[Closed] am I an idot spending for an isla bike?

From what I have seen they are worth it, friends' kids with other cheaper bikes don't want to ride tem so much, end up braking with their feet etc as the brakes are so crap.

For the smile it will put on her face, it's worth it! I bought my lad a Beinn last year and he loves it. Build quality is great too. My mate sold a cnoc for £20 less than he paid for it brand new

No they are great

I know everyone on here will disagree, but why not spend £50 on one that will do the same job

or look on ebay

Your daughter is 4, she will only care about the colour

They are a great bit of kit

The neat touches for me are all the little parts designed around little people, such as, smaller brake levers, pedals and cranks, that make it just that little bit easier for them to ride with, they are also a stack load lighter than your normal £50 buy.

If you can afford it and you're kid actually wants a bike then why not.

but why not spend £50 on one that will do the same job

Isla bikes are doing something important - reversing all the damage Raleigh did selling shit bikes like tomahawks, choppers and grifters to kids. They turned bikes into unridable toys and killed the culture of cycling in the UK.

I say keep buying Islabikes until it forces other brands to stop selling crap. That said - aren't Ridgeback (in their clever jump-in-second kind of way) making a few decent kids bikes too?

Worth it.

No other wee bike comes close.
They sell for £160 second-hand on ebay, and that's bike the parents paid £120 for - so yours will probably go up in value too.

And here's my four-year old riding the skillz park at Comrie Croft:
The joy of watching this is priceless.
[img] [/img]

We went for Ridgeback MX20's for our boys as they were able to try them for size in local shops. They have been great bikes... not sure what the resale will be like although both bikes still look great.

[img] [/img]

she has actually got a regular bike too but its too small (her heels are on the pedals and make her feet slip off) I swear it weights around 18lb too plus the brakes are the worst and her little hands can't squeeze them

My son has had both a Rothan and a CNOC 16 and has ridden both of them to death.

Just sold the CNOC 16 and got £15 less than I paid. Which is pretty good after 2 years.

I thought hard about going cheap for his next 20in bike, and so got him a cheap £50 in the interim. He hated it and complained all the time that it was too heavy. So he hardly rode it and when he did he didnt enjoy it.

I looked at Hardrock & Ridgeback 20s, but they are only £50 less than the Isla but weigh 5 or 6 pounds more.

So in the end I have just ordered him a Beinn 20, as I know he will love riding it and I will get good money for it afterwards.

Forgot about the resale values, they do seem to hold their price very well second hand compared to other makes.

Other brands are available 🙂

In general, I'd say it's worth spending a bit more than the budget end. A decent brand like Isla, Specialized, Giant, Cube etc will be put together properly and with decent components. That means it'll be safer, but also it'll retain a good resale value so, over the time you own it, it'll likely cost no more than the budget bike would have.

Yes the initial outlay is big, but if you get almost all of it back after 2 years, then it softens the blow in the long term.

sold thanks guys!

as above, we have two Islabikes at the moment & about to get another. The kids love 'em!

Yes, they hold their price very well for eBay sales, even creeping up as the RRP increases. Remember, though, that eBay will take around 10% off you in selling fees if you sell through them. I got a lot more interest from eBay than I did advertising here, but YMMV.

What if she doesnt want to ride it ?

Our 4 year old has a £30 bike (its pink and that all that matters) from ebay. She has really got into cycling and now rides it quite happily for 6 or 7 miles along trails. (Camel trail, high peak etc). Its been perfect so far, with very little outlay. I am now looking at an Isla now that I am ahppy she will use the thing !

I was staggered by ebay resale values.
6 years old, 4 years use, two children, a bit battered, although obviously still worked perfectly. They fetch 80% of their original cost!!!
Total cost of ownership after fees, brake pads, etc £40!

They are good, and do hold their value, so no you are not an idiot.

Another Comrie skillz park pic, another Isla bike:
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7823753654_4e15af13b4_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7823753654_4e15af13b4_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/7823753654/ ]Comrie Croft pump jump track[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/matt_outandabout/ ]matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr

You get what you pay for. When I took delivery of my daughters Islabike, I wished every bike I've paid an inordinate amount of cash for was as well built.

I sold it on the classifieds here, after she'd used it for 18 months, for £20 less than I paid for it new

Do it, there's always buyers for after you're done with them them or get a used one? There's plenty about and usually in better nick than most kids bikes, probably because their parents have good bikes and teach them to look after them.

The only downside that I've experienced is that their friends always want to ride them because they are lighter and easier to ride with better brakes for skids!Grrrr. They also tend to chuck them down afterwards too, so I've had to get my lad a shit bike too for when he goes to friends houses or they come to us. The Islabike gets hung out of reach!

I should have added... my wife forced me buy a cheap 16" wheeled bike for the youngest boy as he didn't like the hand-me-down balance bike and wanted to be on a real bike like his big brother... HUGE MISTAKE. It was a total POS and ended up meaning none of us rode much until he outgrew it and he could get an MX20 like his big brother.

Awesome bikes. I wasn't convinced at first so bought a Ridgeback for my daughter - £120 bike that sold for £40 at 2 years old. She now has an Isla Beinn 20 and my son has a CNOC16 - both will serve at least 2 kids before being sold for almost what I paid for them so they make a lot of sense I think.

No you're not, the only reason I didn't get an Isla balance bike for my little one was that I got such a good deal on a Ridgeback one.

My little girl had the smallest pedal bike but was too little for next one up by a small amount, so as a stop gap til she was big enough for next one I had bought her to save buying two little islas for a couple of months I got the little lad a fireman bike from Halfords and he struggled like mad but could ride the isla, so I got his bigger sister who had been riding over a year to try it and she couldn't ride it as it was too heavy and seemed to be all out of proportion. Luckily tho after about two months she could get on the bigger Isla and now flys round on that 😉
[IMG] [/IMG]

my eldest has gone through a Rothan and a CNOC 14 and 16, which will be recycled (youngest on the CNOC 14 now, Rothan with a cousin).

My eldest is on some crappy apollo now while we try to find a Beinn 20 and the difference in quality is shocking. The weight of the cheapo means he struggles when it comes to negotiating things at a slow pace, and the weight and awful gear ratio means it's tough for him to get going on even a slight incline

I'd say go for it, we bought the CNOC 14 new, but the rest 2nd hand and while they were only a little less than RRP, knowing that the kids will get a lot of use from them, and then they can be sold on for near what we paid is a massive bonus

My eldest is on some crappy apollo ..........awful gear ratio means it's tough for him to get going on even a slight incline

Likewise, bought a cheap Apollo for my son to see him through to xmas and cant believe the gear ratio, something like a 40T front chainring and 26T rear. Not sure even I could get up hill on that ratio! 😉

And it weighs 26lb!

Can someone save this thread for posterity - there seems to be a general consensus!

Ok, my 2pence worth.

I finish building a Isla bike for someone the other day and they a very nice bike, light and well built.

I also do a lot of Bikeability with kids so I do see a lot of crap out there, but also some nice bikes.

BUT the THING that really Boils my Pi** is bikes coming from BIKE SHOPS with BRAKE REACH not SET UP!!!!!!!! 👿
99% of brakes (cable) come with some sort of reach adjustment, wind the bloody things IN and re adjust the brakes, it's not hard!
It is great to see kids able to reach their brakes, after seeing them strugle it gives them so much more control.
Yes the brake might not be "kids size" levers but with some proper set up/adjustment they will fit most kids reach.

Also,
Don't get a full sus kids bike, they very heavy, don't work normall have plastic bushings and wear out in no time at all.

We have 2, a Beinn 26 small and a Beinn 20 large, for 9 and 6 yr olds respectively. Great bikes, confidence inspiring and as said above, when they grow out of them you can sell at good prices 🙂
[img] [/img]

It's a shame you can't but them in shops so you can try for size.

My son is on a 12" wheeled Raliegh that we inherited brand new.

He loves riding it but now it looks like a clowns bike as it is far too small.

On the Isla bike size chart he is right on the minimum sizing for the Beinn 24. Obviously he is growing fast (he's 6.5yrs) but I don't want to put him off riding as it's a big jump in wheel size. Unsure whether to go 20" or 24" wheels

MM

They need a 12" pedal bike in the range I think.

I am going to resist other 12" pedal bikes & keep my lad on balance bikes until he fits an Isla.

Balance - straight to - 16" worked great for us.
The amount they can do on a balance bike is extraordinary.

We got our 4yo a Cnoc 16 in the summer. Its one of the new batch, very light (under 6 kg) and pink, which suits her.
She could barely lift the front end of her previous; a hand-me-down decathlon pig-iron thing. Must have weighed in at around 14 or 15 kg which is great for doing curls with whilst carrying it up staircases, but not so practical as a kid's bike.
I checked the Ridgebacks at a lbs and they are good too, but the mx16 was still noticeably heavier than the Isla.

should I spend the cash £200 or am I an idiot

A whole, great quality, kids bike for £30 more than an XTR mech? Sounds like a steal. We'll be getting one for micromtbfixlette come Spring.

The Ridgebacks are excellent for half the price. I get the resale argument, but when you can pick up a nearly new RB for under £80 (which you'll get back when you sell it) the up-front cost of the Islas doesn't stack up.

Daughter on 2nd Islabike Luath and they are great.

Sold 1st one for £300, cost £360 new.

The only thing I don't get are the gear ratio's. With restricted ratio's in youth racing her Luath 24 is aimed at riders up to 10 but has a ratio for the U12 category so we had to adjust so the smallest cog couldn't be used.

No, do it.

My eldest is on a Rothan currently, youngest is approaching the point where he'll want one too so I'm looking around for a Cnoc 14. If I had the money to spare I'd buy brand new, if I can't find one second hand in reasonable condition at a decent price (unlikely looking at ebay) then I'll probably just bite the bullet and get new anyway.

As already stated, lots of other bikes to choose from but for me the most important thing is that the nippers enjoy riding them as much as possible and I think Isla wins there hands down. In formative years I think that the easier a bike is to ride the more they'll enjoy it and want to do more. Got to be worth an extra £50 or so (or more!).

A whole, great quality, kids bike for £30 more than an XTR mech? Sounds like a steal. We'll be getting one for micromtbfixlette come Spring.

another big fan here.

Stoner Jr Sr's Rohan is now being used by Jr Jr. His Cnoc 14 is in bits in the shed ready for a complete rebuild/refresh ready for Jr Jr to grow into next spring and Jr Sr is now the proud owner of a new Beinn 20 Small. In limited edition MANGO colour!! Woop!

They are great bikes. Hold their value well. Extremely well built and hold together as well as not going rusty crappy from being left in the rain.

[img] [/img]

pink cnoc16 ordered!!!! hope she likes! up in the lost until christmas

I lost round one of "New Bike for Christmas" and my then, 7 year old got a gas pipe special which was heavy and the gears too stiff to shift. Consequently he hardly rode it.

My wife noticed how heavy it was and why he wasn't interested in riding anymore. 2 weeks later a shiny Islabike arrived....

Awesome colour Stoner.

They only come in blue or red for boys now 🙁

Who needs advertising with reviews like these? I don't think any other brands manage. Friends kids have islabikes and all love 'em. The owners are also my neighbors and bloody fast on a bike...

AlexSimon - Member
Can someone save this thread for posterity - there seems to be a general consensus!

Ok, for a bit of balance.. well not really..

I looked at the Islabikes (she had a smaller range at the time) and ended up getting Daisy a second hand Scott:

[img] [/img]

One of the few that doesn't weigh a ton and nice size, geometry and kit..

but.. in the end, for lots of reasons, wish I'd gone for the Islabike!

I ended up changing the brakes, shifters and rear mech. Even on such an expensive bike the forks were pretty much useless and despite my efforts to swap internals etc proved un-improvable.

The wheels weighed a ton. I spent ages trying to swap them for something better and in the end got a pair from.... .. Islabikes.

True to her ethos I found her wheels the only properly sourced set of 24 inch wheels. Nice rims, spokes and build. All for a great price too.

I sold the Scott on for a good price, in large part because of the Isla bike wheels (which I made sure to include in the ebay description).. I got the impression there are loads of people who look for 'Isla bike' in search terms.. for good reason 🙂

Now I realise by the nature of this forum that the majority of you guys just want any excuse to spend a fortune on bikes, and I also know quality kids bikes still fetch good money on Ebay but..........kids out grow their bikes often in a year. They use and abuse them, abandon them where ever, fling them down etc. Do you want to be that parent screaming at your kid because he/she has thrown their £200 bike down on the drive, or left it up the street.

My 10yr old daughter now has a semi decent 24" that will last 4/5 years and she looks after it, but my 7yr old son has a 20" MTB ish thing that was a fiver off Ebay. A couple of new tyres and a fettle and its just fine. When he's finished with it, it will.....yes be back on Ebay, and I'm hoping to make a profit!

Oh, and I've no idea where he left it last night, nor has he!

Awesome colour Stoner.

They only come in blue or red for boys now

Islabikes only received their limited edition mango colour Cnoc's and 20" Benin's in early October (from memory they didn't advertise this colour on their website - it was mentioned on their Facebook page)

If you want the mango colour you should give them a ring, as they may still have some in stock.

They are also planning on releasing other limited edition colours in the future.

I did, they didn't do other colours in the Beinn 24 unfortunately

I see your point Andy. Mine are 2 and 3 so at the moment, and for a while yet I'd imagine, won't be out on their bikes without supervision. For the moment I'd prefer to pay more for something they will want to spend more time on, and given resale value it's a bit of a no brainer.

Once they're old enough and firmly indoctrinated I'll probably switch them to something cheaper, but until then it's Islabikes all the way. If I have the money to spend I'll still get them Isla's but I don't expect to have that luxury!

Do you want to be that parent screaming at your kid because he/she has thrown their £200 bike down on the drive, or left it up the street.

No, I want to be the parent teaching my children to respect and look after their property and to make sure that objects of value are adequately secured.

Andy - good point and an area of concern in our house. Our solution was a pair of crappy bmx's off gumtree for when they are kicking around the houses with their mates in the street and the Islabikes used for 'proper rides'. Works a treat for us, got the bmx's for £40 each and they get used and abused for the short jaunts around the estate, abandoned at the swings etc. Islabikes are used weekly and remain in better condition, plus if the kids have 4 bikes in the garage then my 4 don't look too excessive 😆

they have a good marketing dept by the looks of it.

Carrera blast, or what ever the girls version is called. Great bike.

I did look at isla bikes but the fact that you couldn't actually look at them and the delivery cost put me off. I'm sure they are great bikes but for that price you could get one of a few others that are as good and you can actually see in shop.

If you've got the money though they'll be good for bragging rights down the park though!!

Buy one, excellent bikes.

they have a good marketing dept by the looks of it.

If you've got the money though they'll be good for bragging rights down the park though!!

Collectively we must spend the equivalent of the GDP of a small country on bikes for ourselves, is that for bragging rights or because we like to ride nice bikes and can tell the difference? I know which bikes I'd rather my kids were riding if I had the money.

We've just sold Jnr's first Luath and didn't lose too much on it over the 18 months he had it. Was going to replace with another Luath, just bigger, but got swayed by a lovely Condor bike with Campag kit on it 2nd hand (I ride Campag so have spares available). Much better specced than the Isla, and lighter. However, I ended up spending quite a bit to make the bike more child friendly. Jnr has ended up with a lovely bike that'll last him a good few years, but from a pocket perspective I wish I'd just gone for another Isla!

Jase - I asked Isla about the gearing. They said they want to provide a good range of ratios on the Luath as not everyone races.

If you can afford one and the kid will use it enough to justify it, buy one. They are great bikes.

We couldn't be sure the use would be had, so have always opted to buy second hand Trek/Spesh/Ridgebacks for around £100, and then still sold them on for £50-60

I wouldn't buy another. Yes they might keep their value but the geometry is pretty weird for anything above the 16" (super long back end that makes them really hard to wheelie, manual or jump properly) and the lightness comes at a price (not up to much abuse and no suspension make them rubbish in the mountains).

My son had a Cnoc 16 (which he snapped) but after that I steered well clear. Scott and Specialized are way better.

well I opened the box for a peek last night...WOW, I thought they would be well made but the build quality, design and components are top notch!

truly excited to see my little girl riding on it!

On the one hand they are great bikes, worth the money and have bombproof residual values.

On the other hand you will look like a middle class bike snob 🙂

As good as they are you can get very similar products for much less. Specialized are good but not much cheaper and always seem heavier. Giant Ridgeback and Trek do some decent kids bikes too.

One thing is that brand new and secondhand there is so little difference on an Islabike that you may as well spend the cash. Giant, Trek and Ridgeback offer much better value as secondhand buys - all my daughter's current bikes were secondhand and £35-65 and they are all top kit, well made and ride great. The garage includes a £60 16 inch Ridgeback for my 4 year old who has progressed from a Hotrock 12 (bought £120 new 4 years ago and sold for £65 the other week), the 20" Giant was £30 and appeared to have had more spent on a recent service at the bike shop with waxed chain, new cable set and tyres and finally my eldest's 24" Trek was essentailly a 2 year old unused bike without a scratch on it for £65.

I did buy a secondhand 20" Islabike to replace the 20" Giant and it was a fair bit lighter but my daughter wasn't keen on the racier position and more immediate steering. So my bike snoberry was snubbed and I sold it on fleabay 2 weeks after buying it.

Collectively we must spend the equivalent of the GDP of a small country on bikes for ourselves, is that for bragging rights or because we like to ride nice bikes and can tell the difference?

Bragging rights mostly i'd say.

Get the Isla,

I don't sell kids bike because they are almost all wrong one way or another, I direct customers to Isla.

Just picked up a second hand Trek Mountain 60 20" for my daughter. Light ally frame, 6 speed, v-brakes, suspension forks*, Trek's 'dialled' fit adjustability. £50 on the bay and a couple of hours of my time to strip, clean and service. It's now as good as new, except for the usual scratches that well used kids bikes tend to pick up anyway. A few scratches mean it will be well used again without worry of further marks being too detrimental, eg to re-sale, hopefully I'll get most/all of my money back when time comes to move it on. Not that my daughter isn't taught to respect and look after her things, but kids being kids it's likely to get some marks/scratches.

*I would say the suspension forks are probably a bit of unnecessary extra weight, especially as they are a bit stiff for her weight and barely move. But on the other hand she likes having a 'bouncy' fork like daddy has on his bike, and she is currently at the lower end of the bikes size/weight range anyway.

I would say the suspension forks are probably a bit of unnecessary extra weight, especially as they are a bit stiff for her weight and barely move.

I would say most forks on kids bikes are there for cosmetic reasons rather than functional reasons

I bought a CNOC14 for my son a couple of weeks ago. He's 3 1/4 and had been doing well on the balance bike. I'm amazed at the focus he put in to learning that so he could earn his pedals!

This morning he asked to ride it to nursery. We rode on the cycle paths and I loaded it onto a cargo trailer and him into a child seat for the more dangerous road bits. It's currently locked up next to my bike at work.

He'd been practising a bit on holiday last week and could start with assistance and stop using the brakes. (He couldn't operate the brake on his cheap balance bike which frustrated him). This morning, with some prompting, he learned how to start the bike by pushing off on one foot and down on the pedal on the other, and was happy to be "stopping using the brakes like Dad". He can ride up gentle gradients on it. It seems to run, even with him pedalling flat out, at a speed I can keep up with when running so the gearing seems right for him.

So for us an excellent purchase. We've not got the mudguards. I'm unsure if we need them as he doesn't kick up that much water. We'll order them if needed. It looks like a proper bike. The Islabikes look light and well made, the larger ones having more slender tubes than I see on many children's bikes.

We also considered the Ridgeback MX16 - too big for him but looks good - and the MX14. The 14 looked more plasticy, heavier, but otherwise does look a reasonable bike. I preferred the look of the 16 of the two. In reply to a comment above, if he was bigger and an MX16 came up for £65 second hand it would be worth looking at.

In the end I'm glad we got the Islabike. He has two younger sisters to grow into it and it looks like it will last for them. If the lighter weight means he can go further on cycle rides with us that's great. He's only 18kg, so a few kilos is a lot for him. There are many bikes out there over half his weight! We've not needed stabilisers having gone the balance bike route. He seems to really enjoy it!

[img] [/img]

We've had a couple of Islas for my kids, although son was insistent he wanted a bike "with forks" so ended up with a Ridgeback MX24.

My daughter has a Beinn 26 small, which is lovely and light, lighter than the Ridgeback.

However, my son, who is two years younger can beat her up hill everytime as the Isla's gears are not low enough. He can get up the long draggy climb at Llandegla, where as she is off and walking.

So it's not that simple...

Another approach that a friend took is to build up a bike based on 26" frame (small jump bike), 24" wheels in 26" forks etc, works really well and could be an option if you have lots of bits lying around.

My lad's 3 in Jan - I picked up a CNOC 14 yesterday (eBay 'win') for him...
It's just..nice! I giggled holding the tiny grips and brakes, and the v's are really easy to pull - in comparison my parents kindly 'picked up' (i.e. a neighbour dumped it on them) and BSO for kids, and even I can barely pull the brakes or lift the thing!

Yes, it's a bit 'posh' spending twice on a tiddler bike what most people would gawp at on a BSO for themselves, but for me riding is important, and I want him to be interested and play along with me!

Besides - when you compare it to footie strips and Nintendo DS's, it's not that pricey!

DrP - "convincing himself to spend lots on bikes since 2006....!"

If she's really into it then go for it, otherwise a £70 Fury will do.

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.eurobike.uk.com/list.aspx?CAT=73 ]Moda bikes[/url] do nice kids bikes too if you're after a road or cyclo-cross type bike.

They come with a 2*9 setup with STI levers.

I did have to swap out the cassette for a mountain bike one though.

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/8151162798_d859ba5779.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/8151162798_d859ba5779.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peakcyclehire/8151162798/ ]Col de South Head[/url]

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/8151160406_3f92dd8f4d.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/8151160406_3f92dd8f4d.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peakcyclehire/8151160406/ ]Roych[/url]

@richpips - will the Moda 'cross bikes take mudguards and/or a rack?

@richpips - will the Moda 'cross bikes take mudguards and/or a rack?

Yep a pair of eyelets on each side at the rear so you could run both. Mudguard fittings at the front.

You may have to use some cunning to avoid the canti cables on the cross version that we have.

Santa brought our lass a MX16 last year and it has been faultless , but she has outgrown it already. So this year he is bringing her a Cuda Mayhem. Being as busy as he is he asked me to build it for him and for £119 im impressed. I think the frame is the same as a MX20 but without the suspension forks. The only down side is that the v brakes are a bit cheap and nasty, but ill see how they get on.