed female) and a five yo, that is snapping at their heels. As they are all very competent on, and love their bikes, but have now completely outgrown them, it's a pressing matter. I'd like to spend as little as possible, but as much as I need to to get a 'proper' bike, as we need to get three of them. For that reason Isla is probably out of the equation, unfortunately. Also, what wheel size? I'm thinking 20, what do random internet strangers reckon?
Ta for your thoughts/input in advance...
Yes to 20". Consider used Isla, but Frog and Hoy are also well regarded and arguably better value for money than Isla.
I had to get a 20in bike for my 6 year old daughter, who is very small for her age a month ago and normally I don't mind spending a little more on kids bikes, but she had a new 16in bike only 6 months earlier, so was a little weary.
Cheaper end, but not pig iron Barbie type bikes, I did consider the vitus 20 from wiggle for £180 with gold price-
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-twenty-kids-bike/
Or I was very tempted by this fake frog / zebra bike, but lack of reviews and the gearing put me off
http://buydirectltd.co.uk/index.php?id_product=24&controller=product
In the end we went for a Wiggins 20 from Halfords on a discounted weekend plus British cycling membership discount
I've had two of the Pinnacle kids bikes from Evans. A 16" and a 20" for my 6 and 4yr old (not in that order). Thoroughly recommended, solid, not too heavy and lots of colour options.
I pick up my (now 7yr old) grandson from school some days and we ride the 3 miles home. He has a Wiggins Chartres and it seems spot on. He had a Frog before and that was good too. All the bits fit little hands and legs nicely.
Thanks guys. Food for thought.
I've got an isla beinn 20" for sale, gun metal, £130 collected from Bristol. Mail in profile if you're interested.
Need to get my daughter a new bike as she has outgrown her Frog 16"
I'm tempted by another Frog as it's been great but the Orbea MX20 Team is a similar weight, cheaper and just looks right
https://www.cyclelane.co.uk/m5b0s11p9635/ORBEA-MX-20-TEAM-2016
First off I'd not buy a new 20 again.... as I don't ride road.
Most kids can't decide what they want to do anyway...which sorta explains why most kids bikes can't either. IMHO they are mostly the kid equivalent of hybrids.
with only a few exceptions (in the $$$$'s) like Lil Shredder they are mostly a BMX with gears whereas you can start with a proper offroad bike at 24".
The Orbea might be the exception in the 20's.... has disc mounts and nicer offroad geometry.. and cassette on the rear wheel I think.
However... either way, my kid went from only just big enough for the 20 to only just big enough for the 24 in 9 months... and the whole 9 months was spent trying to get the bike decent for offroad...
Even if you accept rigid forks there is just so much and you need to be really keen to bother with new wheel builds etc. to run a cassette or add disk brakes... you can mess about but need to spend a small fortune to really kit it out for offroad...and what started for us as a few firetrails progressed to red in a few weekends. A megarange filled the gap and the cheap components got broken and replaced.
By the time he was big enough for the 24 at least working susp forks and disk brakes were more of a need than a nice to have. As such we chose his HT frame with disc mounts and also Pauls were selling the last Cannondale's with F1rst air.... (this is pretty good for XC/trail for a kid... it's not a SID but its fairly light and also works.
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/f1rst-air-24-mtb-suspension-fork-51499?lang=en
Retrospectively I'd say a decent alloy frame and use the time to both work out what they like riding and source the 24er's....where you can get decent forks and wheels.
I've had two of the Pinnacle kids bikes from Evans. A 16" and a 20" for my 6 and 4yr old (not in that order). Thoroughly recommended, solid, not too heavy and lots of colour options.
I've got a 20" one in Surrey should be for sale when I can get round to it.
Get on ebay/facebay/gumtree etc, we've had the 12", 16" and 20" Specialized Hotrock's so far. It takes a bit longer to hunt one down but it's a lot cheaper and you'll be able to sell them on in a year or two for not much less.
Hoy bonally, for my 6yr old son, as good as if not better than the Isla he moved from, got ours mint on eBay for a v good price.
My son went from a Frog 16" to a Scott Scale 20 plus which is rigid with 2.6" tyres. He loves it, got the hang of the gears in 5 minutes and did a 17km ride last weekend. It will be a while before he's on 24" wheels I think.
Ianpv: I've got an isla beinn 20" for sale, gun metal, £130 collected from Bristol. Mail in profile if you're interested.
I also have a 20" Beinn for sale. Mine's purple and it's only 100 quid. (It's had a tough life)
There you go, you're 2/3 of the way already.
I might be persuaded to sell the 20" Bein large as well. It's blue and in great condition. Hoping for around £200.
they are mostly a BMX with gears whereas you can start with a proper offroad bike at 24".
Leogang anyone?
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My boys are on 20" hoy bonalys, new tyres, shorter stem and wider bars. They've ridden in Wales and Scotland and all the local stuff down south. I'll admit sometimes the smaller wheels do limit them a bit but they don't seem to mind.
My little lad (he's 5) is on a 20" frog, it's ace
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4212/34737652443_7db9c230e4_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4212/34737652443_7db9c230e4_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/UVDxQ8 ]2017-06-26_02-21-25[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/140228292@N02/ ]Steve Bowman[/url], on Flickr
We picked up a Frog 55 (the longer of the two) for our 5 year old. He loves it.
As above I'd go for Hoy, Frog, Wiggins or 2nd hand Islabike.
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/islabike-beinn-20-large-green-240-bristol ]Beyond stealthy...[/url]
It will be a while before he's on 24" wheels I think.
I bet it won't be . :D... my kids probably taller than average (doesn't get it from me) but not really tall or anything. Of course you can eek out the 20 but it's amazing how fast they grow.
and did a 17km ride last weekend
its amazing how far they go so quickly as well.
However... either way, my kid went from only just big enough for the 20 to only just big enough for the 24 in 9 months... and the whole 9 months was spent trying to get the bike decent for offroad...
I'd say that's the exception rather than the rule, and also depends on the 24" frame size .. some go down to 12/13" which is starting to stray into the same territory. Our 24"is 13.5" I think.
I've got 2 years at least out of the 20", nearly 3 years - it's had 3 boys through it. Specialized HotRock .. forks are rubbish but offer a bit of relief and they've never complained, weight is heavy comparatively but again they've never complained - key is making it fun - they'll climb on it all day once they're expecting some great trails on the other side. That and feeding them haribo every 10 minutes. The 6 year old has done Swinley blue regularly on it and only pushed after he crashed from staring at (lusting after?) a fat bike.
I'd say that's the exception rather than the rule, and also depends on the 24" frame size ..
Well yes and no.... his Cannondale 24 is a smaller frame.... (at least standover and BB height though its described as medium but they only have medium and large?? )... He'd not have been big enough for his 24 Full Sus Norco 24er by a fair bit but over a year he's pretty much inline with growth in his school year group ...
I've got 2 years at least out of the 20", nearly 3 years - it's had 3 boys through it. Specialized HotRock .. forks are rubbish but offer a bit of relief and they've never complained, weight is heavy comparatively but again they've never complained - key is making it fun - they'll climb on it all day once they're expecting some great trails on the other side. That and feeding them haribo every 10 minutes. The 6 year old has done Swinley blue regularly on it and only pushed after he crashed from staring at (lusting after?) a fat bike.
There was nothing wrong with his 20er... he hadn't outgrown it .. it was just limiting the riding and the 24er was cheaper than trying to "partially fix" the 20er in that I could have somehow got forks and got new wheels made etc. but in the end a 20" wheel is a 20" wheel..... and rolling up a 6" root on a climb (like say the uphill part of Red 21/22 ) is not really possible...
Another exception?
META HT 20
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That Vitus looks ok, but it's 9.4kg vs 8.1kg for a Beinn 20L
#1 spawn is a tall 6yo, and is on a second (possibly third) hand Beinn 20L. She doesn't care (or, I think, realise) that it's not new, and it was just over half the price of a new one.
What's the hive mind verdict on swapping the twister for an X.4 trigger, btw?
My 6 year old has a specialized hotrock 20.
He's delighted with it, it's a great wee bike.
I got it for £40 2nd hand in pretty decent nick, just needed new cables/brake blocks 🙂
second hand isla bike,
nothing else even comes close to the same value for money, ive lost less than £50 on every bike so far as althou they have a high purchase price they also resell for nearly the same money without loosing much year to year.
Shame your so far away. I've got a 20" Claud Butler Rocket and a 20" Claud Butler Razor I'm trying to shift....
Not sure why so few people recommend Pinnacle. Ace bikes. The 20" is surprisingly long wheelbase, which makes it really stable for young riders. Just bought our 3rd.
Not sure why so few people recommend Pinnacle. Ace bikes. The 20" is surprisingly long wheelbase, which makes it really stable for young riders. Just bought our 3rd.
I guess you just don't see many used.... also our version (for sale for any decent offer) is a freewheel which limits potential. I think they took a year off on the ash as well... (seemed to disappear for a year)
I'm not certain I'd describe it as "ace".... more that without spending £2000-£3000 it's mostly not much worse for most kids for a fraction of the cost.
For serious single track and riding downhill there are decent bikes like the Lil Shredder... but they are well above £2000 ... there are Isla Pro's with titanium/carbon BB's... etc. BUT at the end of the days they still have 20" wheels....
The orbea 20 has better kit, notably it has got a cassette and Acera.... and the frames have disk mounts... but I don't think the hubs do... so you are still in the building a set of wheels ...
Our pinnacle comes with Tourney... on a freewheel....and no disc mounts.
My experience is that kids can fit a 24 very quickly... investing in new 20" wheels etc. might be OK if you have room in the garage between the Ferarri and Bentley... but then just pay someone to fly to Canada and import a Lil shredder... or like one Dad I met make the space by selling the car* to pay for the £3000 kids bike (**Actually he said he wouldn't be changing car for several years due to the purchase but it sounds better)
Otherwise experience say's use the 20 as a stop gap.... because trying to change it into something its not is a money pit with very little in terms of ROI compared to a 24er.
nothing else even comes close to the same value for money, ive lost less than £50 on every bike so far
My 6 year old has a specialized hotrock 20.
He's delighted with it, it's a great wee bike.
I got it for £40 2nd hand in pretty decent nick, just needed new cables/brake blocks
Seems like they only need to resell for a tenner.
What's the hive mind verdict on swapping the twister for an X.4 trigger, btw?
Twisters are love hate .... same as for adults.
Personally I'm in the hate camp.... but I wouldn't not buy a bike because of it .. just take them off.
That Vitus looks ok, but it's 9.4kg vs 8.1kg for a Beinn 20L
Change of tyres ????
Thing is 1.3kg isn't the frame ... its what's bolted onto it.
I just shed 2kg (from memory) on a 24er by changing wheels... (and cranks/BB though I doubt most was in the cranks and BB)
I'm expecting to shed another kg pulling off the stem and everything attached and replacing 100% from the parts bin... etc.
It's really a matter of what you are willing to change or not and then how easy/hard/£££ it is to change.
From Isla's web
"This 7 speed Sram X4 cassette...." means at least it has a cassette so should you want you can stick a 9 or 10 speed on whereas if you go with a freewheel your pretty much stuck.
All in all though I still think mostly the 20's are just a good platform to go through a phase and not really worth investing in if you can see a medium term 24er ....
Our pinnacle comes with Tourney
Which one? The Ash? It's not the poshest bike, of course, but it's a fair bit cheaper than Islabike. And componentry aside I think the overall design is excellent. So it's a well designed good value bike, I'd say.
We just got a Kauri 26" for my eldest at 8, £380 gets you a rapid fire shifter, 1x9, WTB Nanos and Tektro hydro discs.
Has anyone got any of the Hope Academy bikes? They look awesome on their website but not seen one in the flesh? Looks like a good idea for growing kids too!
Which one? The Ash? It's not the poshest bike, of course, but it's a fair bit cheaper than Islabike. And componentry aside I think the overall design is excellent. So it's a well designed good value bike, I'd say.
Yep its the Ash.... but I agree... its well thought out and a fair bit cheaper.
Just not many seem to be being sold... (I was looking to ebay for pricing to sell and not finding any)
We just got a Kauri 26" for my eldest at 8, £380 gets you a rapid fire shifter, 1x9, WTB Nanos and Tektro hydro discs.
Which is my point.... you can pour money at a 20 ...but its still a 20 and before you know it they'll be big enough for a 24 then 26.
Kauri = @ £380 = Good Value (+ some wheels at a bargain price + parts bin = even better) and any upgrade (should you choose) but the wheels can be used on the next bike...
With the 20 ... it mostly is what it is.... and regardless of money you can't fix the limitation of 20" wheels.
E.g. For single-track would you prefer a 24" hardtail with decent forks and some parts bin/discounted upgrades or a Dream 20er... (i.e. Lil shredder @ $3000 + 40% import) ...
Much as the Lil shredder is awesome it's not £3000 awesome...unless your kid is racing downhill
Has anyone got any of the Hope Academy bikes? They look awesome on their website but not seen one in the flesh? Looks like a good idea for growing kids too!
Not got one but seen quite a few 24 and 26 in the flesh at Kids XC events.
They look [b]really nice[/b] in the flesh (or metal).... even better than the pics on the web site.
The idea is very good, especially since you can rent for as little as 3 months so if you can get on the waiting list you could rent over the XC season and only pay 6 months out of a year.
Shame they only have XC bikes.... but I guess renting out anything for Enduro or downhill is going to take its toll on parts.
Kauri = @ £380 = Good Value (+ some wheels at a bargain price + parts bin = even better)
I've sadly already sold my XTR/ZTR Olympic/Sapim 26" bling 26" wheels, and she doesn't want the Easton Monkeylite SL bar or the USE carbon 27.2 seatpost 🙂
Having seen some of the boat anchors her friends are riding I'm glad we went 2h Isla for #1 spawn.
A lot of kids bikes seem to have 6sp freewheels...
Was in Halfords today. The Wiggins bikes look loooooong.
2nd hand Hoy has been great for our 6 year old
hes off like a rocket and as good as the isla he moved up from
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sub 21 lbs.
Take a look at the Vitus Twenty at Wiggle. I've just bought the Twentyfour for my youngest and I'm really impressed for the money. It's only a fraction heavier than the equivalent Frog bike.
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spawns look ace but heavier & quite a bit pricier than the Hoy
Have a look at the Raleigh Performance 20. We bought ours for just under £200. Significantly cheaper than an Isla etc.
Have a look at the Raleigh Performance 20. We bought ours for just under £200. Significantly cheaper than an Isla etc.
Aye, and a very similar spec (including the mighty SB8s). Can't find a weight quoted though.
Got a Raleigh performance 20 for my eldest last year. Paid about £185. It's a cracking bike and weighs in at just under 9kg. Have just bought an isla 20 for my 6 year old. Got it second hand for £180. Both really excellent bikes
Got a Raleigh performance 20 for my eldest last year. Paid about £185. It's a cracking bike and weighs in at just under 9kg. Have just bought an isla 20 for my 6 year old. Got it second hand for £180. Both really excellent bikes
Sadly, the difference here is that you'll be able to resell the Islabike for the £180 you paid for it (maybe more if they keep cranking up the prices!) but the Raleigh...well, if you get half of your money back, I think you'll be doing well.
For kids bikes, resale is everything...
No, not for me, for kids bikes it's seeing them enjoy riding something that will hopefully mean that they carry on riding as they get older.
Would be nice not to lose too much, but that wasn't the primary aim
I don't doubt that at all 🙂
But there's a lot of people talking about used Islabikes being too expensive and then suggesting other cheaper alternatives that would certainly work out much more expensive in the long run!
Glad your kids like their bikes 🙂