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I'm starting to research our lad's next bike. He's pedalling confidently on a Frog with 16" wheels but is getting too big for it (knees hitting bars when pedalling).
Trouble is when looking at the usual suspects (Islabikes, Frog, Specialized, (my LBS wants me to look at an Orbea!) for the next one up (20" wheels) they all have a rear mech and a couple of gears...
This just seems silly for a 5 year old and also potential for breakage when the bike gets thrown down on the ground.
What are other people's kids around this age riding? I did find a Hoy on Evans that had 20" wheels and no gears. Or is it good to get little people used to gears at that age?
Cheers
Going to let my five/going on 6 year old pick a 20" with gears(with guidance). So he can use that for longer rides.
Though we will keep the 16" Isla as he is so confident on it. For thrashing around on.
Mine got a 20" Carrera Blast off ebay when he was 6. He likes riding it. It works well. It cost about £60, so I won't cry when he scratches it.
My boy is 5 in March and he is starting to look a little big for his 14" Islabike.
I have spent some time look at the option to move him to 20" for his birthday. He has asked for a bike with gears. Currently looking at the Commencal Ramones 20".
Decent bike with gears (Islabike, Frog, Hoy, Wiggins(includes injection kit 
) and just leave it in the most suitable gear until he is old enough to change them himself.
I've gone from isla cnocs to frog bikes as mine have grown. Frogs come with mud guards and 2 sets of tyres..
Isla does a 20" Cnoc now: http://www.islabikes.co.uk/products/bikes/item/cnoc-20-age-5
If it's just for thrashing around on a small BMX might be worth a look, but they'll be too heavy to ride any distance.
Mine both went onto an Islabike Beinn 20 at about 5. Gears mostly unused to start with, but they get the hang of them soon enough and that opens up a whole new level (and distance) of riding. He could be using this bike for the next 3 years so it's worth thinking ahead, The problem mostly though is that the gears are often hard to use (I've not been convinced by gripshift for kids in use) - ended up building anew wheel and going 9spd with triggers on ours.
My 5yr old went from a 14" Isla Cnoc to a 20" Isla Beinn Small. The only issue was that the gripshift was too stiff for him to use so I swapped it out for a thumbshifter and now he flies around on it and can change gears easily.
My lad's just moved up on to a bigger bike (carerra blast) from a Specialized 20" bike. Am looking to sell the Specialized bike. If anyone's interested, drop me an email.
With gears. They will be on it till they are about 8 and if you want to take them on proper rides they will need them.
As long as you get one of the brands you mention who are sensible and make light bikes with 1* set ups you'll be good.
I think Islabikes have just brought in a singlespeed Cnoc 20 for this very reason, but both my kids have had gears at five - but we also live up a big hill so they get used. I've not tried the Islabikes twist shift (which they say is better than thumb shift), but my kids have found the new Frog thumb shift much easier to use the the older model Frog's twist shift.
Used Trek MT60 Mountain Lion. Very adjustable, double threaded cranks and adjustable reach bars. Not too heavy (one of the first alloy kids frames). Gripshift for easier shifting and five or six gears ("forward to go faster"). Our was one of the first batch and it went through about five children and is still in use daily. I could have earned a commission for the number I sold to friends and relatives!
It's also been around Swinley Blue quiet a few times.
You don't need to spend a lot any more to buy a good children's bike. Frog seem like the best value of the newer names, but don't write off the big names.
Ridgeback for my kids. Same as an isla bike (simple and light) but much cheaper. Not got the same resale value though....
Islabikes all day long.
My son has a Frog with 7 or 8 gears. Gets on well with it. Often stays in the same gear but on longer rides he will change gear with a bit of a reminder. He's six in Nov had it for about 3 months now.
Pinnacle here. Islabike aren't the only show in town these days.
Gears may be excessive for a play bike but not for going on bike rides - 5 yea old legs don't have a lot of torque for those hills.
Big hills? How many long bike rides did you go on <10? It should ALL be fun 🙂
The Early Rider 20" Belter looks a belter:
http://earlyrider.com/collections/all-bikes/products/belter-20-urban-3
I want to get one for my 6 year old but my wife thinks they're too boyish so It'll be pink Islabike Beinn next for us.
[quote=hora ]Big hills? How many long bike rides did you go on <10? It should ALL be fun
Yeah, and it's more fun with gears on anything which isn't pan flat (ie involves hills) which is the case for most rides in most places
Why are long rides not fun? You'd better tell my daughter.
I thought you were a MTBer?
Daughter has a earlyrider belter 3s and she loves it. Very capable and 3 speed rear hub so gears but easy to use and resistant to being dumped. She's a lot more confident on it than she was on her Isla
Islabikes come with very skinny tyres which I don't think would help off road either.
Both of mine switched to Islabikes Beinn before their sixth birthday and not had any issues with damage... I think it's good to have gears at that age, so they can ride a wider range of routes. And the great thing about Islabikes is the second-hand value makes them relatively cheap in the long-run!
Yes they come with CX tyres as standard but you can upgrade to suitable off-road rubber. In retrospect though I wouldn't bother, as the standard CX tyre is more than capable for off-road on a small bike and works much better on the road.
Ridgeback for mine at that age, but gears weren't a problem at that age.
Most bikes with rear mechs at that age come with a protective "cage"? Ugly, but work really well.
[quote=molgrips ]Islabikes come with very skinny tyres which I don't think would help off road either.
You do know that you can fit different tyres?*
I thought you were a MTBer?
*I'm not sure if it's still the case, but a few years ago you could specify proper off road tyres when you bought one
BTW FWIW neither of mine have yet managed to break the rear mech by throwing the bikes down, and we've had ones with gears for over 3 years - nor have I heard of anybody else breaking them, and there are quite a lot of Islas with gears in our local club.
My four year old is on a 16" Earlyriser belter. She loves it. Very light. Nothing much to go wrong.
20" version has three speed internal hub gear and disc brakes - her cousin has that one. Highly recommended.
getting my 6 year old a scott scale 20 jr plus for his birthday.
My 5 year old has had gears on a Beinn for the last 6 months. Struggles with the gripshift but having gears is a definite plus.
When my kids were 5 I started them on Scott Voltages junior 20. Yes they're not using the gears at first, but it doesn't stop you selecting the gear at the start of a big climb etc. It wasn't long before I upgraded to disc brakes and 9 speed gears with trigger shifters as grip shift is no good for kids. They come on really quick from that age, mine were doing uplifts in the Alps soon after and having a solid bike helped a lot. Introducing them to gears isn't a bad thing, they're there if they want to use them, and because the frames are so tight it's not going to get knocked when it gets abondoned! You might want to go lighter than the voltage though depending on were you want to take them.
Just to echo some of the other posters, in our experience too
Trigger shifters > gripshift
Oh re the breakable mechs - ours (Isla 20's) are very well used and have we've had 2 go through 3 kids.
I think we might have replaced 1 mech in that time. I think it cost about 20 quid (if that). Really just the usual wear and tear though. changed the grip shift to thumb shift, cables, pads etc.
We went for Hoys for the 24s when they were 8. Same bike, loads cheaper, better colours and you could test ride them.... we did eventually put decent bouncy forks on when the kids were getting arm pump in the alps etc.
Just put my boy's one in the classifieds if anyone's interested.