What girls bike? (Yes, it's their birthday)

They will be six soon, looking for a new bike to really get them out and about – neither rides too well or with much confidence but we want to get them out. Looking for ‘proper’ bikes as opposed to ‘character’ bikes and have around £100 budget per bike.

Looking for bikes that are lighter in weight (so aluminium which seems to push the price up a bit) but not bothered about getting previous season models if it could get the price down a bit.

Many thanks.

Can’t say good enough things about Islabikes, CNOC16 maybe?

Yep Islabike all the way here. Our five year old zooms about on her Cnoc 16

Frog are also good and apparently the new Hoy ones are too, but not seen them in the wild yet.

Oh and buy second hand!

Our Cnoc was pretty much pristine, came with accessories, and was a lot less than it would have been new.

Did second hand last time around but with needing two and their being of the age where they compare everything I think we need to buy new unfortunately:-(

johndoh – I got my twins Frog 48 bikes. My girl had nailed it on their 4th birthday in December after 10 mins at the park. Her balance bike skills were awesome before hand. The boy nailed it the start of this month nearly 6 months later. They’re always on them now and don’t mind walking with them when they are too tired to pedal. Don’t under estimate how valuable that part is.

Frogs or Isla are the “better bikes” but expensive, even second hand.

Ridgeback do decent kids bikes, not sure on prices as we have always gone second hand.

Decathlon bikes are OK for the money, if heavy.

Frogs or Isla are the “better bikes” but expensive, even second hand.

I paid £100 for the Cnoc 16 second hand.
It’ll do both my girls and then be sold on, probably for at least £50.

That doesn’t really seem that bad compared to what I’ve spent over the years on bikes 🙂

But asI said above, I don’t think I can get away with second hand anymore (nor do I really want to as they haven’t had a new bike yet and they will be six).

Unfortunately all the above are well over budget – I have found this that looks a better bet http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-starz-16/ – alloy frame, reviews say the brakes a very good (one of my girls struggles with them a bit and that knocks her confidence). I have also found it online for £117 so only a little bit over budget. And it moves away a bit from the ‘character’ bike we wanted to avoid – although it is still slightly blingy.

Decathlon bikes are OK for the money, if heavy.

This – Acceptable quality, correctly put together, but heavy. Quite nice designs though, with a range running from more “girly/princessey” to “gnarrr”.

My daughter got on fine with Decathlon bikes – they do the job well. And fine for sort of rides you do with 6yr olds.

Up to you John (obviously) but personally I’d much rather buy a really good bike second hand than an okayish bike new.
My 5yo had no clue it was second hand but I wouldn’t mind if she did as that’s not a bad lesson.

(Plus when you are carrying it back from the park with a tired child on your shoulders you’ll care much more about the weight than the showroom fresh smell! 😉 )

My 5yo had no clue it was second hand but I wouldn’t mind if she did as that’s not a bad lesson.

As I explained, I have twins. If I buy second-hand I won’t be able to get two identical and they are at an age where they compare. The last bikes they got was Christmas two years ago and one was a slightly cleaner second-hand than the other and they noticed then (one girl went to get baby wipes out straight away to clean hers). So I would like to buy new this time – again as I said, they have never had new bikes so I think it is about time we considered them.

It really is nothing to do with it being a ‘lesson’ either – aside from the bikes they have also had a second-hand rocking horse as a Christmas present as well as numerous toys/clothes/books etc from NCT Sales.

You need to be honest about where and how far you will ride with them. Are they keen on biking and do proper rides with you, or are they happy with a trundle around the park every few weeks?

or are they happy with a trundle around the park every few weeks

This, but we are keen to get them out more this year as they are old enough to be more adventurous now.

See if you can find one of those raleighs in a shop and check the weight yourself. But as far as bike go they’ll be fine, if they have wheels that go round and brakes that stop them going round they’re fine for small kids.

Yeah Isla’s are great and light, but i totally understand your point about not wanting 2nd hand this time round.

How about a pair of these from Evans http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ridgeback/melody-16-2015-kids-bike-ec070261
Bit more than the raleigh but not too much. Although at 6 they might grow out of a 16″ quite quickly, how tall are they?

OP, a thought that may open up your options a little. Both my older kids had 20″ wheeled bikes for their 5th birthday and got on with the size fine. This was about 15 years ago however, so there wasn’t the choice that we have now for smaller people.
I think a 16″ may be grown out of in an hour or 2.

At 6 I would have thought a 16″ wheel bike is going to almost be outgrown although if they aren’t really confident riders a 20 might be a bit hard to handle when not riding.
Our youngest turned 6 a couple of weeks ago and is now riding a 20″ specialized Hotrock, her legs could do with being half an inch longer (or the crossbar half an inch lower) for standover but we went for a 5 mile ride earlier in the week and she kept up fine.

We’ve got a purple/lilac 16″ hotrock in fantastic condition which is now surplus to requirements. It’s going on the classifieds later in the week once I’ve taken some pics. It really is like new other than slightly grubby grips and would be under your budget if you changed your mind on new 🙂

edit: lots of other posts while I was typing this one, I see why you don’t want 2nd hand with twins 🙂 I’d definitely look at 20″ wheels if you’ve got to buy two, step through style frames are probably better if the sizing is marginal as they will be able to step forwards off the saddle and comfortably stand flat footed.

Seriously, if you have a Decathlon nearby go and look at their bikes.

My daughter had an earlier version of this (we got it for £40 in an offer!)…
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/16-ltd-bike-red-id_8330122.html
…she outgrew it many years ago but it’s still being ridden by her neices.

You can get two of these for the price of one Ridgeback!

Save the money now, and if they get into it spend more on a 20″ bike later down the line.

They are both on the small size for their age and the 16” does claim to be for 4-7 so I think a 20” would be way too big for them.

One of these…

Just to put Islabikes resale into perspective, I bought our CNOC second hand for £55 (while ago now). 4 Years later (2 kids), sold it for £75.

Admittedly at £55 I felt like I was stealing it, but they do hold value very well 🙂

I got a large Islabikes Beinn 20 when the little one was 8, but she’s now 11 and 5’2 so very tall for her age.

Those Decathlon B’Twins are apparently 9.3kg!

I’d suggest that if the OP’s kids are a “small size for their age” then that might not be ideal. 😕

For contrast:
Islabaikes Cnoc 16 is 6.1kg
Hoy Bonaly 16 is 6.3kg
Frog 48 is 6.7kg
Ridgeback MX16 is 8.5kg

Re Islabikes – I cannot afford nor justify spending £500 on them – getting £150 back in 3 years time wouldn’t make up for the initial outlay.

Why is everyone consistently ignoring the OPs budget? 🙄

Re Islabikes – I cannot afford nor justify spending £500 on them

Yep, that why I initially recommended 2nd hand. They are good but very nippy.

I understand your twin concern though – I reckon your best course of action is to buy two second hand Islas in the same colour scheme and then make sure any moaning is avoided by ensuring that any scratches or marks are carefully replicated on both bikes. A bit of time with a file and sandpaper should do it. 😉

For contrast:
Islabaikes Cnoc 16 is 6.1kg
Hoy Bonaly 16 is 6.3kg
Frog 48 is 6.7kg
Ridgeback MX16 is 8.5kg

So the cheapest of those which is over twice the price of the Decathlon is only a little lighter, and the others are way over the OP’s budget.

They are 6 – they aren’t going to be doing a 25mile Peaks loop!

Gotta say that for me the http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/kids-bikes/raleigh-starz-girls-bike-16 comes out best still – quite grown up but still girly enough for them and weighs in at 9kg – and I have found it for £117 with free delivery online.

They are 6 – they aren’t going to be doing a 25mile Peaks loop!

My 5yo daughter got her first pedal bike (Cnoc) at Christmas and took to it straight away (thanks to plenty of experience on her balance bike).

She rides it to school every day she can.

At the start of April she did a seven mile round trip on it and is keen to repeat that 😀

John, as long as they’re pink, your girls will love them! I can’t see a problem with the raleigh. People seem to go on about resale value of islabikes all the time but don’t seem to understand that some people just don’t have the initial outlay sometimes, especially when you have to get 2!!
I bought my daughter a second hand Cnoc 16 off here for £100 for her 4th birthday, but it did have scratches and she noticed straight away. She’s probably going to get her brothers Orbea next as well and i can see her not being happy about that either!!
My lad is a bit crazy and will ride all day and do proper trails so i spent a bit more on his bike, also knowing it would be handed down to his sis. But if I were you, i’d go cheap now and when they get the hang of it spend a bit more on a 20″. I can recommend the Orbea MX20 dirt.

Okay girls stop throwing your handbags about…

Being in the business I recommend and both my boys had them I can’t fault the bikes…

Drum role

Dawes blowfish 16 fits your budget (almost) lotte is the girls version but blowfish is a way better colour

Dawes academy range far better than frog and almost up to par with Isla bikes

Carry on faffing

My 5yo daughter got her first pedal bike (Cnoc) at Christmas and took to it straight away (thanks to plenty of experience on her balance bike).

She rides it to school every day she can.

But they could still do that quite easily on a Decathlon bike, assuming (and it’s an important assumption!) there aren’t any proper hills. I don’t doubt that Islabikes and the rest aren’t a lot better, but that’s way over budget.

But they could still do that quite easily on a Decathlon bike

Quite possibly, I was more contesting the “kids only pootle about the park anyway” argument there.

I don’t doubt that Islabikes and the rest aren’t a lot better, but that’s way over budget.

I bought mine second hand for bang on the OP’s budget.
I’m just trying to illustrate what he could get for his money if he could get past the need to buy new.

If they’ve struggled with riding in the past and they are small for their age then buying them new-but-heavy bikes seems to me like the wrong way to go for the sake of avoiding a bit of argument over whose second-hand-but-light bike has the most scratches.

But it’s his call and he knows his kids the best.

(BTW we have one of those Raleigh bikes in the shed. A “Molly” I think. We inherited it off her cousins. My daughter can’t ride it, despite being happy and confident on the Cnoc. It’s going in the next jumble sale).

I think we’re possibly in violent agreement here 🙂

So the answer is…
• Buy them something different for their birthday that is new.
• Then pick up bikes off eBay as-and-when they crop up. That way they won’t be presents so they can’t chunter about them not being new! 😀

The real answer is kids need to KTFU – back in the day, when all this were fields, we’d ride any old rubbish! Tyres down to the canvas, one brake, buckled wheels, wobbly cranks etc!

http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=14495046

Or a BMX

LOL.

“Imagine your 6 to 8 year-old youngster already addicted to biking (probably just like you) and riding safely on a full-suspension bike fitted to his own size and weight.”

It’s 11.4kg – most 6 year olds would struggle to even lift it.

Still, €1500 puts the Islabikes prices into perspective! 😯

11.4kg is pretty normal for a kids bike – lots of the ones I have seen around the £70 mark are 12kg>

Well at least they are well within the UCI minimum weight limit (6.8kg) 😀

(My fairly ordinary mid-range cross bike weighs 8.75kg)

When he was 6 my kid had a Raleigh that some friends found in their garden when they moved.
It was red. I cleaned it up and put some small brake levers on.
“WAA WAA I want an Islabike!” he did not say.
He rode it and loved it.
Here he is beating some Islabrats (I just made that up, me) in a race at the BBB on his red Raleigh.

Get em Raleighs Johndoh, they’ll love em 🙂
I do recommend looking for bikes with A-Headsets as they are usually a jump up in quality from bikes with quills.