Bought one to replace the dead weight bike on the right. That one was 99p on eBay, loads of choice of similar bikes for that money. When the islabike arrived I thought it felt a bit heavy, just weighed them. The islakibe is slightly heavier. My own fault, their website does state they’re 7.7kg.

That’s nearly 18lbs. The frame is aluminum, the wheels, forks and bars must be practically solid. They have the short levers but they’re only £7 on CRC. Gear ratios are the same. I’m really not certain where the money goes.

The website states they weigh 5.79kg (albeit ex mudguards).

Islabikes website Cnoc 14

My daughter’s Cnoc 16″ weighs about 3kg less than the 12″ Halfords Stinger it replaced.

I’m an Islabike sceptic, but that stills too heavy to be correct. For that weight you could save £200 and get a second hand Carrera like us common people do…. 😉

My sons Beinn 24, should weigh 8.2kg, according to the website. Just weighed it at 10.3 kg. That’s quite a difference. That’s with bald tyres, plastic BMX pedals and a lighter BB I just fitted as the original was ground from granite. Still about 6 kg lighter than the neighbours daughters 24 inch wheeled bike from Halfords.

Just weighed cnoc 14, comes in at 5.8kg, so pretty much bang on what islabikes state, and quite a lot lighter than any other similarly sized bike I looked at.

Op, which model is that? The cnocs are either 5.79kg or 6.1kg depending onwheelsize. The 20inch wheeled islabike is only 7.8kg according to the website.

Where does it say 7.7kg for your bike?

Pretty sure the Islabikes run steel forks which is where the weight could be hidden.

I don’t think the mudguards on the OP’s Islabike are standard, so depending what they’re made from that might account for some of the weight?

I think you are.

A fair price for a product. Welds, materials, build quality. It’s not all about weight.

Calling On-One: Cheaper, lighter kids bikes please!

The cnoc on the photo is definitely an older version version The new ones are red-blue-pink,have a slimmer saddle and have a lower weight.

The cnoc on the photo is definitely an older version version The new ones are red-blue-pink,have a slimmer saddle and have a lower weight

The newer cnocs also have a rear brake as well as the front brake. The weight I quoted above (5.8kg) was for a new (bought march 14) cnoc 14.

That’s a coaster brake model isn’t it? Which, I think, means it’s at least 6 years old. Even ignoring the weight just looking at those two it’s perfect clear where the money goes.

Rubbish trolling.

I’m really not certain where the money goes

Not on styling that’s for sure 😯

Wow, 24lb for a bike for an 8+ year old. I feel sorry for them.

If folk out there want their kids to have fun on a light bike for not much money, get them a mini or micro race bmx. They will learn just as much on it EDIT: probably learn more!, and enjoy it far more. It’s likely that they’ll not use the gears anyway. ;O)

There was a good thread on here yesterday and Poah posted a pic of his son’s Carrera bike that he had modified to run 1×10, air forks etc. that weighed 22lb.

The woodshed needs some work to fill it.

I was a bit disappointed with our cnoc 14 – much heavier then I’d hoped and the riding position was kinda odd..

It kinda put yunki Jr off for a bit but he is now on an old steel redline racing bmx customised with shorter cranks

I don’t understand kids bikes. Jnr FD 4 has a Ridgeback which was much cheaper than the comparative Isla bike, but it is heavy.

However its that over engineered that I can ride it without damaging it which is stupid really.

Why are kids bikes so expensive for something reasonably light.

As to buy an Isla and then sell it again for the same money, well kids should be out having fun enjoying their bike which means it gets scratched and scraped. Certainly not worth much then 2nd hand

Yep, it’s the older model, that is the correct weight and the mudguards are islabike. I’m not trolling, I just paid a lot of money for it!

It’s so over engineered, the new ones are too, the steel bars could lift a car.

Why are prams and pushchairs so expensive? Parents are suckers for the marketing men.

Having said that why should the cost to manufacture a kids bike be that much lower than an adult bike? Metal tubing is relatively cheap, so the manufacturing costs are mostly in tooling and welding, and in those areas the size of the bike doesn’t really matter – there are the same number of welds on a child’s bike than an adult one. Having said that the selling price of a product bears no resemblance to the manufacturing costs. These are high margin products aimed at parents who are willing to pay premium prices. They’ve done their market research and know their demographic.

The new Dawes Academy range is impressive (but dull looking), triple butted frames etc. For 2015 I think more manufacturers are going to be coming out with ‘posh’ kids bikes.

We have had various Islabikes and currently Being 24 and 26 small. The weight advantage is much more noticeable on the larger bikes in the range

We have had various Islabikes and currently Being 24 and 26 small. The weight advantage is much more noticeable on the larger bikes in the range

Looks like the older small islabikes werent significantly lighter than the others, but the current cnoc 14+16 are way lighter than anything else of similar size I could find when I had a look around. Julian Jnr (aged 3 and a quarter) loves his.

As to buy an Isla and then sell it again for the same money, well kids should be out having fun enjoying their bike which means it gets scratched and scraped. Certainly not worth much then 2nd hand

This is a good point. Some folk buy them with the intention of moving them on afterwards to recoup the costs. Much better to let them have a bike which you are less concerned about IMHO.

After the Rothan I’d question the true benefit of an Islabike util you get to the 20″ wheeled Beinn. I had a secondhand Rothan for my kids and it was great then they both had Ridheback bikes in the 14 / 16″ wheeled sizes.

For our eldest i then went for a Beinn large which has since been handed down to the youngest and it’s great. at this size it starts to feel like a proper bike and is comparable in price to any of the other bigger branded options around.

For any particular height of child, Islabikes normally have a slightly larger wheel size.

When I spend thousands on my own bikes, and the kids absolutely love going biking, then I think they’re worth it.

Larger wheels, alloy brake levers that work and gears are all useful things where we ride. A BMX might be fun at the park or once kids have the legs strength to haul it up a hill, but gears are worth it in my book.

And even tatty Islabikes fetch a good price on ebay!

My lads Greig 24 is 11kg and daughter’s Beinn 20 is 9. Both well made.

I recently bought a B-twin bike (from decathlon) 2nd hand off eBay for £11. I spent £40 making it new again (RRP for it was £120 – 20″ model with 5 gears) and was well impressed with it. Simple, reasonably light and good components. I would buy one for my kids, if I had any, for the full price.