Kids first bike

rockmonkeysc

Not quite mountain bike but I'm sure I might get some useful ideas.
I'm looking for a new bike for the young'un. She's four and had a balance bike for a while so it's time for a pedal bike
I want to buy something good, not the usual disposable Halfords / Argos rubbish. Needs to be cool enough to replace a Kiddimoto balance bike in Kevin Schwantz replica colours :-)

cooldad

I keep hearing about a Transition Scout being pretty competent.

Antm81

Isla bikes? Not sure if they go that small but must be worth a look

rockmonkeysc

Isla Bikes look pretty good. Nicely designed.

veronese68

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19629707#p19629707]RockmonkeySC[/url] wrote:

Isla Bikes look pretty good. Nicely designed.

For a kid's bike they hold their money very well. You can sell them on for good money so should work out cheaper than buying a POS that's worthless once used.

jamski

We bought out little one a Ridgeback from Evans. It's lasted really well.

Like you we wanted a 'proper' bike, not a novelty one.

http://m.evanscycles.com/products/ridgeback/mx14-2015-kids-bike-ec074430

craker

I can't say I buy into this expensive kids bikes thing, but then I'm a tightwad. Of course its very hard to be objective but having got all three of mine going on ebay pick-ups I've found most of the issue is getting said child motivated.

I've just got my youngest (5 yo) properly going on the 12" wheeled anonymous bike that his older brother learned on. Since big brother got too big for it it's sat outside for a few winters but is thankfully none the worse for it. He's got a lovely new expensive bike to get going on when he's big enough.

My top tip for encouraging them - sweets. 'That was a really good effort. Have a sweet' really got him motivated to go for trips up to the local village hall with its big flat car park. Child behaviourists look away now ;-)

lawman

+1 on the Ridgeback MX14, great little bikes. Perhaps don't get the coverage the likes of Isla and Frog get but just as good imo.

iwilldoit

When I was up at CyB a month or so a go I saw a young 4 year old girl on one of these, I hadn't seen a full suss bike so small and as I looked closer it seemed to have good components on it, but as I talked to her farther I nearly fell over he said he had up graded some stuff on it and now owed him around £ 2.5k
http://lilshredder.com/lil-shredder-prodigy
I thought my son was costing us a fortune on his mtb but that seemed crazy to me, mind if you can afford it !!

Polf

+1 for the frog bikes. My 4 year old has a frog 43. They are just as good as the Islabikes, a little cheaper and come in a better range of colours which is always important for the young ones.

russyh

My little boy loves his Cnoc 14 islabike. He is five and had struggled with his first bike, these islabikes are so well thought through. They are light, with brake levers that fit small hands and work. We are taking him to the fod tomorrow for a pedal around some of the family trail. Incedently my 9 year old needed a new bike last year we bought her a bike from halfords as she didn't want an Isla, or anything I showed her! The bike we bought is an 20" wheel bso, it weighs in at an impressive 32lbs.....for a small kids bike. I just don't know how they can even make it that heavy! It's more than all of my bikes including my spitfire! Still I am now building her next bike as she wants to come MTB riding with me....happy days!

rockmonkeysc

Thanks for the ideas. Isla and Frog look good. It's likely to get plenty of use, she's always on her balance bike so I don't mind spending a bit.

Mattcee

Another vote for IslaBikes here.
Our youngest was struggling a bit on her 'cartoon character' bike so got her a used Islabike off eBay.
I swear she picked up riding within 5 pushes down the garden.
It is just so light and really shows just how heavy her 'cartoon character' bike was.
The handlebars are narrower meaning her hands fit on the grips easier, the brake lever are closer, cranks are shorter... its just such a well thought out bike.
Yes they're expensive but second prices are strong so while the initial cost is high, if looked after it should get a good price when selling on again.

mattham

We have had several Islabikes and also have a Frog as well at the moment. They are definitely worth the extra, they are designed properly with brake levers for small hands, suitable gear ratios, correct crank lengths etc and are much lighter than most others. When we switched from a Ridgeback Honey to our first Isla, it completely changed the way our daughter thought about riding, all of a sudden it was easy and she loves cycling now.

Of the two, Islabikes are better, but its close. They hold their value incredibly, in fact since Islabikes put their prices up the last two we sold have only cost £60 in total, and we have had effectively nearly 4 years of cycling from them. When I sold my son's Cnoc, it funded his new Frog bar £35.

That's my 2 pennies worth....

paul.skibum

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19629823#p19629823]lawman[/url] wrote:

+1 on the Ridgeback MX14, great little bikes. Perhaps don't get the coverage the likes of Isla and Frog get but just as good imo.

My goddaughter has a Ridgeback MX as well - seems ok, she's a total numpty on a bike, cant steer, no concept of braking and can only pedal with one leg but I am pretty sure the bike is fine.