Islabikes – are they really worth the money?

Our CNOC 16 did our oldest boy proud, has been well used by our youngest lad and will be absolutely fine for number 3 son when he is old enough – they are proper bikes and last. Well worth the money. I’m now looking at the new Creig 24 for our oldest next year, looks like a great bike.

After umming and ahhing over which 20 inch bike to get for the eldest we went for this, Orbea MX20 Team

I think it looks pimp in it’s JS Special Black & Gold – it’s pretty light (alu forks, decent wheels etc) and has a trigger shifter, much better than grip shift. It also has proper sized tyres (small block 8’s). Should be a ripper!

acjim – that looks very nice, bling-a-ling!

Thanks for incorrectly quoting me.

? Maybe my cut-n-paste is broken because they were all direct quotes from the original thread, but apologies if you feel it was taken out of context, it was just a bit of light teasing. It’s not often you see someone change their tune on here, never mind admit to it so graciously.

Had the same dilemna for my girl’s 7th birthday. It’s alright justifying it by how much one would pay for a decent adult bike but there’s not a 7 year old in the world that treats their bike with the same respect and care I do. Yes Islabikes are fantastic and probably worth every penny but this 7 year old is getting a hotrock for her birthday and I’m absolutely certain she’ll enjoy riding it just as much as any bike that cost 2 or 3 times more.

Pha, light bikes for kids. I rebuilt my 1984 Ammaco BMX, popped it on the scales, 27.5lbs. Rode it everywhere when I was a sprog MTFU kids 😉

Interesting, the 20″ Isla bike is 10lbs lighter !

I’ve bought all Isla bikes for my Daughter Isla, they are great quality, but I have bought them all second hand.

Striker and puch?

What ages were they aimed at?

Another Isla fan here.
Bought my boys beinn 20 small knowing he would outgrow it in a season.
I’m now looking for a 24.
You can basically buy 2nd hand and sell on for the same price.
Cheapest bike you’ll ever run.
(looking for £180 for the 20” if anyone interested).

Isla bikes seem pretty tough to me, they managed Mountain Mayhem ok:

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Isla Bikes at Mountain Mayhem[/url] by brf[/url], on Flickr

We have had a couple of Islabikes. Firstly a Cnoc 14 which my son outgrew, and my daughter is now riding. And also a Benin 20 that I bought 2nd hand a couple of years ago. I think the quality of the bikes is great, despite a lot of rough treatment the bike are still in great condition.

I am currently building my son up a 24″ wheeled bike, on a Kona frame. It is surprisingly difficult to find decent quality lightweight components in kids sizes. I think it will end up lighter and slightly cheaper than the equivalent Islabike, but that is mainly to lots of internet searching for parts, and making use of spare bits I had in the shed.

Rothan, Cnoc and Beinn 20 to date (and Beinn 24 coming soon), all brilliant and head and shoulders above the competition. Rothan and Cnoc both were sold locally for not much less than we paid for them. Isla puts so much effort into the designs and cares passionately about kids riding bikes, and it’s a real pleasure to deal with them.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing cheap(er) bikes, but we have a Ridgeback MX20 and Raleigh Krush 20″ girl’s bike in the garage, both picked up for naff-all, and the differences are striking.

It’s funny how people who plonk a load of cash on bikes, gear, cars, smartphones etc get sniffy about spending £200-300 on a top quality bike for their kids.

I have a Cnoc 16 hidden in my bike bag upstairs, waiting to present it to my 5 year old at the weekend. It’s a fantastic thing, I cannot wait to give it to him.

Yes it’s worth it
Resale values are appropriately high too.
And Isla buys her one speed parts from me so she is utterly awesome.

Yes worth it. Used everyday on the school runs and off road for fun. Proper parts on them, so all easily serviceable. Light and everything fits well. Recommended.

The single speed bits on our Cnoc have rusted…

My boy batters his Cnoc 16 pretty hard now he’s got the hang of it, and it’s holding up well. No adjustments or repairs really required so far, the only real damage has been to the saddle which got a bit bent out of shape when the bike got dropped awkwardly (by me). Overall I’m impressed with it, good bit of kit.

Anyone put their kids on one of the Luath road/cyclocross bikes?

I’d be interested to hear opinions about them (for 10/11 year olds)

Liking the balace bike.

Can’t wait to see the boy bomb around on one in about, er 150 weeks time

Anyone put their kids on one of the Luath road/cyclocross bikes?

One of the kids at the event me and mini-aracer went to yesterday with Tracy Moseley and Liam Killeen* was on one (well it was an Islabike road bike, I presume they don’t make another one). I’ll ask his mum next time I see her, probably sometime in the next month.

*I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to name drop 🙂