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So, today is a good day, child No 1 has finally decided, after much encouragement, that she wants to ride her now too small bike. She totally nailed it within an hour and is keen to do more (for now).
So this gives me a roundabout way of buying or building another bike.... Soooooo am looking for suggestions on a new or used bike for a tall and gangly 4 year old.
She'll still need stsbalisers for a few weeks. The bike she has is a cheap pile of tosh, heavy and generally rubbish in every possible way. I'd like to get her something light and confidence inspiring..... Something that will also last at least a year or two, sproglet growth wise.
Suggestions for be muchely appreciated..... I'm thinking small 20" wheeled?
Also if anyone has anything for sale hit me up with dets (totally cool middle aged dad right?)
Cheers all
Specialized Riprock. Your daughter deserves a plus bike. 🙂
Islabike.
The initial investment will pay back when you sell.
Light, fit well, specced up ok.
Our Islabikes all cost less than a cheap bike, in overall cost terms, as you get a good proportion of costs back.
My daughter was too small to handle the Riprock 20, and most non-plus 20” bikes too, when she turned 5 (and she’s tall too). She did fit very well on the Beinn 20 small, with 2.0” tyres to make it a proper MTB in feel, and although they’re expensive new, they do work out amazingly good value due to their strong residuals.
Am waiting for a dry spell so we can go for a proper MTB ride on the singletrack - it’s been so muddy since her birthday!
i bought my gangly 5 year old a 16 inch wheel bike which was big for her at the time but 18 months on she dwarfs it. I involved her in the process and allowed her an element of choice. She had no interest at all in anything mountain bike shape and ended up getting her a classic ladies shopper design with mud guards and a basket which she loves to bits and rides regularly (The basket gets filled with her favorite dolls before every ride).
I know that i won't be able to sell her bike on for much when it gets replaced which is kind of annoying but i don't regret it as she enjoys cycling now and i don't think she would have had the interest if she didn't have a bike that she liked. You'll know that they can be fickle things at that age!
How gangly is gangly?
the right answer is an Isla or Frog bike. Isla bikes are more expensive but you get more seconded hand. Frog bikes you can go to an actual shop and try.
The name of the Frog bikes, 43, 52 etc are the minimum internal leg length. Seem to be about right as well so that’ll give you a good idea.
I tried to subconsciously precondition mine into making the right decision but after testing some bikes for size her main criteria was “does it have a bell?” and wanting a nice colour. She did however ask if the bike she was getting would go down steep slopes and steps, so clearly something went in! 😉
Coming from a Cnoc 14 the Beinn 20 is reassuringly long and stable and she’s sitting low in it rather than perched way up high so she no longer looks like she’s going to end up on the floor if she approaches a kerb at the wrong angle. I think it’ll be a ton better in the woods too as it’s very rooty here and the Little Joe 2.0 tyres feel great at super low pressure.
She totally nailed it within an hour
She’ll still need stsbalisers for a few weeks.
Um. Does not compute 😁
Anyway. On a more constructive note. I've got islabike beinn 20 small and large for sale in Manchester.
Enjoy the cycling with your kids it's great.
Check out the Dawes range. Better unisex colours than Isla and Frog and lighter (if you believe the hype).
I'll have one to sell but not until the end of the summer! My monster loves hers.
Raleigh Performance 20.
“Raleigh Performance 20.”
You will not fit a four year old girl on there correctly unless she’s in the 99th percentile for height. On 20” wheels you need a very low BB, short cranks and a top tube that slopes straight towards the rear axle like a 4X bike for a child that small to fit well.
The cranks are too long on the Dawes bikes. Also, their Thunder vs Princess ranges makes me want to punch their marketing department... FFS.
Ridgeback mx range
Is 20 inch ok for a 5 year old . My lad is 5 in June and has been riding his frog 14 inch for a about a year now and he looks pretty big on it now , we were going to go for a 16 inch next but not sure now
We still have our daughters Isla Bikes Beinn 20, that my wife keeps reminding me that we need to move on to another little rider to love and enjoy. It's also purple, and we all know colour is so important to them..
Sorry, should have specified the Dawes Academy range.
http://dawescycles.com/product-category/academy/?product-page=1
No silly names there....
I cannot comment on how good it is as don’t have 1 but I think these look awesome and is definitely on the short list for when our eldest is big enough.
https://www.on-one.co.uk/c/q/bikes/mountain-bikes/kids-bikes
and actually the geometry look close to what chiefgrooveguru describes above.
Been through this with mine and they are now onto small adult bikes. Personally, if I was doing it all over again, I would buy used Islabikes starting with a Beinn 20 for a tall 4yo (my average height boy was 4 and a bit when he got his Beinn 20 small). We bought new and while I don't regret this, the used bikes hold their value so well that it's quite possible to run Islabikes for your kids right through their childhood and for it to not cost you a penny, providing you can swallow the initial outlay.
Buy the ones with unmarked frames, even if they need some maintenance - parts are cheap and easily available from the source, and if you're in any way mechanically inclined, they are very easy to work on. Parts like headsets and BBs cost a few quid from Isla direct, so you should be able to keep them running whatever the kids do to them. When you come to sell, an unmarked bike (i.e. one without piles of scratches) will always be easier to sell, even if it's not the very latest model, although I'd recommend sticking to the ones with the newer-style saddle, rather than the old "chunky" one.
FYI, my daughter started at 6yo with a Beinn 20 Large and my son at 4yo with a Beinn 20 Small (he was much earlier on his bike, despite being two years younger). My daughter moved to a Beinn 24, while my son used his sisters Beinn 20 Large, before moving to a Creig 24. He's now 9 and rides a bespoke full-suss XC bike. Had I bought all of these bikes used, I'm pretty sure it would have cost me less than £200 over the entire life of them, and maybe less had I bought wisely, as Islabikes raised their prices throughout which also pushed up the used values. In fact, we bought new and it cost us more, but I don't regret one penny of it as it got the whole family back into cycling and, as we all know, you can't put a price on that 🙂
Other decent makes (Frog, Hoy etc.) are out there of course, but only Islabikes seem to command the crazy (and consistent) prices on the used market. While there are some lovely bikes listed above, if you buy them new don't expect them to be worth anything close to what you paid for them when you come to sell them on - they won't be. If you buy them used, however, there are bargains to be had if you choose wisely!
I'd take the comments about islabike resale value with a serious pinch of salt. I've been trying to shift two islabike beinn 20s for ages and can't get rid of them. Despite one being approx 30% of rrp and the other being about 55% of rrp.
Yes, I do mean of not off.
There's a good Facebook group here for buying and selling:
It's very active and, at the very least, will give you a good hint as to how your pricing compares.
Got a Vitus Sixteen for our 4 year old. Great bike
I bought a second hand Islabike Cnoc 16 large for my just turned 5 year old (I measured her and figured out this would fit her the best - I might have gone for a Frog too had one fitted her properly).
There were a few about ... I paid £190 for one that was in really good nick ... it was green however (which she would never go for) so I neatly wrapped it entirely in bright pink duck tape (took maybe 4-5 hours) and then stuck flower stickers on it plus a disney princess bell. In all honesty I wasn't really convinced she would like any of the stock colours anyway and when it comes round to my son I'll just pull the tape off - new bike effectively.
She absolutely loves it and the sizing is bang on which has helped her confidence massively. She's still not riding with pedals but in the few weeks since getting this bike has taken big steps towards managing it (I've been careful to take it slow and not push her in any way). I reckon in the next month she'll have it nailed - she can brake and balance fine now.
If I get more than £50 for it in a few years I'll be happy .. that's an awesome first kids bike that'll have cost me maybe £150 for 2 kids.
Just to add, I could spend that sort of money on my bike in a heartbeat ... some new plus tyres, or a shock service, or something else that seems to be mind-bendingly expensive for no outwardly obvious reason, so dropping that on a kids first bike is easily justified.
We bought our second Isla 2h off the Bay.
Monster #1 doesn’t know or care that it’s second hand.
New range of children's bikes from orange that look great, if you like orange (the colour)
Has anyone got any ideas for persuading a 5yo that it’s time to ditch the stabilisers, by the way? #2 spawn less keen than #1.
Can he/she/it balance? If so, pack of Haribo, short, straight road and whip the pedals off with seat low. Get then to use it as a balance bike. 1 Haribo for each 100m run going "weeee" with feet up for a few seconds.
Then pedals on, 2 Haribo for getting some speed up and then putting feet on pedals, 5 Haribo for just 2 pedal revs.
Then they're away.
If they haven't used a balance bike before, then simply have another child and don't make the same mistake again.
HTH.
Carrera abyss / Saruna are 20 inch wheels with really dropped top tubes.
Similar spec and weight to the Isla bikes but half the price.
Good bikes. And good value.
Carrera abyss / Saruna are 20 inch wheels with really dropped top tubes.
Similar spec and weight to the Isla bikes but half the price.
Certainly cheaper, but the Abyss is at least 25% heavier (claimed 10kg vs 8kg) which makes a big difference with small riders. You should probably budget to lose most of your £225 when you come to sell it - used ones appear to be selling in the £50-70 area.
That said, it would probably make a great used bargain if you can find one on eBay in decent nick.
She can balance. She just doesn’t want to.
We admitted defeat and put the stabs on as we felt her riding her bike with them was better than not at all.
#1 didn’t have or need them.
I got a Frog 55 for my daughter about 4 years ago for about £220 at the time. I've just traded it in for £150 against a new Frog 72 at £325, which I think is a great deal. Hard to look past Frog's I think for young kids for the price....they're not expensive at all, last well, ride great and hold their value. This one should last her another few years before being passed down to her sister. Their next bikes will be small adult bikes if they still want bikes by then.
If she can balance, you might have more success getting someone else to help her off stabilisers rather than you.
I've been lucky with my two boys getting them going, but I've also helped two girls who aren't mine. One came round to play with our 4 y/o and had her riding in about 10 mins. I haven't told her dad as he wanted to do it. The other was brought round by her mum specifically to get going. She wouldn't do anything until I sent her mum inside the house, then it took literally 5 mins with my kids riding near her (and Haribo).
Peer pressure ftw. Kids will do allsorts for people who aren't their parents.