Alternative to Islabike

tarquin_foxglove

My daughter has grown out of her Islabike Beinn & I was trying to persuade her to get a Luath 700 but she isn't interested in a road bike.

The bigger Beinn's still only have 1 chain ring which I think will limit its long term usefulness.

Are there any manufacturers that do a decent-ish hybrid for 11+ (obviously with no suspension) or is it back to Isla Bikes?

andrewc3142

You could try a small woman's bike, depending on how tall she is.

I wouldn't see the single chain ring as a major limitation, though. My then 10 year old got up various hills last year in Brittany on his Luath (26), including a 30% one coming out of St Brieuc. The set-up allows for a huge range of gears, albeit with the shifts being more widely spaced than on an adult road bike.

Your daughter may well cope better, but my experience is that kids under about 14 don't really use double cranks that well, ending up with horrible chain lines.

Whatever you get she'll grow out of all too quickly ...

othello

Totally agree about the single chainring not being an issue -- the amount of 1x10 speed MTBs out there show that. With a single ring you can get a wide range without duplications. Most double (or triple) ring set-ups have duplicate gears, so you don't get as many as you think you do in reality.

Depending on the height of your daughter, look around for an XS or even XXS womens bike. Womens ranges tend to have shorter top tubes, meaning an adult bike won't be as big a stretch.

macbikes

Only single chainring as well http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-ki ... rog73.aspx