Children’s bike recommendations

[MrB.]

I’m looking for suggestions as to what bike might suit my daughter. She’s 6, and has become quite the little pedal pusher. She progressed fast from her first bike, to a bigger, sort of mini-mountain bike style that has already been through her 2 cousins. It’s a single speed, and whilst it’s been fine for a while to get used to a bigger bike, she’s pretty much starting to surpass its limits. She was cycling with me and the family in France in the summer on it, and has done the cycling day at Goodwood. Two of the boys in her class whose dad’s I am friends with, both have bikes with gears, and we go out cycling around the local area together, and she wants her next bike to be like theirs. In fairness, her current hand-me-down bike is pretty much at the end of its life, and I am thinking for her 7th birthday, a new bike might be just the ticket.

I know Frog bikes seem to be very “in” at the moment, but they seem expensive to me, and pretty much sold out at the moment. Does anyone have any experience of the Rockrider from Decathlon? Looks to be good value, and they have a little 6 speed mountain bike with front shocks that looks good. Are there any other ones I should look at?

Thoughts and experiences please.

Thanks. Bryan.

[stongle]

Get as a lite a bike as you can afford. A lot of cheap kids bikes are very, very heavy. The weight really works against them, especially when starting out.

Isla bikes and Frog are lite, but expensive. They do tend to hold their value- so you could resell when its too small and recoup most of the expensive - but its a hassle.

The Wiggin's Chartres20 we went with for our son (at 6). It has Shimano 7 speed gears and is lite weight. Much cheaper than the equiv Isla, but I think its discontinued for 2021. It was about 225 with British Cycling discount through Halfords. Checking ebay they seem to hold value well too.

Or as its Pistonheads, get Parlee to do you a one off build.

[maz8062]

Kids bike - the fun of it. My kids have Islabikes, a CNOC 14 for my 3.5 year old and a Beinn 26 for my 8 year old. They’re quite pricey but retain second hand value.

Gears are a PITA for kids, but if your daughter is into it she’ll learn.

My favourite for kids is the Early Rider bikes - 16 or 20. The 20 has 3 twist gears and the bike is very light, sturdy and holds its value secondhand.

Good luck

[numtumfutunch]

stongle said:

Get as a lite a bike as you can afford. A lot of cheap kids bikes are very, very heavy. The weight really works against them, especially when starting out.

Isla bikes and Frog are lite, but expensive. They do tend to hold their value- so you could resell when its too small and recoup most of the expensive - but its a hassle.

The Wiggin's Chartres20 we went with for our son (at 6). It has Shimano 7 speed gears and is lite weight. Much cheaper than the equiv Isla, but I think its discontinued for 2021. It was about 225 with British Cycling discount through Halfords. Checking ebay they seem to hold value well too.

Or as its Pistonheads, get Parlee to do you a one off build.

This, the Parlee nails it

On the other hand they are hard to get at the moment so I’d suggest you look at Islabikes instead

They are very much a premium product and priced accordingly however are light and actually built for kids, eg the brake levers fit little hands and aren’t just adult levers

Both my kids had islabikes and on selling I got pretty much most of my cash bike

No affiliation, just a happy customer

And again availability will prob drive what you end up with. There’s naff all product out there currently

[tog]

Our kids are 7 and 9 and both have Giants which I and they are very happy with. The LBS recommended them over the Frogs they also sell, but there's probably not much in it.

[Roastie ITR]

stongle said:

Get as a lite a bike as you can afford. A lot of cheap kids bikes are very, very heavy. The weight really works against them, especially when starting out.

Isla bikes and Frog are lite, but expensive. They do tend to hold their value- so you could resell when its too small and recoup most of the expensive - but its a hassle.

The Wiggin's Chartres20 we went with for our son (at 6). It has Shimano 7 speed gears and is lite weight. Much cheaper than the equiv Isla, but I think its discontinued for 2021. It was about 225 with British Cycling discount through Halfords. Checking ebay they seem to hold value well too.

Or as its Pistonheads, get Parlee to do you a one off build.

I was about to suggest the Wiggin's Chartres 20, my daughter has one for the last year and I would highly recommend it. I didn't realise that it had been discontinued, but I'm sure that you can pick up a second hand one for a good price.

With regards to the Rockrider, I don't have any experience of this bike, but look at the weight of the bike to make sure that it is not too heavy compared to more popular bikes. The fact that it has suspension forks is a red flag to myself, to my mind that is not required and will add unnecessary weight and complication. I have just looked at the weight and it is showing as 12.4kg for the Rockrider v's 8.6kg for the Wiggins. 4kg is a massive difference in weight for small children.

[MrB.]

First of all, thanks to everyone who has replied, it's really helpful.

Weight seems to be a big factor, and so I will keep this in mind. I have to admit, her current bike weighs a bl**dy tonne, so anything is probably better! I did have a look at the Ridgeback this morning which looks pretty decent too. I get that residuals help with the Frog and Isla bikes (one of my mate's got his two kids Isla bikes at Christmas after he couldn't get hold of Frogs), but its a lot of outlay for a kid's bike, especially since I paid less for my 2nd hand Genesis!

Have Halfords stopped doing Wiggins?

[PH5121]

My kids worked their way through the Specialized Hotrock range of bikes. Starting at 3 years old on the 12 inch wheeled version and then the 16, 20 and 24 inch models and moving onto xs adult bikes at ages 9 and 10. They were decent bikes and never needed anything beyond routine maintenance.
The 20 and 24 inch wheeled version had gears and front suspension forks.

They were readily available second hand on e-bay for reasonable money and I never had any problems selling them when they had been outgrown (sold to family, friends and neighbours).

[snotrag]

What I will say is that whilst some of the higher end/quality childrens bike appear very expensive, they do actually present very good value - they hold their money very well.

I'd strongly suggest looking for a used Frog/Islabikes etc, as whilst you will pay a bit for it (more than an equivalent sized brand new Carrera) you will also find that when it is outgrown, it will either

a) still be in fine fettle to pass down the siblings
b) still fetch nigh on what you paid for it by selling it on. And spend the proceeds on the next one.

[Matt_N]

At 6 she could probably get on with a 20” wheel bike which will come with 6/7/8 gears depending on what you get.

The top dogs are Isla and Frog, yes they are expensive but you’ll get at least half the outlay back when it’s outgrown.

Here is quite a list of the best rated 20” wheels, my 6 yr old has a Giant ARX after starting on a Frog 43:

https://www.cyclesprog.co.uk/bikes/junior-hybrid-b...

[interstellar]

My daughter had 3 Frog bikes. All great, well worth the money and very light.

You will get your moneys worth out of it.

Looked at gumtree locally for a used one? plenty on there.

I wouldn't compromise, its worth the money to see the smile on her face. My daughter loved her frog bikes.

[ribbit]

snotrag said:

What I will say is that whilst some of the higher end/quality childrens bike appear very expensive, they do actually present very good value - they hold their money very well.

I'd strongly suggest looking for a used Frog/Islabikes etc, as whilst you will pay a bit for it (more than an equivalent sized brand new Carrera) you will also find that when it is outgrown, it will either

a) still be in fine fettle to pass down the siblings
b) still fetch nigh on what you paid for it by selling it on. And spend the proceeds on the next one.

I would agree with all of the above, but also add that these premium bikes are lighter and easier to ride, and have better considered functionality for smaller hands and bodies. They are more fun to ride. My son moved from a Specialized Hotrock to an Islabike Beinn and was soon comfortably doing two circuits of Lake Vyrnwy, and loving every minute of it.

When he outgrew the Isla, we actually got more back for it than we paid originally.

[Hard-Drive]

+1 for Islabikes. My son, then aged 4, had an evening in a quiet car park to get the basic skills, and then hammered off 6 and a bit miles the very next day.

And buy second hand, you won’t have it for long, and then you can resell for the same money.

[Your Dad]

I'll chuck Hoy Bonaly into the mix. We had a Bonaly 16 and it was lovely and light.

[lllnorrislll]

We did frog for a 14in bike when my youngest was four, bought second hand, replaced tyres, grips and cables and still sold it for a small profit last summer.

Our 16, 20, and 24 inch bikes are all Wiggins and being passed down between my 3. If I get any money back at the end of them being dropped scraped and crashed, I will be happy.

Isla and Earlyrider are clearly the best and I was very tempted by the Hope academy hire bikes. Frog were quick to follow, but other manufacturers have now caught on including Obera, Gooutdoors - wild bikes, Ridgeback, Wiggle, Dawes and Raleigh.

Carrera Cosmos / Star are very good cheap alternative, but still weightier than some others, but as Carrera bikes get bigger they become more weighed down with suspension and pointless gears.

It is also worth checking second hand, occasionally you will see Vitus / Verenti 16s and Wiggins bikes very cheap on Facebook / eBay.

[bristolbaron]

I bought a Hoy Bonaly 16” for my 5y/o at the start of lockdown. I thought she’d get a year out of it before my 4y/o was ready, but he picked up riding straight away.

I wasn’t going to buy another new bike for 1 season so found her a used Islabike cnoc for £160. We regularly rode 30km at a time, with her furthest ride at 51km! Such an epic day out and I’ve got no problem spending the big bucks for her next bike. She’s now 6 and 1cm off sizing for a 20” large Islabike Bienn so we’ve jumped a frame size. Just need the weather now.

[vwsurfbum]

Simply buy a very expensive second-hand Isla, use it for 2 years, sell for the same money.

[PushedDover]

Need to be a MTB ?
I got off of the Bay (as new the price seemed a little punchy) a Bobbin Gingersnap 20"
7 Gears, Spring Saddle detachable front basket for dolls or shops etc my 7 year old loved it.
And envied by many other parents looking for something similar

[MrB.]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to come back on here and thank everyone for their recommendations. My wife and I have debated the merits of all suggested, weight (and wait!) being the major factor, and we've settled on a Ridgeback 20 Dimension for our little one.

Thanks to all who helped, and happy trails.

[louiebaby]

MrB. said:

Hello everyone. I just wanted to come back on here and thank everyone for their recommendations. My wife and I have debated the merits of all suggested, weight (and wait!) being the major factor, and we've settled on a Ridgeback 20 Dimension for our little one.

Thanks to all who helped, and happy trails.

Looks like a great bike, the lever style gears will be easier for your child than the twist-grips seen on many bikes.