First pedal bike. Is Isla still the go to?

My eldest, nearly 4 and very tall, is doing really well (at last!) on her Isla Rothan balance bike. She finally clicked with it this spring/summer and now enjoys it and scoots around well. Despite having the long seat post for it, since she is pretty tall for her age, she’s gong to be beyond it in a few month time so I need to be looking at the next size and a first pedal bike. I’m fairly hopeful she will be off and pedalling pretty quickly, yay!
I’m thinking If I start looking hard on ebay now I’ve a chance of getting a nice one at the normal used price, before the Christmas elevation kicks in. Is Isla still the go to brand and whats the net size?
cheers

Isla or Frog both very good.

Cuda just as good as Isla and a touch cheaper.

Sell Frog in shops which means you can go and try one.

We looked at both and settled on a frog 48 for our 4 year old, mainly because we could go to the lbs and she could sit on it first. Thought about second hand but to be honest, for what they sell for we decided to buy new, let both ours use it then sell it on and actually not lose much money

Yes kids bikes hold their value well. we will likely make money on the 2 Rothan we have (youngest is on one too, and the going rate on ebay seemed up £10-20 by the time i bought that one). If i don’t get one on ebay in Sept/Oct I’ll think hard about buying new instead as the christmas price elevation is a fair bit.

We got a mint Isla bike (cnoc something or other) for our daughter a year or two back. I think we paid £180-190 for it. We covered it in hot pink duck tape and flower stickers, and she absolutely loves it.

She’s getting a bit too big for it so I’ll be taking the tape off for my son, and getting her a bigger bike. Unless they do something silly on it I expect I’ll get £100+ for it in a few years when I sell it on, so total cost for 3-4 years use £90. Great bike no regrets.

The frog bikes seemed a bit more robust but also heavier. They’re decent as well but for my daughter I felt like I’d made the right choice (she’s quite careful with herself and her stuff).

Islabike hasn’t been the only game in town for a while now but are still as good as any out there. I brought my kids up on Frog bikes but they used to be cheaper than islabikes, but now they seemed to have hiked their prices and looking at 24″ wheeled bikes the Frog is now more expensive than the Islabike equivalent by the tune of £80 (not compared spec’s maybe they’ve upped the spec?) and a good £150 more than what I paid when I bought it about 4 years ago, which is a shame…I thought the Frog’s were good value when I got them for my kids, but are up there on price now so not such the bargain they used to be.

But the Frogs have been great for my kids so can recommend if you can get one within budget. If not then there are plenty of others to choose from these days.

If you can find one, an Early Rider Belter is a belter of a bike.

Squish, they are lighter in the smaller sizes and a bit cheaper too.

We bought ours a frog 43. Great bike but did have a couple of niggles, not least the cog unscreewing itself from the free hub.

I would go for an Isla almost solely on resale value. They cost next to nothing if you buy/sell smart. They are definitely not without their issues but they sell like hot cakes second hand. There are plenty of really nice other bikes out there but they will cost you far more eventually as they will be worthless second hand. I would also advise staying away from the early rider belter mentioned above. They look amazing and are really high quality but they are heavy, the rear wheel is draggy and the spacing on the bottom bracket and rear wheel/ chain stays is far too wide for kids little legs. I bought my lad an Isla for off-road and a belter for on-road and he didn’t like the belter. Said it was too slow. I ended up giving it my brothers kid who also prefers his Isla.
Edit: also the brakes on the belter were rubbish. I think they were the same as the Isla but they barely worked. I could only put it down to the painted braking surface.

Probably a Cnoc 16?

There’s a Facebook group for selling s/h Islas. With the bigger sizes there aren’t as many about though, and the brand premium is a bit silly hence #1 is riding about on a nice Trek.

I’ve stuck a bid in on a cnoc 16 on ebay….suspect i wont get the first though

Dawes Academy’s are good, not that I have a 14 I’m trying to sell or anything. Though you may not get much milage out it by the sound of it.

Honestly though, Islas are not the only game in town. Squish and Dawes are the same bikes but Dawes has a BMX style bar and Squish has an mtb style. Frog are also good.

Squish are good value, nice little bikes.

I’ve had Isla and frog, the frogs just didnt seem to fit quite as well, and the Isla held its value better too

My three kids have all had Frogs, combination of new and secondhand. Great bikes. Always sold within days of sticking them on Gumtree.

The underrated value option is the Carrera Cosmos, found a secondhand 16″ wheel one for my tall 4 year old back in the Spring for £80. Although new is only £147 right now with the Halfords offers. Same weight as a Cnoc 16, proper alu frame, nice small brake levers and V brakes, aheadset/stem, Kenda tyres, etc.

Both Isla and Frog have dedicated buy/sell Facebook groups that are worth getting on too, ebay prices go a bit silly.

Yeah, just about to put my daughters Frog 62 up for sale so just trying to gauge going selling prices and they’re all over the place on Ebay with some people asking silly money. Will probably just try to sell locally via the FB group and local buying and selling groups. The number of times we’ve been stopped on rides by people asking me about the bikes they’re bound to sell without too much problem.

I would also advise staying away from the early rider belter mentioned above. They look amazing and are really high quality but they are heavy, the rear wheel is draggy and the spacing on the bottom bracket and rear wheel/ chain stays is far too wide for kids little legs. I bought my lad an Isla for off-road and a belter for on-road and he didn’t like the belter. Said it was too slow. I ended up giving it my brothers kid who also prefers his Isla.
Edit: also the brakes on the belter were rubbish. I think they were the same as the Isla but they barely worked. I could only put it down to the painted braking surface

Id say the opposite.
My daughter had a Rothan, then a C-Noc14 which she just could not get on with at all, heavy for its size.
She tried an Early Rider Belter 16″ and just rode off on it, despite her being a little small for it. She progressed superbly on it with loads of confidence, her brother then did the same.
They both then moved on to Belter 20″ bikes which are superb too.
I`ll have to think about what to move them on to next.
I was an Islabike fanboi, but my kids got on much better with the switch to Early rider, they are lighter than Isla or Frog, better specced and hold their value very well.

Bought my nephew a bright green frog (smallest with cranks) which he’s outgrown. That will by used by his little bro soon.
Thanks to here (cheers Jason!) he’s now got a Belter.

both my kids (5 & 9) have gone through a Frog Tadpole, Frog 48, Frog 55 and the eldest is now on a Frog 69.

skipped the Frog 52 and 62.

sold the tadpole and the 48 which pretty much funded the 69.

Got my Sophie a commencal ramones 16. Has proper Mtb tyres. If all you want is a play about bike get a second hand one. Paid £15 for one that fits her and V-brakes.

I was an Islabike fanboi, but my kids got on much better with the switch to Early rider, they are lighter than Isla or Frog, better specced and hold their value very well.

Burn the heretic!

😉

we have an isla for the 8yo and can’t fault it

but we also have a Wiggins from halfords for the 6yo and it’s a great bike, equal spec for less than an isla

Although we bought an eldest a Cnoc 14, he outgrew it before really ‘getting’ pedalling. We replaced it with a Vitus 16 for fraction of the cost of the equivalent Islabike and though there was a difference in quality, the Vitus was actually really well designed and put together. I totally get the whole residual value thing, but I ended up being far more relaxed about how he used the cheaper bike. He had a tendency to drop it and let other kids have a go, as well as it being left outside while camping etc.

Why does no-one mention Pinnacle?

As good if not better than Islabike and shitloads cheaper. We’ve had a few, the smaller ones have stuff like bottle cages, crud catcher mounts, and also feature longer wheelbases than usual for decent stability. Finish and quality is excellent. And you get proper sized tyres instead of tiny hybrid style ones like Islabike have. Not every kids ride features smooth gravel.

just got my oldest a 20 inch Hoy , its a pretty smart looking thing . before that hes had a 16 inch isla and a 14 inch frog . They are all pretty good and most importantly for him came in red .

My 5 year old has a Vitus 16. Really nice bike. Fractionally heavier than a Isla but well made, just needed grippier pedals.

Lol at Flashy!

Well if I don’t win the Cnoc I’ve bid on I’ll look at the frog and belter and that carerra (as light as the isla cnoc? really? wow)

I should have said the bike will likely get used by the youngest too, who turned 2 at the weekend and has started to get the hang of her rothan a bit more just this last weekend. Although then again…she is nuts and desperately wants to copy her big sister so I can see her needing a cnoc 14 in a year or so as she’ll not be happy on a balance bike once big sis is pedalling!

We’ve had an Isla and Frog. The Isla was a nicer looking bike but functionally no better than the Frog. That is onto its second child and reincarnated as mini-mtb/ skate park/pump track bike with some knobblies, fluro grips and see-thru pedals.

Isla are still the middle class favourite so they do hold value well, Frogs less so

Another vote for the Early Rider Belters.

After first starting out on an Isla balance bike, both our girls went through Belter 16″ and 20″ models with zero issues. Our 6 year old is still on the 20″ after moving up from the 16″ this summer. I much prefer the belt drive on these small wheeled pedal bikes and they are super light (5.6 kg for the 16″) if you stick to the rigid models. Build quality is great and the brakes do work, lol.

If you are interested our 16″ Belter is now up for sale and in excellent condition. It’s this model, perfect size for a 4 year old:-

Belter 16 (2019)

I’ve got a red Cnoc 14 in the loft which I guess ought to have a new home… probably a bit late for a tall 4yo, though: ours rode it aged 3-5 and 3-4 before moving on to the Beinn 20.

We skipped 14″ bikes as both our girls are tall too. Even the 16″ had a pretty short window for us, although it was at a critical time for progressing. Our girls had both outgrown the 16″ at around 6.5 years, so I can’t imagine a 14″ would have lasted more than 12 months from age 4. They had no issues fitting on a 16″ aged 4.

Hmm that’s interesting Moshi. I have been outbid on the cnoc 16 so I’m able to think wider again and one thought I had was to look at the 14s. I’ll explain. Although my eldest is tall and now doing well on the balance bike, her younger sister appears to be a little shorter and combined with being only 2 years younger and more determined to copy big sis/a bit…a lot more physical, I suspect the youngest could be progressing to a pedal bike in 12-18 months when acnoc 16 would be too large. If I get the eldest a 14 now (well, Christmas) she then gets a 16 in another year and the youngest gets the 14 which should fit… Hopefully. I could see this repeating and both girls stepping up a size every year but at least it’s only one new bike each time and with luck I’ll get much of the outlay back on resale.

On the frog, it is a kilo heavier ( for the 16″) which puts me off, the eldest is tall but very very very skinny and a heavy bike could be an issue. Does anyone know the actual weight of the Carrera? So far I’ve just found it’s ‘lightweight alu frame’.

Pfff, this is harder then choosing my own bikes!

We just went 12-16-20 for ours, so only 3 bikes instead of 4. They both went from 12-20″ wheels in less than 2 years, so in hindsight I don’t see the point in a 14″ (at least for taller kids). Our eldest, now nearly 10, is currently on a 24″ and almost ready for a 26″. Her sister at nearly 7 is already close to moving up to a 24″

My boy started on an Early Rider balance bike, and is just transitioning to a Belter. I bought the Belter 2nd hand for about what I would expect to pay for a Frog etc new, but it looked like a much better bike to me, and should hold its value too

Why does no-one mention Pinnacle?

As good if not better than Islabike and shitloads cheaper. We’ve had a few, the smaller ones have stuff like bottle cages, crud catcher mounts, and also feature longer wheelbases than usual for decent stability. Finish and quality is excellent. And you get proper sized tyres instead of tiny hybrid style ones like Islabike have. Not every kids ride features smooth gravel.

That’s what I like about the Orbea I replaced the Dawes with, she has a previously hacked down Mk1 Crud screwed into the down tube and chunky Kenda Small Blocks. The only thing I’m not a fan of is the long cage rear mech which is far too close to the ground for my comfort, I may swap it for my old Sora. Oh, and no Gripshift!

Mini loved his Cosmos, it’s pretty light, 8 and a bit kg if I remember rightly. Not Isla bikes light but it felt comparable to his cousins frog.

Edit. It’s got nice big pedals as well which gave him confidence. I put a conti explorer on the front as it was a bit slippy on the Kenda SB 8 style OEMs on wet grass.