Even though Im in the trade struggling to find a 20inch wheel bike weighing in at 8kg ! closest I can get to that is a Dawes Bullit at 11kg.

Any other alternatives ? trek/giant come in heaver than 11kg…

Thanks in advance

http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-kids-bikes/hybrid-bikes/frog52.aspx

Frog bikes are very good just moved to them from Isla and daughter very happy.

Customer service v good but easier to use dealer network.

Frog bikes are brilliant. My lad loves his, really well put together using propper bits and nice build quality and kid specific geometry. If you are midlands based I would recommend the guys n girls at mammoth cycles as they were fantastic and really made my son feel like part of the “bike gang” as he put it.

Buy islabike as better resale value?

I think Frog bikes should hold their value as well if they get sufficient market penetration which I believe they will with a dealer network. Quality is not noticeably different to Islabikes, they will be a formidable competitor.

I’m in the trade so to speak (well, i work in a bike shop) and i ended up buying an Isla Bike Beinn 20″ at normal price for my “sorta” godson, anything i could get from the major manufacturers was just overweight lumpy horrible cheap tat in my opinion and to be honest when folk come in asking about decent quality kids bikes i tell them to go away and buy an Isla Bike. If i’m entirely honest i wouldn’t consider anything else for a kid up to teenage years.

Somafunk – have you seen the Frog range? My thoughts would have been the same until I came across them.

A couple of the kids at our club turned up with Frogs this year. They look good, but both kids seemed to be really stretched on them, the proportions don’t seem as good as the Islas.
Go for Isla. Every time.

I’m sure the frog range are just as well equipped (do they just deal direct or to the trade?) as the isla bikes but i’ve bought quite a few Isla bikes over the past few years for various friends kids, being the only one out of my mates who rides a bike has given me (whether i want it or not) the unenviable title of bike guru (or whatever) so i tend to stick to what i know is quality with a very good resale value, and i pimped my “sorta” godsons Beinn 20 up rather alarmingly, it now weighs 6.2kg….i went a bit ott on it for him. 😀

Spawn CyclesThis is my favorite company for kids right now.. sadly it doesn’t do anything to help you though as they are Canadian based and you’ll not have a trade account with them and probably unwilling to swallow $200 in shipping but the bikes are very very good!

9kg:

10kg:

Do kids actually care what their bikes weigh?

Do kids actually care what their bikes weigh?

no but the parents do when we gotta carry them…lighter the bike easier it is to ride…duh

Do kids actually care what their bikes weigh?

If they actually ride them they do! Take child who has been riding a heavy typical kids bike and put them on a frog/isla and watch them (i) light up and start enjoying it (ii) handle the bike better – which leads to more (i). The effect is essentially instant. Brakes that work with kids size hands etc – all help too! Second experiment is to let a group of kids play with a bunch of bikes then let each one pick the one they want…

They don’t need to be competing to really notice the change. In fact given the relative strength and weight of kids bike weight should matter more than to the average middle aged man!

Frogs are good.

We looked at both Frog and Islabikes for Udderlet Major, as he is way outriding his Specialised Hotwalk – to the extent that he needed brakes, and was ready for pedalling.

We plumped for the Islabikes Cnoc 14. The Frogs look excellent – I’ve not compared weights, by the way. However, what we did notice was resale. When we tried to find a secondhand Cnoc, the price of a used, two or four year old Cnoc was about £40 short of a new one – and with wear, tear and older kit to boot. As we are going to have two Udderlets on this bike, it seemed the safer choice.

That said, next time the Udderlets need a bigger bike, we will look at Frog again as well as Islabike. I think their model (dealer rather than just direct) is good, even though we had beyond excellent service from Islabikes.

Contradictory enough? 😀

Formeula bikes

Launched last year by Forme

We have a Cnoc 14 and a Frog 55 and they both seem to be equally well designed and built (though they aren’t equivalent models). The jury’s still out for some time on Frog resale values and for that reason I expect the cost of ownership to probably be lower on the Islabikes. What swayed me to get the Frog was a) the ability to try and buy in a shop b) the impending ace weather and the need to make the most of it rather than wait for a delivery and c) the wicked orange colour.

Remember that both are great and all things being more or less equal it’ll be a question of colour and availability rather than 50 grams and a particular spoke gauge. And if initial outlay’s more important than total cost of ownership then get the Frog.

I agree the Frogs are more stretched out (longer top tube I guess) than Islas and they are slightly heavier.

Lil Shredder 😉

Hardtail starts at $975! 😯

http://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mx-20-team/

Just under the 9kg

My eldest son has the 24″ version & it’s a great bit of kit.
Simple but effective….