evening…
we will be looking to upgrade minivader from his halfords special to a proper bike in the next month or so. apart from frog (stocked by LBS) or islabike , what else is there out there that is light enough to be used by a 6 year old with dreams of being the next ratboy!!! (who has only been off his stabilizers for 3 weeks but has already racked up a load of off road miles)
cheers

IslaBikes, Frog Bikes, Pinnacle bikes from Evans

is that really the only options??

Hotrock

hmmm, also at the same lbs that has the frog bikes…

Frog are nice & lightweight, reasonably priced & good quality.

The 16″ Frog weighs less than my son’s 12″ Ridgeback.

Waiting patiently on him taking a stretch so we can get him the 20″ with gears……

ridgeback and Kona and specialized

Cheaper but heavier

Commencal Ramones now from 12″ to 29″ 🙂

Cube could be worth a look.

A lot of very nice (and light) Merida’s arriving at the end of the month. Cheapish too!!

Had a look at that cube in another lbs… Didn’t really like it tbh.

Genesis Caribou 20. And treat yourself go the matching adult version.

16” to 20″ wheel: manufacturers tend to fit gearing way too high for dedicated off road. If folks are really interested on how to change this to deliver a ration of approx. 10/20% below granny ring (super low, essentially) then PM me.
Don’t spend hundreds of pounds on the hype – they don’t deliver, you little off roaders will not make it up the short tech climbs.

Clearly, all depends on where you want to ride.

my boys Ridgeback MX 16 ends tomorrow morning on Ebay. It’s been brilliant !

iain1775 – Member

Commencal Ramones now from 12″ to 29″

Oooooh I like that 🙂

My 5 year old tried a carrera abyss 24″ other week at halfords it was a bit big but he rode around fine on it and it seemed very good vfm

But hes been on balance bikes since before 1. A tiny puky thing. And then moved up quickly. Had a motorbike at 4 too so that helps. Currently rides a bmx and an isla beinn small but wants a bigger bike bloody lad is expensive lol

Hey up DV! Sounds like you got yourself a new biking buddy?! 😉

My 8 yr old nephew got a new 20″ wheel Frog bike 12 months’ ago and he was/is similar size to minidv. He loves the bike and is vgvfm. They look like they’re easy to move on too and keep reasonable value.

We will have a 24″ Hotrock available soon, as not so mini slack jr is now way too big for it…

Indeed I have slackalice… So happy too. He’s gone from “I don’t want to ride my bike ” to ” when are we going for a bike ride ” in a matter of weeks. Just need to get a lighter bike so I can take him on some proper off road rides as some of the stuff round here would be a perfect introduction.

I’m keeping an eye on what These guys come up with.

Bike are meant to be arriving in December, saw some protos back in August and they look bang on.

The lil shredder bikes from Canada look cool if you’re prepared to fund the Rat Boy dreams.

Don’t discount Ridgeback, the new Dimensions seem be a fair bit lighter, a step in the right direction.

Those little hatter bikes are cool…. ‘kin expensive tho. I reckon that I will likely end up with one of the frog bikes with some more off roady tyres, plus they come in red which is the favourite colour of the moment!… Ratboyness can wait till he is on a 24inch wheel!

The islabikes do seem a LOT lighter than their competitors…

Although part of that could be the static/rigid front forks whereas the rest seem to have suspension.

Islabikes are pretty light. Good after service as well.

Mini matt managed to break the steering limiter (dimple on lower headset cup) on his Rothan shredding some gnarr going down a hill and he fell off. They sent out a full replacement headset for nowt.

Yes they do seem lighter, but is the extra cost worth it?

daftvader – Member

Yes they do seem lighter, but is the extra cost worth it?

The cost difference is marginal though isn’t it.. £220 for the Ridgeback MX20, £250 for the Specialized Hotrock 20 and £255 for the Frog55.

The Isla is £299, so in all honesty, it’s not a massive leap… I’m wondering more if my lad would enjoy the front suspension more than the actual weight difference. OK, so it’s not grnarly riding we’re planning, but there are times when it’s a bit bumpy and he complains about his hands…

Take it down to 16″ that I’m looking at and difference between Isla and Frog and most of the others is only £15
Having looked to buy a second hand Isla they easily go for upwards of £160, compare that to spending £100 at Halfords and likely binning it at the end of its life and they work out cheaper
That 16″ Supurb one linked to above is 500Euros!!

Our kids have had second hand Ridgebacks, Hotrocks, Treks. Now on Carreras and a Decathlon. All perfectly adequate.

Focus kids bikes look OK if you want something new and not an Islabike!

See also various other threads….

I think that carrera abyss 24 looks like great value. The rims are nice a wide too so could easily take a knobbly tyre.

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/kids-bikes/carrera-abyss-boys-hybrid-bike-2014-24

I think that carrera abyss 24 looks very heavy

FTFY

Its not very heavy actually it much lighter than many of the 20″ bikes and all of the 24″ that they had.

We have a Ridgeback MX16 which seems a good little bike. (Bought 2nd hand)

At 6 yo id have thought you want to be getting at least a 20″ wheel tbh

Yes they do seem lighter, but is the extra cost worth it?

Yeah I think so. Quality is top notch too and great resale. Our eldest daughter has been on an Islabikes Rothan since 2 and still rides it now at 5 (with the longer seat post) although it does look too small now. Just bought her an Earlyrider Belter, which looks awesome and is also very light for its size. The Rothan is going to her 2 year old sister and still looks like new.

I think lighter the better, especially when they have to start pedalling.

You can tell them till you’re blue in the face the rigid fork tracks better, is lighter and will still work after 3 months.
They will still pick the bike with the boingy front.
I consider that (and the god awfully high single speed gearing) resistance training for later gain 😉

I’d rather have them riding something considered ‘sub optimal’ by me than ignoring the pricier, ‘better’ bike.

Well, given a free reign, my daughter would choose something like this

My lad isn’t even aware of suspension in all honesty, he’s more than happy on his Ridgeback MX16 most of the time. Only at times he’d like a bit softer.

He’s done 20km canal in France and plenty of 5+ milers in UK on hills… he climbs like a demon on it so can’t wait to see what he can do on a geared bike.

The Islabikes is leading for us at the moment.

with boys of 8 and 11 we have been through a pile of Islabikes – Cnoc 16, Beinn 20, Beinn 24, Beinn 26. When we were buying the Beinn 24 last year we looked at the equivalent Frog in detail. It was quite a bit cheaper but a few pounds heavier, which for a 7yr old was significant. Gievn the high resale values of Islabikes we stuck with them. In general we buy them, keep for around 3 yrs, with use by both boys and then sell for within £75 of what it cost new, laregly as the RRP goes up every year

iain1775 – Member
Take it down to 16″ that I’m looking at and difference between Isla and Frog and most of the others is only £15

Isla’s kid-sized cranks, saddle and brake levers are brilliant – not sure f the others have those details, but they make the bike much more ridable – my 4 year old did 13k on his first time out, now he’s in a BMX park jumping it.

Mine have gone puky, scoot, isla rohan, isla beinn small and the isla are very good but i think once you get to the bigger 24″ wheels at 6-7 years old then they start becoming good in other brands too.

Well lad also has a bmx and motorbike as hes adamant hes the next danny macaskill despite still being 5

I think it helps resale with Islabikes that they don’t change their models or graphics very often, so they don’t date much.

Yes they do seem lighter, but is the extra cost worth it?

For a 7 year old riding a 20” bike, their average weight is ~50-55lbs or 25kg but many 20” bikes weigh over 10kg, 11kg+ is not uncommon. That’s almost 50% of the average rider’s weight. How do you fancy riding a 90lb bike? : )

For a 20” bike at 8kg / 17.5lbs, that ratio drops to around 33%. That’s still a lot, like my bike being 55lbs, but it’s a big saving proportionately. The ratios are a little less dramatic for 24″ as some 24″ bikes w/o sus forks are only 9-9.5kgs and the child may be 10kgs more. But it’s still about power to weight and it puts our concerns over 200g on a wheelset into context 😀

a few pounds heavier, which for a 7yr old was significant

Exactly.