Advice needed on bike choice for my 4 year old

Honeybunnypigletpie

Can anyone offer a little sage advice please?
My 4 year old daughter is currently using a fantastic Kokua Likeabike Jumper which we have been delighted with thus far. However she is now very ready to get a 'proper' bike with pedals etc, but I'm not sure where to start.
I haven't done much research, but I have seen that Kokua now do a Liketobike with pedals and brakes etc. My only reservation on this model is price.
Are there bikes out there that are decent quality, not plastered in kiddy paraphernalia (a pet hate - sorry!) but won't break the bank?
Any advice gratefully received, thank you

Mike Healey

Get ready for the Islabikes suggestion avalanche, Honeybunnypigletpie.

Start off on http://www.islabikes.com/bike_pages/pdf ... rt_web.pdf and then go to the suggested bikes

bartimaeus

Also worth a look - Ridgeback MX16, if she is big enough:



Where abouts are you... you are welcome to try out this bike as it's been outgrown
(Alec now has an Islabikes Beinn 26 - so we too like Islabikes ).

Honeybunnypigletpie

Wow - thank you for the responses and suggestions so far!

I've not heard of Islabikes before, but loving the website and ethos. We are in the west country nr exeter - are there any stockists in the area, or are they just web/Ludlow based?

One bike I had come across in my limited research was the Ridgeback - any comments on its durability? I would like any bike we get (new or secondhand) to last for my 14 month old boy when he's old enough!

bartimaeus

We had 2 Ridgeback MX16s (2 boys - 2 years apart). One we got second hand from a cousin - the one in the photo was bought new. We sold on the second hand one - Alec, my youngest got to choose which one to keep - but still have the one in the photo, which I must remember to advertise!

The bikes are reasonably light and very strong - and as long as you give them a little bit of TLC every so often and don't leave them outside to rust they should last for ages... at this age kids are unlikely to do any serious damage to a bike which does not have derailleurs, though they can easily make them look pretty scruffy.

For young kids the key things to look for are 'fit' - which means not just size, but reach, crank length, whether they can easily reach and use the brakes - and simplicity. Weight is also key - some cheap (and not so cheap) kids bikes are very heavy - in particualr cheap suspension is heavy and relatively pointless. As an example my 8 year old has an Islabike which we bought him after I used some luggage scales on his previous bike (a Trek with front suspension) and found it weighed more than my full-suss.

Islabikes are mail-order only, unless you can get to Ludlow. I have not bought any of their smaller bikes, but in my experience (1 x Beinn 24 and 1 x Beinn 26s for 8 and 10 year olds) their sizing chart is spot on and their staff are very helpful indeed.

Don't be fooled by the Islabikes wheel sizes as their bikes are designed with bigger wheels than you would expect (so my 10 year old is on a 26"). Their bikes are very child friendly - light weight, simple to operate, and well thought out. This is Alec on his Islabike.

Mike Healey

The other thing to take into account is that Islabikes have exceptional resale value.

No suspension, except for the Creig 26. Kids don't really need it since most suspension forks, let alone rear sus are glorified pogo sticks. They also encourage kids to ride at speed beyond their skill level which means that when they crash, they crash harder.

Much better for them to develop their skills on rigid, which forces them to think about the surface ahead of them. Then, when they eventually do graduate to either hardtail of full sus, they have the skills to handle it

baudman

Mike Healey wrote:

... Kids don't really need it since most suspension forks, let alone rear sus are glorified pogo sticks. ...

Also a lot heavier than solid forks.

Go the Isla. I would if they came to Australia!

Ian Sims

Having family in Britain is great and both of our Islabikes have been transported from Britain back to NZ. My son is now whizzing around on his Beinn 20 and my daughter has the Cnoc 14.

Having kids bikes that don't weigh the same as a small moon makes so much difference the the children, and the adults when they need to be carried around.

joncrawf

We have two Islabikes for our 2 and 4 year olds. Superbly built and look the part - no pink tassles. Can thoroughly recommend. I'm local to you so if you want a look please get in touch, sent you PM with contact info...

Wamas

I think you will get the jist from this thread that the best two makes for a kid this age is either Isla Bikes or Ridgeback.

My 4 year and 1 week old son, has a Ridgeback MX14 which he whizzes about on two wheels no problem (he used to use the ridgeback Scoot balance bike before). The brake levers are reach adjustable (has very small hands) so he can slow himself down when he wants. He has a tendency to just drop or jump off his bike when he feels like it, and the large rubber ends of the grips mean there is no damage to the bars or to himself when he crashes.

My friends sons have the Isla bikes, and they look great too, no better or worse than the ridgebacks, they probably do have a higher resale value, but it depends whether this is important to you or not.

Go with what you feel, either bike is miles better than the other options out there, including the offerings from some of the major brands IMHO.

Daver27

Another vote for the Ridgeback, my 4.5 year old has one and its awesome! proper brakes, adjustments everything. it is a proper proper bike.
he had it for 14 months now and its still mint and workign woderfully

Pipster3

As above it has to be the Islabike or the Ridgeback they both do 14"and 16" wheel size options ...I went with the Islabike because they are a small British company ....yes it was £50 more but when we spoke on the phone the whole customer experience was second to none placed order and bike arrived following day the build quality is amazing 10 out of 10

Cnoc 14 in blue

johnboy183

+1 for Islabikes. My 4 yr old has been riding the Cnoc 14 for nearly a year now with no problems

mrushton

My LBS rates the Trek kids bikes (well they do sell them) but really I'm of the opinion that Isla are the best out there and when the time comes for our daughter to get her bike then Isla will be the first choice.

fasterfaster

Islabikes alll the way, We now have 3 and have just sold the Rohan on Ebay for £86! 2 years of use and only lost £35. Great bikes.

Honeybunnypigletpie

Hi! Thank you to everyone who has offered really excellent advice and shared opinions. We eventually decided to go with Islabikes, and now have a very chuffed little girl who is already pretty confident after only a few hours riding her 'big girls bike'!

I have been very satisfied with all the customer support from Islabikes, and staggered by the speed of delivery (in a very good way!) They really are an excellent bike retailer, and I cannot recommend them highly enough!

Thank you again, I have also recommended this website forum to my friends as a source of great info

Jules

fnegroni

My son also rides an Islabikes (Cnoc16) and on top of what has been said, I would like to add a couple of points.

We recently went for a trip to Spain and hired a 16inch Trek Jet.

The Jet came with a coaster brake, which took my son about a minute to get the hang of, but never really liked it. This is a personal preference but an important one too.
The Cnoc 16 does not anymore have a coaster brake, but old models (pre-2010 perhaps?) used to.

The Jet's weight was also a concern, especially when it came to picking up the bike after the inevitable but very occasional fall.

What I realized though was that the Cnoc comes with a steering limiter built into the Ahead headset. This prevents the steering to go full circle during a fall.

With the Jet, on a couple of occasions (that is after a fall), my son had to figure out which way round to straighten the steering that was now pointing backwards, or that it had now come full circle and the brake cable were now pulled!

We never had this issue with the Cnoc.

The only thing I must say is that, from factory, the Cnoc we purchased came with too tight wheel bearings, which I have since slackened a bit (I do my own maintenance on my bikes) and being a simple cup and cone hub system it simply required a couple of spanners and a few minutes to dial the bearings just right.

An improvement in my opinion on the Cnoc 16 would be to try and put quick release skewer at the front and use cartridge bearing hubs.

Underscore

fnegroni wrote:

The only thing I must say is that, from factory, the Cnoc we purchased came with too tight wheel bearings, which I have since slackened a bit (I do my own maintenance on my bikes) and being a simple cup and cone hub system it simply required a couple of spanners and a few minutes to dial the bearings just right.

Interesting. Son the first has a Cnoc 14 (which he is rapidly growing out of) and I've been very pleased but it was delivered with one wheel too tight and the other too loose. As you say, easy enough to tweak for those with the tools and inclination, but I was a little surprised at the time given the price and overall quality of the bike...

_

ince

Underscore wrote:

fnegroni wrote:

The only thing I must say is that, from factory, the Cnoc we purchased came with too tight wheel bearings, which I have since slackened a bit (I do my own maintenance on my bikes) and being a simple cup and cone hub system it simply required a couple of spanners and a few minutes to dial the bearings just right.

Interesting. Son the first has a Cnoc 14 (which he is rapidly growing out of) and I've been very pleased but it was delivered with one wheel too tight and the other too loose. As you say, easy enough to tweak for those with the tools and inclination, but I was a little surprised at the time given the price and overall quality of the bike...

_

Did either of you feed this back to Isla? Like has been said the service from this company is good and I would guess they would like to know of any QC issues. We, ourselves have had three bikes from them. Two for my son and one for his cousin, all three were spot on.

Underscore

ince wrote:

Did either of you feed this back to Isla? Like has been said the service from this company is good and I would guess they would like to know of any QC issues. We, ourselves have had three bikes from them. Two for my son and one for his cousin, all three were spot on.

TBH, no I didn't - I just got the cone spanners out...

_

floosy

+1 for Islabike.
Phoned on thusday night (a few weeks back) asked them what the shop opening hours were as we were planning on driving up from the south coast to see the bikes next day.

Chap on the phone asked for her height and inside leg measurement. He then suggested a size and that they would build the bike ready for tommorrow morning for her just in case she liked it and wanted it (they have a demo of each bike on display in the foyer for trying out). She did and we came home with a nice red Beinn 26 small

what great service

Dave.

fnegroni

Underscore wrote:

ince wrote:

Did either of you feed this back to Isla? Like has been said the service from this company is good and I would guess they would like to know of any QC issues. We, ourselves have had three bikes from them. Two for my son and one for his cousin, all three were spot on.

TBH, no I didn't - I just got the cone spanners out...

_

Same here.
On the other hand, they told me before my son's bike was due to be delivered that the one they had ready had a scratch, and offered either a discount or wait a little longer for a pristine one.
Considering the bike is now scratched pretty much everywhere, I think I did right in accepting the discount.
They apparently touched up the paint where it was scratched, and I must admit I am not even sure I ever noticed the scratch thinking of it now.