Trek Neko or Islabikes Beinn 29

ZachariahZ

Hi

We are a new cycling family with young kids aged 6 and 4. We do a daily a 8 mile round school commute and a 15 miler on weekends.

Currently my wife has a hand me down mountain bike and after much thought we are pretty confident that she wants a hybrid as we occasionally use towpaths but mainly road.

The budget is upto £800 but we do feel that the type of cycling my wife does will not warrant spending that much money? She is certainly unlikely to ever do over 25 miles in one journey and mainly for school run and weekend fun.

Trek as a brand came first to our mind, mainly because I have a trek hybrid too. The Trek Neko seems great http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/to ... ko_womens/

but we are about to by an Islabikes beinn for our six year old and came across the adult version http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn29.html

Can you guys advise on the major differences? I know the trek neko comes in 3 option including disc brakes and has suspension that the Islabikes does not have. I therefore assume the Islabikes is lighter?

I don't know much about bikes and would be grateful if you could advise on the pros and cons?

We are happy to consider other brands.

simon_e

The Beinn 29 is designed - genuinely - as a true all-rounder, so no suspension forks (unnecessary weight and complication) and single chainring with 10 speed cassette while the Treks have a triple chainset (more complication, more weight).

Have you read this?
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -11-45606/

ZachariahZ

Thank you for the reply Simon. I tried to reply earlier but had trouble logging in!

The Islabike seems like a great bike for occasional commuting, school run and weekend fun with children.

Is the Trek Neko suspension any good and any advantage over the Islabike? is 10 speed adequate for most surfaces or are the extra gears on the Trek Neko better?

supersonic

The suspension is pretty useless to be honest - heavy and undamped so doesn't work properly.

Gearing is personal really - I prefer a triple chain set as is very hilly here.

simon_e

Cheap suspension is considered worse than no suspension. There are still plenty of MTB riders who ride rigid so unless you're looking to get all 'hardcore' and 'gnarly' I would avoid bouncy forks. The Beinn has been designed by someone who rides a huge amount and knows what's important and what isn't.

A triple chainset is not necessarily a bad thing but the Beinn's wide range 10 gears should be more than adequate for most recreational riders looking to do easy paced riding and some light offroad.