Frog bikes

So how good are they?

My just turned 5 year old daughter is now really starting to show an interest in riding a bike, I have been out balance biking with her for tye last few months and she is now feet up gliding along! So much fun to see!

Anyway I think I’d like to buy a fairly decent pedal bike, the Frogs seem very well regarded, are they worth the money? £380 for a Frog 44!

Anyone  selling a decent one…?

Got a Frog 47 for my boy. They’re great bikes IMO and I’d definitely recommend them. Brake levers aren’t too big and the cranks are well spaced. He loves it and we can go on some decent rides.

Frog bikes are good…I prefer them to Islabikes as Frog use trigger shifters – which seems easier to use with ‘weak’ hands that young kids have.
Well made, decent price.

yes both mine started out on frogs. 7yr old is still on his 55. you should be able to get a decent one 2md hand for £150-170. well thats what i sold our last couple for last year.

they will get scratched up fast so no need to buy new.

eldest is now on a bargin buy vitus from the crc fire sale.

Excellent – my boy is on his second.

Sold the first one for what I paid for it…

They’re good, buy second hand – they’re quite cheap at the moment on eBay if you wait long enough. I sold one for £50 not long ago and was a bit gutted but thems the breaks. Also picked up a Hoy Bonaly for my son for £80 – not as good as a frog but still a decent little bike.

Worked in LBS and sold them. Basic componentry, not much to go wrong but it comes down to how well they’re built . I remember a dad bringing one back after 3 months with missing mudguards, 2 buckled wheels, a bent crank and trying to say that it was down to poor quality assembly – it was very obviously been treated like a BMX

We’ve had loads, LBS did a trade in scheme so you bought second hand from them, and it worked out about £60 per exchange, brilliant. Would recommend them, pricey at rrp but loads second hand to be had

Frog bikes seem a bit pricey, but they’re well made and they last.

Do you have other kids, or nephews and nieces? The bike can be passed around as various kiddies grow into it and out of it. It won’t seem so pricey once a few of them have ridden it.

Frog bikes are great except they used to be prone to bad spoke rusting.

Really good setup for kids

Definitely worth getting something good for them to first learn pedalling on, really helps them learn to put the balancing together with the pedalling action if they have something that fits properly, has brake levers they can reach and isn’t 80% of their body weight.  Quite a few brands fit that bill now including frog, but as above there are loads about second hand.

Tried to help my niece with her first pedal bike which was a sort of miniature Pashley – heavy, really high handlebars and absolutely mad steering flop, she couldn’t keep it in a straight line for long enough to think about what her feet were doing. Both my kids managed the transition from balance bike to pedals pretty much first time out.

Great bikes, my two were on them from 2.5yrs old. Seamless transition from balance bikes.

Well worth the money as they’ll enjoy riding them so much more.

Frog are great but if on a budget there are other good brands that can be had for much cheaper. (I’m talking secondhand!)

Hoy, Wiggins, Pinnacle, Islabikes… Rockrider seem ok as well.

I have a Islabike Bienn 16″ and Hoy Bonaly 20″ and 24″, didn’t pay more than £120 or so for any of them. Recently sourced a Hoy Bonaly 24″ for a friend with hydraulic brakes & internal routing for £65 in perfect condition! Trying not to be jealous haha

Hunt around, something good always shows up.

We have one through https://bikeclub.com/ . That might be a good option because you can swap as they grow (bit not cheap).

My lad has had 2. Good bikes. Both kept their value relatively when he outgrew them.

we had a few whilst the lad was growing, held their value well, always sold on as they never get abused.

Really nicely made and light bikes

DickBartonFull
Frog bikes are good…I prefer them to Islabikes as Frog use trigger shifters

They were always…shall we say “heavily inspired” by Islabikes.

Once my daughter was ready for gears, got a 2nd hand Frog 55 in purple and she loved it! (I did swap out parts with a new stem and SDG Jnr Pro set though), when she out grew it the boy had it (another SDG set for him and her’s went onto her new Cube). When he outgrew it, sold it for about 80% of what I’d paid for it in the first place. Only thing I needed to do was a new cassette/chain and mech hanger when the boy had it but by that time was likely nearly 4 years old at a guess!

Can’t really go wrong with a Frog they’re good bikes – my son had a Frog balance bike and then a frog 40 until he outgrew it.

Early Rider are worth a shout out too. We got him a Seeker X16 and it’s a cool little bike and great on rougher paths and trails with the ‘plus’ tyres.

Got my lad a Sky branded one second hand last summer for £150. Very well built and a solid little thing so well worth the money. His is a 20″ one and the only problem we found was that he seemed to grow out of the wheel size before the frame, if that makes sense? Changed for a Cube Acid 24″ this summer which fits better and is also decent.

Squish are also worth a look if Frog a bit out of price range.  From the same formula as Isla and Frog bikes.

Really like the Frog Bikes, sizes can be a bit complicated with some newer models having numbers lower that previous models but use bigger wheels. But once you work that out, they are solid, light bikes. Very little to go long, they usually have cheap spares in stock on their website.

Both of my kids were ambassadors for Frog. Over the years, between them we have had 7 Frog Bikes (we still have one). Once you get to 20″ wheels, they are only really suitable for hybrid work.

You can fit wider tyres on some of the 18″ and smaller wheeled models, but rear clearance is very tight, so you are quite limited in what will fit.

We ran Islabikes (Cnoc 16, Beinn 16, Beinn 20) then a Frog for the smallest and from there onto the Orbea 24″ bikes, which were all excellent. I built up some 24″ disc wheels for the Orbea and dropped the travel on an old pair of 26″ Fox Forx to fit the same A-C of the Orbea forks, and both boys used it to step up to 26″ FS bikes, initially using the 24″ wheels.

The problem for Islabike and – latterly for Frog – is that the bikes tend to last really well, and hold their resale value really well, too. Combine that with a lot of new(er) arrivals like Hoy, and you end up with a saturated market with loads of nice, generally lightly-used, second hand options out there – to the point at which the market’s so saturated, second hand bikes start falling in price.

I’d look for a second hand Frog or Islabike in good condition, and you won’t go wrong. Once they get to 24″ wheel sizes, there are a few more options, but up to that point I’d say Islabikes and Frog are worth the money, and you’ll generally get most of that money back, too.

I was in the market for a Frog 40 or 44 to be the the follow on to going through a tadpole mini, tadpole and then tadpole +, not much came up second hand, ended up with a second hand Wild Bike and cant fault it TBH.

Now looking for the next wheel size up and looking for either in the next wheel size up.

I’ve got a nearly brand new one in my shed that I need to sell. Probably too late this year now I think it’ll be too big for your needs. They’re great bikes for kids, light and well made with fewer fancy bits that add weight with no benefits.

Cuda Trace were a great value option before Moore Large went pop.

Should be plenty knocking around the 2nd hand market though

Anyone  selling a decent one…?

Yep, we have one, £90 collected or postage added.  It’s a bit scratched and is bright green but very good with a Schwalbe tyre upgrade.

from experience coaching at Go-Ride Frogs are often quite long saddle to bars compared to other brands and also often very high BB, the 24″ wheel versions are worst for high BB which makes getting saddle height for pedaling vs foot on ground hard.

the smaller wheel versions are better though, 44 is a lovely little bike, but she might be suited to something bigger? don’t how how tall she is though, but if looking at 16″ Frog 44, then this might be an alternative – very nice little 16″ wheels bikes:

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/giant-arx-16-inch-2022-kids-bike

£279 and choice of colours.

Personally think lots of other brands have a better fit for kids, though children are generally pretty adaptable.

how tall is your daughter?

There’s a FB buy sell page that’s quite active.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/771994886269421/

In case your nearby, Sherwood pines. The Forme kids bikes are along the same lines as frog/isla I think, pretty nice.

The kids Vitus bikes are worth looking at also.

Although Vitus don’t sell anything these days as they went belly up with Chiggle…but second hand bargains should be readily found. They do seem decent bits of kit.

They’re good bikes and really robust.  I personally prefer the Isla bikes as they’re a little lighter, but the frogs are solid.  We’ve got a frog 62 that we’re not using if anyone is in the market for one.  £100 collected.

Plenty other better options – some mentioned above.

Frog did a great marketing job, and a mediocre product job.

As  rootes01 says, they’re too long for many – esp riders who lack confidence. Assembly quality has dropped since they started assembling in Wales according to dealers.

They’re good bikes and really robust. I personally prefer the Isla bikes as they’re a little lighter, but the frogs are solid.

Pretty much sums up my experience. Islabikes were in some cases considerably lighter than the Frog equivalent. I think Islabikes were better value for money because of that, with Frogs pricing hanging on the tails of Islabike.

Most established adult bike brands now make something as good as the Frog bikes.

Early Rider are excellent bikes.

That’s what I liked about Islabikes, they all seemed to be bespoke for kids.  Each component seemed to be manufactured with the target audience in mind.  The frog bikes and others I’ve seen are great but seem to be kids based bikes with components off other companies that are scaled down for kids.  Having had plenty of both, the kids prefer the islabikes.  I’m now at the end of that journey and looking for decent mountain bikes in 24, 26 inch wheel.  I’ll be trawling the classified and eBay, marketplace for them