[Closed] Kids Bike Opinion

I would go used, they grow out of them fast and once they have done their initial depreciation, most good kids bikes tend to resell used for about the same money (+/- £30ish) for many years.

There is lots of love for Islabikes as they tend to size parts like brake levers and cranks for smaller people and importantly keep the overall bike weight down, frog do the same. The Orbea will be a good bike too, but a new one is (IMO) a waste of money, he's six, will drop and scrape it up, grow out of it inside of 24months and you will never sell it for anything like what you paid.

Buy a used frog or isla and you can probably flip it on a couple of years later to fund the next size up...

Have a look around for a Carrera Blast or similar.
I got one for my daughter for £50 and spent a bit on upgrades/weight reduction.
Great little bikes, not too heavy and easy to upgrade.

Thanks, that's useful. I was thinking that a second hand one might be a bit better, not just for the money side of it, but not as concerned WHEN he scratches it. The Frog bikes seem to get a good reputation and can buy spares for them online (although seems completely sold out just now). Just so many options its hard to know what to choose. Me not being anything like an expert a lot of them look exactly the same.

By the way, cracking photo Stevied. Im in scotland though, that nice sunny field would be replaced by just a giant muddy puddle:-)

My boy has had a few Frog bikes, we have always bought new from the local shop as used prices are crazy so you get a good chunk back when its out grown. If it has gears invest in a rear mech cage as bent hangers are common.

We've had one Frog and 3 Isla's.  The Frog was really very good.  The Isla's, in my opinion were superior but a bigger investment up front.

The second hand market for both brands is strong though and we hardly lost anything on the Frog to be honest, think it was about £100 over the 3 years we had it.

We lost £20 on the first Isla (a balance bike) and £80 on the second (Beinn 20).  I've literally just sold the last one (Beinn 24) for £250 that we have had since 2013 and only cost us £320 brand new I think.

Both my kids used them as they grew into them at different times, except for a period where one hadn't grown out of the 20 so we got the Frog to cover.

So, in total, although the investment was higher in the first place, our kids had bikes all the way through from balance bikes to their last Isla for the sum total of about £170 loss over a decade or more!

You can't go far wrong with a Frog but I would always say buy new from Isla if anyone were to ask me!

Thanks

Matt

Raleigh Performance 20 or Giant ARX 20 would be where I'd look.

We've had a few Frogs and they've been fine, but the geometry wasn't quite as good as Islabikes - from a fit point of view, the bottom bracket on the frog's have been higher which has meant a higher saddle. So when they first got them, often they couldn't touch their feet on the ground with the saddle at the right height. Was just a case of scooting off the front of the saddle when they stopped though, or have the saddle a little lower than optimal.

Islabikes are pricey though last time I looked so I would look elsewhere if my kids weren't already getting to an age where small adult bikes are becoming an option

Pinnacle are great - the Ash is the 20" one, ours was really good. Long wheelbase for stability, decent sized tyres, well thought out kids' bike.

We've had Isla's all the way with our two kids. 3 years between them so as the eldest has grown out of one the youngest has grown into it, just about. Perfect parental planning.

We've gone from the balance bike onto small single speed bike, then a Beinn 20 with gears and the final one in use is a Creigg 24.

We've gone with brand new each time and I'd echo mattham's points above. We have lost very little on the sale of the bikes, even though both kids have used them and they are carrying the normal scars, although minor, of kids enjoying using their bikes.

They are investments but you don't lose much on them when the kids have grown out of them.

I'd go down the Isla route again.

Another +1 for Isla or another respected brand, but we did that with Islabikes. In fact we actually made a profit on one bike as we bought it just before the RRP went up, so the used prices all increased over the two years we had it...

Buy a used Isla/Frog or similar and invest in a service by your LBS to ensure it's all running fine if you can't do that yourself. It's pre-scratched (that's why I tend to buy used MTB frames too, can't be precious over an ex-demo frame!) and assuming you don't destroy it the resell value will be similar to what you bought it for.

When we looked at Islabikes they had very skinny tyres as standard. When your bike is rigid then big tyres (2.0 in the case of the Pinnacle) really help.

When we looked at Islabikes they had very skinny tyres as standard.

Ditto. Swapped them out with Michelin Wildgrippers. Creigg 24 has chunky tyres as standard though.

Thanks for all the opinions. much appreciated. I'm going to go and see the Frog 55 and see what my son thinks of it. It seems to get good reviews and like yous have said, wont depreciate much if he looks after it, which he is actually pretty good at. I looked at the Islabikes aswell the Beinn looks great, but a bit out my price range at the minute. Cheers

When we looked at Islabikes they had very skinny tyres as standard.

Ditto. Swapped them out with Michelin Wildgrippers. Creigg 24 has chunky tyres as standard though.

I meant Conti Explorers.

Hoy Bonaly is a good option in that price range, seem to come up on ebay used fairly often. My daughter had one and it was a good step up from a BSO, would agree about growing out of it fast so buy used.

I bought a SH Isla Beinn 24 for my then 6 year old, he absolutely adores it and it's transformed his riding into a real love of bikes.
I see no reason why we can't get back at least what we paid for it. Keep an eye on eBay and act fast. No way I'd spend 400 odd quid new on a bike for a 6 year old.

we traded in a frog 62 for a frog 73 at edinburgh bike coop last november (even though the trade in wasnt purchased there) they gave us 50% trade in. I understand you'll get more selling but at the time it was hassle free.
Have to say for some reason seemed somewhat underwhelmed with the frog 73 as opposed to when we got the frog 62.

Top idea to get the kid to look at and approve it, they'll ride it much more if they're invested in it rather that just explaining the head over heart benefits. We've had frogs all the way cos our local bike shop does a trade in so costs us 50-60wuid a bike after the initial outlay. But all brands above are plenty good enough, just make sure the boy likes it first.

I sat him down and asked what he wanted from his new bike....."red, red like a fire engine"....at least he's not fussy:-)

My daughter ended up with the Orbea MX20, mainly because we couldn't get an Isla round here and even if we could the gripshift wasn't looking to be a good option. We got the an ex-demo disc for good enough discount that we reckoned we wouldn't lose much on it.

Weight-wise it's as good as any other kids lightweight, the only thing I swapped out was the long cage Altus for a medium cage SLX as it was just too close to the ground and the usual [url= https://gravitykids.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/pedals-for-kids-options/ ]pedal upgrade[/url] (Wellgo KC-008).

To be honest though both the Frog and Orbea are good bikes and as good as each other. The Squish 20 is also a decent looking bike (basically a Dawes for kids since they dropped their academy range).

My oldest has a Commencal Ramones 20, its a nice bike and he loves riding it but it is a bit heavy.

First of several children? Buy new and pass it down. We had the first generation Trek MT60 - one of the first lighter alloy bikes with adjustable stem and multi-drilled cranks. Since then disk brakes seem to have taken over, but most mainstream 20" manufacturers now produce quality. There are no bad choices but If you can, avoid front suspension. A stand is helpful as they tend to just drop the bike. Smooth tyres too for decent speed. Gripshift is easier for kids and you definitely don't want a FD.

BTW that Trek went through six children and is still in use today. It was £200 new in 2004. Quality lasts. It is silver and white so gender neutral.

My daughter ended up with the Orbea MX20, mainly because we couldn’t get an Isla round here and even if we could the gripshift wasn’t looking to be a good option.

That's the one drawback with the geared Islas that we have had. Kids could not get on with Gripshift at all. Easy swap to SRAM trigger shifters for the relevant speed.

Saracen mantra bikepacking

Saracen mantras never seem to get mentioned but they are ace little bikes, well built, well specced and a good price

We bought our firstborn one when he was 4.5 (he’s a tall lad) and now, a year later, he’s cranking out 40 plus mile, two day, off road bike packing trips... hitting trail centre and generally gooning around.

Only downside is, they are heavy but then most kids bikes seem to be

+1 for Isla beinn20. Just got one for size up from cnoc 16. She seems to find the grip shift easy straight away and the lightweight wheels are remarkable when you handle them.

£260 second hand. If you can get a heavier bike for less money it should be similar slow depreciation, I'm sure fit/colour/weather is much more important than weight when it comes to enjoying riding.

I’m sure fit/colour/weather is much more important than weight when it comes to enjoying riding

I dunno, if your bike was 50-100% heavier I'm sure you would know it and probably not appreciate it. A couple of kilos is no bother on our bikes, sure, but on a kids bike can make all the difference. As I said in another thread, when my daughter was going to her first bike we had a Trek monstrosity that weighed almost as much as mine, zero interest. Got her something not made out of solid iron and she loved it.

Thanks for everyones opinions. Was really useful hearing from others experience. We went and picked up a frog 55 this morning. Its in really condition and got it for £195 (think 355 new). He loves it,been out on it already.....and of course it's the all important fire engine red:-)