Good bike for 4-yo (I know, Islabikes but...)

flester
flester Posts: 464
edited May 2009 in Family & kids cycling forum
...with shipping to Irl, the Islabikes are just too expensive.

The bike shops here mostly have steel framed, steel rimmed, 14" wheeled with caliper brakes which seem OK but weigh a ton. Looking at these I was reminded how crap caliper brakes can be - always rubbing on one side or another

Is there anything in between?
'I do not believe in the three-speed gear at all', the sergeant was saying. 'It is a newfangled instrument, it crucificies the legs, the half of the accidents are due to it.' (From 'The Third Policeman')

Comments

  • flester
    flester Posts: 464
    Anyone know anything about these for example - they ship free to ROI which helps

    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=12842
    'I do not believe in the three-speed gear at all', the sergeant was saying. 'It is a newfangled instrument, it crucificies the legs, the half of the accidents are due to it.' (From 'The Third Policeman')
  • robmanic1
    robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    Look for Dawes Redtail, had on for my daughter and it was well built but not too heavy, they do them in boy's style as well..
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • flester
    flester Posts: 464
    Redtail does't go down to 14" wheel but maybe when he's older. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
    'I do not believe in the three-speed gear at all', the sergeant was saying. 'It is a newfangled instrument, it crucificies the legs, the half of the accidents are due to it.' (From 'The Third Policeman')
  • Octopush1
    Octopush1 Posts: 9
    You could probably get a larger wheel size that 14"...my son got a 16" in Jan for b'day (Islabike).
  • barbej
    barbej Posts: 23
    I would look at:

    Ridgeback - These are a bit better than the Dawes/Raleigh, but more expensive.
    Puky - Up their with Islabike if you don't want a MTB style bike. I.e. full mudguards, rack etc.

    I would say that looking at Ebay, you are much more likely to resell on Puky, Ridgeback or Islabike for a decent amount (around 60% of purchase price from my experence).

    Trek, Specialised, Scott and Kona do some nice bikes but are rather expensive.

    I have 2 Islabikes and a Puky plus 3 other non name bikes, I have three girls and would say it doesn't matter too much what they have until they are say 5years (or doing some decent rides). My 6 year old has done 16mile road rides and 9 mile offroad rides and we upgraded her to a 20" Islabike last year as brakes, weight and lack of gears was holding her back. Before that they don't have much road sense (we stil ride at the side of her) and are a bit young to understand gears.
  • daniel_owen_uk
    daniel_owen_uk Posts: 192
    Keep an eye on the classifieds, put a wanted out there.

    Just picked up a CNOC 16 from these very forums, £65 including postage.

    Having had seen the bike for 5 minutes knew I had a steal they realy are astonishingly well made.

Categories