[Closed] Frog kids bikes - experiences

Daughter has the Frog 55. She loves it and it seems pretty light and solid. I've been very impressed with it.

She's had it about 18 months and it'll hopefully be another 12 months before she's outgrown it, so no experience of how well it'll hold its value yet.

Try Early Rider, very light and a good looking bikes.

Our eldest lad is on a Frog 48 and it's great. I like the little details like a decent amount of headset spacers, a proper qr for the seatpost and the all aluminium brake levers.

Not as nice as Islabikes, but a lot better than most kids bikes. Plus you can go into a shop to try them.

I looked at the frog for my daughter and took her down the local bike shop and sat her on one. The reach seemed very long and the controls seemed cramped. The back wheel also sits a long way behind the cranks. (I guess this gives it improved stability, but as we do off road riding I wanted something more compact and nimble.)

I bought a Raleigh Performance 20 in the end. Great little frame, nice cranks and wheels (not tyres though). However, I've had problems with the stock build and had to spend quite a bit to make it into the bike that I wanted for my daughter. My review is here (although I need to update it for the changes I've made to the bike)...
https://gravitykids.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/raleigh-performance-20-kids-bike-review/

In hindsight, I'd have probably bought the Isla, you can't ignore their resale value.

They are really good bikes and the fact that you can try them for size and have a poke is good. If you can afford the extra £80 for a new Islabike it will end up costing less in the long run as resale is proportionally higher than Frog. I know this having had 5 Islabikes over the years.

Jnr's next bike will prob be a frog. His cnoc 14 has been great and will get passed on to his younger brother but I can't justify the extra £80 for the brand alone!

The only drawback I could see with the single speeder frogs, they seemed to be quite high geared compared to the Isla, worth considering if you're somewhere hilly. Other than that they look great proper lockon grips and everything!

Like most of these kids bikes it's over engineered, my sons 55 is strong enough for me to ride properly off road.

The tyres it comes with are silly, but the shop I bought from gave me some more knobbly ones.

My son is just big enough for his 55. It does look a fairly long reach.

He can't half blast along though compared to previous Ridgeback he had

My daughter hates the lock on grips as they give her numb hands after more 20mins riding.

Youngest was lucky enough to get a frog 62 at the beginning of the summer.
She came from a 16" bike, the 52 fitted absolutely today, she could handle the 55, and was on tip toes for the 62, so in the interests of longevity the 62 was purchased. Being able to get the bike same day from a shop was a major selling point, having a demo of a bike was a must for us (not that many islabikes around us here for us to try out).

Really nice little bike, came with a spare set of nobbly tyres and inner tubes (kenda) in case we want to take her onto green or blue routes. The dealer fitted a stand (so she doesn't park the bike on the ground) and a derailleur guard. The dealer will buy it back if we want to upsize in the future - and provides free servicing for life for kids bikes. Can't complain really.

The bike will fit her for about 5 years, her older sibling keep trying to steal it - the gears have meant that everyone else is now playing catchup on rides, and we're looking for other bikes for her siblings.

My little girl has a frog 62 and loves it . Be sure to the latest model with some green spokes as they listened to feedback and changed stem length shifters and iirc maybe even crank length. She was a bit unsure of shimano trigger shifters after using grip shift but loves it now and says its easier

The latest model definitely made a difference too as she tried an older model in one shop and it was too big for her but the newer on was just right

We have had 4 isla bikes in our house and still have one for the the lad but i honestly think the frog is better put together

Weight wise her 24" wheel frog actually lighter than the lads 20" wheel isla but he does have 2.1 conti mtb tyres on

Only downside if the frog is you dont look to be able to fit proper size mtb tyres on it. Tho looking at above posts perhaps im wrong?

As for resale value yes isla are fantastic but its too early to tell with the frogs as they are so new but i see it being a similar percentage tbh as they are top quality and people know this. Worst case frog do trade in for next size up same as isla

Daughter has a Frog 48, it's been great, for her sizing was better than equivalent Isla, will last her longer, was slightly cheaper and came with mudguards etc as standard that cost extra on the Isla
Plus, and most importantly for the little ones, the colours and paint schemes are more attractive then the latest Isla range

I think the resale values will hold up once they get a reputation which they seem to be doing pretty well at so far

You get spare knobblies with Frogs.

resale is proportionally higher than Frog. I know this having had 5 Islabikes over the years.

How many Frogs have you had/sold?

My little lad had a Frog 43 and he loved it, still managed to get a good price after a year of ownership too, luckily for me, as Frog actually do a trade up scheme when kids outgrow, I forgot and sold on....

I've got twin girls aged 7 and they both love their Frog bikes...

I suppose the fact that Team Sky have chosen them for their bikes mean they rate them and after all that David Brailsford knows a thing about bikes!

My boy has a frog 52 and he's never off the thing. Had it 18 months now and not had a problem with it. Grips are getting a bit worn now but that's it. He regularly does 10 milers down the canal on it.

We stock them. Saying that Frog never seem to have much in the way of stock available! Drop me a message Mark and I'll give Frog a ring tomorrow.

Andy

Fantastic bikes we have one in 20" flavour.

We got some 1.75" contis from wiggle for off road duties nice and cheap.

I can't compare to Islabikes as never had one.

In our case he got the whole go to the shop and sit on it to choose it experience and the shop were awesome, recognised his enthusiasm and treated him like the customer, which was lovely for him and kind of the guy in the shop. Wouldn't get that through direct buying.

Miss Baldman went from a 20" wheeled Isla to 24" wheeled Frog this summer.

Build quality is just as good on the Frog, weight* is almost the same even with mudguards on the Frog, change to trigger shifters on Frog took a few rides practice, but she says it's easier now.

I struggle to see the premium on the Isla and think Frog and others coming into the market with comparable offerings will hit the 2nd hand prices eventually.

It was great going into the shop too, seeing the excitement of trying it out for size, making a few adjustments, then test riding and eventually buying a new bike.

*that's me and the kids picking them up and they feel the same - I expect the bigger one weighs more but it's not really noticeable.

My lad is on a Frog 55. He loves it. He had a far heavier first bike and it's great to see him zoom off over the horizon on this one,as opposed to wobbling around on a bike too heavy for him.
His younger sister will inherit it, so I hope to not know about resale values for a few years yet.

Cheapest place to get a frog 55?

Have you considered the ridgeback rx20??

The Frogs my kids tried in the shop didn't really fit well. Just seemed odd.

On the economics side, we've had Five Isla bikes which so far have cost £100 (if you discount the purchase price - we still have three) beinn 20, 24, 26 and Luath 26, 700.

I wouldn't judge the weight of small size wheels as theres not many of them made. Its easy to find cheapish, lightweight 26 and 700c rims so those are always going to be lighter.

seem to remember that the beinn 26 seemed to be very simiar weight to the 24 despite being much bigger

Are Frogs universally priced the same as the RRP on their website? I'm in the "can't justify the extra for an Isla" camp and got birthday's coming up - Frog is looking like a likely candidate.

Had a look at Frogs for LittleMiss. Seem really sorted little bikes.

That said, ours have successfully survived second hand Ridgebacks, Treks, Spesh and Carreas without too much mental and emotional harm. Though my 12 year old likes to laugh at Islabrats as someone named them on here once.

Do you get spare knobbly tyres with them?

I didn't think you did??

You get mudguards

Frog website says make sure you get two sets of tyres from the shop as that is what is supplied with the new range (knobbly and smooth).

Mmm i wonder how long thats been the case i didnt get 2 sets of tyres

firestarter - Member
Mmm i wonder how long thats been the case i didnt get 2 sets of tyres

It's quite recent.

Interesting that other companies are now doing similar bikes. I wonder how long it will be before suspension forks and triples will be supermarket only.

Cheers al

Agree that a lot of brands are catching up with Isla. Hoy and Pinnacle kids ranges look good, Dawes Academy gets mentioned more. Carrera now do an Abyss/Saruna that looks a sorted little bike.

I can't believe it is right, but the Carrera Abyss in 24in is showing as 16kg!!

I've only looked at the Saruna for my daughter, and it felt quite light, certainly not 16kg - unless muscle memory from my powerlifting days has kicked in?

Was in the exact position as you Hora. I have 2 kids, wanted a bike for the eldest and could get a new Frog for the price of an old Isla. I expect to get a few years out of it so the 2nd hand market may have completely changed by then, and knowing kids the bike will probably be in a bit of a cosmetic state by then no matter how much I try to look after it.

Went for the 52 as 20 inch wheels but the smaller frame size. I bought direct from Frog using the Leapfrog section of the website as I was lucky enough to get the bike I wanted on a deal (brand new, slight mark on forks so did not go to a retailer). As such I had to set it up myself and was impressed by the build quality, finish and thought on the components - loads of headset spacers, stem that can be run either way up, child sized brake leavers, mudguards included etc.

I did also look at the Dawes academy which was recommended by the LBS, this looked good as well, but my kids are girls and at that point the combination of the £300 price of the Dawes and the black colour put me off. At a similar price to the Frog I'd also have a look at the Pinnacle and Hoy alternatives too (though I've not seen them in the flesh).

I bought a Frog this summer (Road 58). It's great - first new bike the younger one has had and he absolutely loves. It is interesting to compare it to Islabikes though. The Frog is good, it's been well specced, but I can see where the extra money goes on the Islabike. It's mostly in the quality of the small details. The finishing touches on things like nuts are nicer. The (painted?) black nipples on the Frog are already showing rust after 10 weeks, whereas I've got 5+ year old Islabikes with shiny nickel-plated brass nipples. The welds are neater on the Islas we've got vs the Frog. The saddles are nicer on Islabikes.

I'm not saying don't get a Frog, I think they're nice bikes, just that I do think you get what you pay for with Frog vs Islabikes. Although I do think the Frogs have overly-long back ends on some models.

I have 3 daughters and I've currently got a Spesh Hotrock, Frog 48 and Frog 52. The Spesh is not that well designed for little people, they have all struggled with it. The Frog bikes by comparison are great. I considered Isla but by the time you customise them the price is way more than Frog. To me the quality of both Isla and Frog seemed similar. Resale is less of a concern for me as 3 people will use each bike.

My little lad had a tadpole for his first scoot bike and then moved onto a team sky edition frog 43.
All I can say is he loves it and it's very well put together

I definitely think that for kids bikes, having neater welds is perhaps the least important thing worth paying good money for!!

Bit of a bump but I got my eldest a 55 at the start of last year for his 6th birthday (the first model I believe with 7 speed). Over the last year and a half it has taken some serious hammer, I fitted new brake pads and cables a few months back and he had to have a new rear mech after a crash (stuck an old RSX short cage I had lying around spare on) and it's still going strong. I was going to fit some small risers to it for him but he's pretty much grown out of it so will be getting a new one for Christmas and he specifically wants a red Frog this time whilst his younger brother will be having this one.
I actually came close a few months back to building a new set of wheels up for it with some spare Hope hubs I had lying around so I could upgrade it to 9 speed but never got around to it. May still do with the hubs from my CX bike when I get new wheels for that...