Thinking about Saracen Spice, Specialized Hotrock, Giant XTC Junior. Or, as a curveball, just a BMX. With a view to tentative offroad tryouts with an overenthusiastic Dad.
Isla bike… Tiny Tins is not that age yet, but having had various makes of balance bike including a Spesh, then turning to Isla for the first pedal bike the difference is night & day, for kids bikes they have just done the homework & they are better.
You’ll be wanting 24″ inch wheels. The Spice is 20″
My 9 year old has a Carrera Luna. Well the male ‘Blast’ verion as she hates girly pink stuff! She’s been riding it since she was 8. They’re a fantastic bike for the money. The only criiticism is the standard Clarks disc brakes are a bit rubbish so I bunged some Avid BB5’s on.
You can usually pick these up in fantastic condition, dirt cheap on ebay!
She’s happily ripping around Lee Quarry, Phillip Park on it, and absolutely loves it
Hotrock, Kona Hula, Giant XTC. All are good and recommended. If she is long in the leg, buy used, as you will probably want an XS 14″ framed 26er in a couple of years.
Same as Binners. My eldest has a 24″ blast, dumped the grip shift for SRAM triggers and dumped the clarke cable brakes for Shimano hydraulic. We’ve been round Cannock Chase FTD and Monkey Trail this month and we’ll be hitting Llandegla and Marshbrook MTB Marathon next month, loves it 😀
Review of Isla Bikes Beinn 24: road.cc/85621 … seems to be a good choice.
My 9 year old has an Orbea something or other, well made with no obviously cheap parts. I think it’s this model, but in slightly different colours: http://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mx-24-xc-13/
My elder daughter has a Decathlon bike, not a bad bike either, if you’ve got a store near you I’d certainly recommend taking a look.
Don’t underestimate the importance of pinkness (or looks in general) to 8yr old girls, if she thinks it’s a boy’s bike she may well go off it completely. (This of course depends on your kid!)
I just got my daughter a Beinn 20 large, she is 7 1/2 right now. It does not look big in fact it looks slightly small but i think the 24 would just be too much for her. She should get at least 2 years out the 20″.
She has only just learned to ride about 2 months ago so i wanted the lightest bike i could get, the Beinn 20″ fits the bill.
Islabikes – Beinn 24 most likely but check their size guide as it is spot on. They are light weight, and have everything sized just right… soon after he got his Islabike my then-8-year-old managed to climb our local hill… 140m of vertical.
Isla Bikes are great and not really that much more than the comparable bikes of the big brands. My 8 year old dauighter has now grown out of her Beinn large and I got a bit carried away with a 26″ wheeled frame on the classifieds last year so back in February she had this
The original plan was to keep the Beinn for most of her riding for this Summer but she loves the big bike and won’t ride the Beinn (which does now look far too small for her). If she was chomping at the bit to ride as much as I’d like her to then I’d think twice about her riding the big bike but she’s quite happy with our local canal towpaths and forest fire roads.
In any event her younger brother has now adopted the Beinn and doesn’t want to ride his little 16″ wheeled bike (although he still does on the school run with Mum).
For reference my duaghter is a somewhere over 135cm tall and can reach the floor fine (seat was only that high to clamp the seatpost in the work stand)
Check out Frog Bikes (.com)
Like Isla Bikes but more widely available, just as good if not better and cheaper
British company too
Lots of lovely little ‘serious bikes’ for kids, I can’t recommend them highly enough. 🙂
You cant go wrong with islabikes if you have the budget. actually a good investment given the resale value.
I wouldn’t recommend the revalation from EBC. My nephew has one and it seems massively heavy. My lad has got a ridgeback i acquired 2nd hand which with new non plastic tyres is a decent ride. I’m considering swapping the stem and handlebars for some parts-bin stuff as they seem overly heavy and if I can get some trying some air forks.
Also might look at swapping the twist shifter as that seemed the biggest limiting factor for my 8yr old on a 7 mile ride last weekend.
We recently got our 8 yr old daughter a Ridgeback MX24. I put a shorter stem on it, otherwise it’s stock. She loves it and has already had a few successful trips to Glentress on it. Result 🙂
I’d go for an Islabikes Beinn, as others have said for the quality and then resale.
I bid and didn’t win one local to me which finished the other day here
£312! That’s cost them £45 per year then. Not too bad.
Went for the Islabike Beinn 24 – she’s just tall enough/inside leg enough, so justifies eyewatering price as can be used for a few years then ebayed. Thanks for the tips folks.
+1 carrera luna, my daughters one was blue.
the clarks discs are ok if the mounts are replaced so they can actually be set up properly, the sus forks actually move under the weight of a child and they arent too heavy.
obviously, IF it fits your daughter.
If you enjoy building your own bike try the Cotic BFe. I bought and built one for my 9 year old from the XS sized frame, and she’s not yet 5′ tall. She just completed the End to End 26 mile off-road run on the Isle of Wight a couple of weeks ago.
I have a 24″ wheeled Decathlon B-twin bike which will be going in the classifieds as soon as I upload the pics.
Good overall condition built in lights(LED rear/Halogen front),has a Shimano Dynamo front hub,mudguards,V brakes,no suspension,6 speed shimano gears,Built in rear rack.
Needs a new rear tyre but other than that its good to go,if the OP or anyone is interested drop me a email at :
unovolo at gmail dot com.
Went for the Beinn 24 in metallic blue – what a winner. Just the right size (saddle at its lowest, but perfectly rideable so she’ll grow into it) and as soon as she was on it, she shot off like a rocket with a big grin on her face. Brakes soft enough for her small fingers, grip shifter figured out in 2 secs and it’s a lovely, lovely thing.
St, what frame is that and what size? My daughter is the same height and age and I am looking at something similar to build up with a spare 8 speed drivetrain and 26 inch wheels.
They really are as good as the hype, as I said, I resisted first off as I wanted to go to the shop with Tiny Tins & pick the bike, Spesh Hotwalk, but once I bought into the Isla thing that was it, they are just better than anything else I have seen.
You never know we might get the timing right & I will buy it off you later on!!
Andymac, it’s an old Jamis frame, from memory it measures up at about 13″. I dropped on well on the classifieds last year, the frame had been powder coated by the seller but never used afterwards and I paid about a tenner plus postage for the frame and fork. There are plenty of retro frames about in small sizes that sell cheaply but it’s a case of waiting for one in decent condition as if you have to factor in re-painting the frame then the costs quickly seem slightly less attractive.
st – Member
My 8 year old dauighter has now grown out of her Beinn large and I got a bit carried away with a 26″ wheeled frame on the classifieds last year so back in February she had this
another Hotrock vote here – but seen plenty of kids very happy on the Treks
“Don’t underestimate the importance of pinkness (or looks in general) to 8yr old girls, if she thinks it’s a boy’s bike she may well go off it completely. (This of course depends on your kid!”
just sorting youngest daughters kit for ice hockey training tonight and I know will be getting major grief as the only clean top I can find is a girlie pink one – does depend a bit
Another vote here for Frog bikes. My mate just got one for her daughter and its a proper bike – lightweight, half decent kit. I’m looking to get one for my dauther in a few months.
My 8 yr old has a Gary Fisher Cosmo. It’s heavy but it rides well enough. Reading a couple of posts above made me laugh. Someone taking their 8 yr old to glentress. Mine is a bloody wimp. Never in my wildest dreams could I take her to a trail centre.