My little one currently has a 14″ frog, but needs something a little lighter and with bigger wheels i feel to progress a little more, so seeing as everyone points towards the CNOC 16, is there any alternatives, or deals to be had, i know the carerra cosmos is an option, but it does appear to be a bit heavier, although lighter than the current bike, but without halfords having them nearby it’s a struggle to get a feel for this one.

So, what’s the options that are up against the CNOC?

Hoy Bonaly are great bikes

As good as Islas we’ve had

Go S/h. Loads of mint condition bargains about

Go S/h. Loads of mint condition bargains about

1+ wouldn’t bother going new for the price vs the amount of time them have them unless you get a stonking deal.

Squish bikes are quite nice and the Carerras are fine. I did want an adult version of my boys Early Rider Belter….

As above, used Early Rider Belter.

Would sell you mine, but had a buyer months ago!

S/h Cnoc 16. We had one from new (2014) and sold it on last October for more or less what we paid having done both spawn in the meantime (and the price of new ones has gone up dramatically)

There is a Facebook group for buying/selling them; judging by the group there are lots of non-cycling families that replace one Isla with another and wouldn’t look at anything else, which presumably helps with the resale.

@argee

Where are you? I have a 16 Spesh hot rock that is a bit too big for jnr. I’m looking for a 14″. Swaps?

Dawes Academy/Squish 16.

x10000000 for buying second hand, the depreciation from new is bloody ridiculous unless it’s an Isla (despite being as good).

I’d stick with Isla bike until you need a 20″.. (really nice and light and amazing residual prices) then much more options once a bit bigger

I went from frog to early rider belter , amazing bike . Mini me too big now so got a sh oreba Mx 20 team .. give it a week or so and the early rider will be for sale

Dawes makes some good junior bikes. I brought my son one when he was about 6 he loved it. We sold it for fifty pounds less than we paid for it two years later. It was light being alloy frame and wheels and robust. When I looked at the frame I saw it was made in Italy.

BR
JeZ

Woom bikes or early rider. The “new” early rider seekers/hellions make me want one! Proper light mtbs with good geometry and decent tyres for little folk.

Seeker 16

Hellion 16

This is exactly the issue i have, well had. Son is on the seatpost insertion limit of his frog 43 and i was keen to get him something light to keep his progress up.

Many options were out of stock (frog, isla, early rider) but then I looked at the Wiggins Chatres 16. Its on offer at halfords and with some discount codes i got it for 150, or half a early rider belter cost!

I also looked at the saracen mantra but it was still over 220.

Both quite light (not hoy under 6kg light) but still well under 6.5kg and the wiggins has a small q factor so easier to ride.

I am picking it up tomorrow 🙂

Cyclesprog.co.uk has a handy chart of most of the good kids bikes including all-important weights!

Sophie has a commencal ramones 16 Don’t know why you would want to spend more on a tiny kids bike TBH.

The 16″ Cnoc is a great little bike, really well made and really light. They are updated and improved regularly so get as new as you can for the benefits. We bought a great looking 14″ Cnoc second hand and it must have been one of their first editions. It weighs a ton compared to the new 14″ Cnoc. Thankfully it rolled beautifully and wasn’t an chore to ride.

@Makkag, what’s the Orbea MX 20 XC like compared to an Islabike say? My son is rapidly outgrowing his 16″ Cnoc (sorry, keeping it for his brother) and the Orbea is on the list?

@Lazgoat, my kid went from the 14″ Cnoc to the Orbea MX20. I’d say the MX20 is a bit better for rocky mountain biking than Cnoc/Frog as it comes with I think 2.25″ Kenda Small Block 8 tyres. Like the Isla the seat tube on the Orbea is super short so you can slam the seat when they’re growing into it or messing around on ramps etc., and it has nice short chainstays compared to some.
It comes with quite a wide riser bar and a 70mm stem, so I bought a 40mm one and a second hand straight bar, cut that down to scale, and instead of the supplied grips just used some roadie tape to make effectively thinner grips.
Got a message the other day that the Dirt Factory is selling their hire fleet including Trek Roscoe 20s and 24s, if I was looking for a 20″ bike now I’d probably just buy one of theirs as they’re a bargain.

@tb927, that’s great to know! I’ll give them a call tomorrow and hopefully see if they’ve got any left. Any idea what price they’re going for?

Look at Wild bikes from Go Outdoors. My first son had Isla Cnoc but second has Wild bike. Can’t fault it. Much better value does the job and is very light.

@Lazgoat Think they had the 20s for £250 and the 24s for 300 or something like that. Sounded like they’re just selling off their fleet and will restock when they can re-open. Best of luck.

Cheers all, ended up with a carerra cosmos, looks nice and does the job, did hum and haw over islabikes and the others, but for a year or so’s worth of use, this thing is the best value going, was seconhand so less than half the RRP as well, which none of the others ever do!

Our early rider belter was great, capable of a little more rough terrain (we did glentress blues on it), than similar sized Isla & frog bikes, which seem more suited to smooth pavements.

I was amazed to see a 1yr old CNOC 16 go on eBay the other day for 295 + 17 postage! Basically new price! Amazing how well they’re value holds.

At the moment though the demand is high and Isla can’t supply new ones until the autumn due to supply chain disruption. As above, someone paid £511 for an elderly Beinn on the ‘Bay; this can’t last.

The demand for islabikes, early riders, etc was daft, nearly new prices for bikes that had all the perishables worn away, rust and so on. I think folk buying now will be taking a hit next year when this whole circus is over.