First pedal bike for a 3yr old?

Apart from a £200 Islabike. Anything else/good etc to ride etc. Im not arsed about resale.

Worth having a look at Ridgebacks, friends of mine picked one up off e-bay recently, and it’s quite a good spec on it, not too heavy either.

As above Ridgeback are good value.

My son has had an MX16 and has now just had the MX20 for his 6th birthday.

My daughter has the MX24.

I wouldn’t recommend a Specialized Hotrock! Pedal back brake is rubbish and the front brake lever is to big for my nearly 4yr old.

if your up for spending £200 go isla! my little girls bike lives in our back room, every day I look at it and think ‘what an awesome looking bike’ really really good bike. even my wife who went mad for spending £200 now thinks it was money well spent!

not sure about other brands sorry.

My daughter went from a Hotrock to a CNOC 16 and the difference it made to her riding progress was massive.

The Islabike is just in another league from the Specialized.

why aren’t you arsed about resale?

The Islabike is relatively expensive but it has the best resale value too, so overall cost of ownership is pretty good.

I got 60-75% of the new price at resale, for my two CNOCc.

Apart from a £200 Islabike. Anything else/good etc to ride etc. Im not arsed about resale.

go for a second hand islabike then..?

I guess there are other useable bikes in the £100 – £200 bracket but below that it’s just silly..

I was looking for something for yunki Jr and the argos specials etc weigh as much as my MTB.. they are rated for riders up to 15 stone for goodness sakes (unless of course your 3 year old is 15 stone..?)

why aren’t you arsed about resale?

The bike will be left outside in all elements regularly. For instance recently I walked out of the house last week to see my only bike sat on the drive. How could I forget?

we had an Isla bike for the first mini Yeti, then a Ridgeback Honey for second. Ridgeback a bit heavier and standover is a bit bigger (both are 14″). Need to change the brakes levers on the ridgeback as they are i)impossible for little one to reach and ii)rubbish.

Isla bike had the back pedal brake, which didn’t get used for a year, then she found out how to use it and very quickly needed a new rear tyre!

oh, and the Isla bike was about £100 second hand, got the ridgeback for £30. add £10 for some cannondale short reach levers.

My daughterson went from a HotrockCNOC 16 to a CNOC 16 and the difference it made to her his riding progress was massive.

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I really dont get the Isla love on here, quite a lot of money for what is effectively a hybrid with funny geometry. FWIW my lad learnt to ride on one of the decathlon 12″ bikes, it was pretty cheap and heavy, but long and stable. For the money it was a pretty good starter bike and he had loads of fun riding down hills on it. At 3 you really dont need any more really. Unless of course your kid wants to continue to ride the Manchester bmx track, then invest in a 16 inch race bike and watch his skills progress exponentially

Edit, apparently they dont do a 12″ at Decathlon anymore but 14″

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/14-titooo-id_8239795.html

then invest in a 16 inch race bike

From what age can they ride one of these?

Isla bikes are ace but watch for sizing. Try and get a try on one before buying. We got one for our 4 year old daughter and although standover was ok, it was a bit long in reach and she couldn’t ride. She was gutted. Poor thing had to make do with a custom built frame made out of leftover sections of Reynolds 853. The Isla bike donated all it’s parts.

Poor thing had to make do with a custom built frame

Great looking little bike! No disk brakes?

Frogbikes are a cheaper Isla alternative, but similar mentality of lightweight is good for kids. Worth a look perhaps.

then invest in a 16 inch race bike

From what age can they ride one of these?

an 18″ is said to be OK for 4-7, 16 should be suitable for a 3 yr old. Not anything like as cheap as the decathlon though!

I really dont get the Isla love on here, quite a lot of money for what is effectively a hybrid with funny geometry.

Wheels are too small to be a hybrid. Not that I’m even quite sure exactly what negative point you’re trying to make by calling them that. Or maybe you could explain what’s wrong with the geometry?

Presumably you’ve missed the fact that Islabikes are a lot lighter than the cheaper alternatives, and also have smaller sized parts which make it a lot easier for kids to ride. Mini aracer can skid his wheels using the brake – I’ve adjusted the brakes on the cheaper bikes the neighbours’ kids have in an attempt to get them to work better, and I couldn’t lock the wheels. People like them because they’re simply better than the alternatives.

hora – we’ve been here before haven’t we? With you determined that your cheap Decathlon balance bike was just as good as an Isla, before realising it wasn’t. Surely if it’s left outside in all weathers then you simply change the chain when it’s time to sell on – or were you expecting the aluminium frame to rust? Though are you really going to abuse a bike enough that it becomes not very nice for your kid to ride, or will you actually oil the chain occasionally?

Here we go:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/what-balance-bike-or-other-wheeled-contraption-for-my-two-year-old/page/3#post-4289528

hora – we’ve been here before haven’t we? With you determined that your cheap Decathlon balance bike was just as good as an Isla, before realising it wasn’t. Surely if it’s left outside in all weathers then you simply change the chain when it’s time to sell on – or were you expecting the aluminium frame to rust? Though are you really going to abuse a bike enough that it becomes not very nice for your kid to ride, or will you actually oil the chain occasionally?

Refunded the Decathlon and bought this a red Strider!

A quick Ebay search suggests that an Islabike in good condition will recoup 75% of its cost. So that’s a quality bike for £50 net – why wouldn’t you?

It wont be sellable when hes finished with it though.

It wont be sellable when hes finished with it

Maybe teaching him to look after it might be part of the learning .

I reckon the bottom will drop out of the islabike resale market shortly, up til now it’s been driven by their rapid increase in price, shortage of them secondhand and no real competitors. All of this will change….

It wont be sellable when hes finished with it though.

If we’re talking eBay, ANYTHING is re-sellable!

Maybe teaching him to look after it might be part of the learning .

When I was young I rode a Raleigh Pukka(?) then a Striker to death. I wandered off all day on my Striker. Granted I wont let hora jnr do that as this isn’t the 70’s but I want him to abuse the bloody thing not ride it up and down our close 😀

I’ve got a top quality balance bike for sale in classifieds if anyone’s looking 🙂

To start with we tried my (then) 3 year old on my 20 year old Raleigh Silver Bullet made of cast iron, wobbly headset and brake that didn’t work. So we went straight for the smallest Islabike with pedals (having previously had the Rothan) and he immediately went up a level – the lightweight and general good quality made it much easier for him to learn.

A friend’s child also tried out our Isla on holiday, and from not being at all interested in riding, she too found it much easier. Her mum and dad went and bought one cos they were that impressed.

I can’t believe there isn’t an alternative, but the value of how much a good quality working bicycle will help your child learn to ride is not to be underestimated.

My lad got on fine with a Hotrock 12. Thought the coaster brake was an excellent idea as their hands are too small and weak to pull normal canti’s. Also means they can do nice broadies 🙂
Bought it for something like £40, sold it for £50 8 months later.

He now has a Hotrock 16.

hora – Member

Refunded the Decathlon and bought this a red Strider!

Striders are ace – my we lad got one for his second birthday and has ridden his everywhere for the last 18 months