Bike for 4 year old

monquixote

At the moment my girl has got a balance bike, but I'd like to get her a proper one so she can start learning how to ride with pedals.

My lad is 2 so I'm going to be passing her balance bike on to him (it's plain blue) and then eventually he will inherit her her new one which means it needs to be:

• Without stabilisers 
• Aluminium (because you end up carrying the buggers)
• Non gendered 

This combination seems to be unreasonably difficult to find mostly because every bloody bike is covered with either fairies or footballs.

So any recomendations?

I'm also not sure if I want to get her a 14" or 16" frame. I nipped into Halfords today to have a look. She was more comfortable on the 14" ones, but they looked very small. The 16" ones freaked her out because she was on tiptoes to touch the ground, but I think she would have a lot more growing room on it.

Ones I've seen so far that look interesting are:
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/kids-bikes/raleigh-zero-kids-bike-16
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-fourteen-kids-bike/

Legionreturns

Isla bikes and frog bikes both do a bike growing scheme, and both make high quality bikes specifically for kids. A crap Halfords bike will be harder to ride, heavier and less well equipped plus you'll lose all your money as they have no resale value. 

Of the two I'd favour Isla bikes but there's not a lot in it. You can change the bike fit a different frame size as often as you need to as they grow. 

Legionreturns

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/products/bikes

ICBM

I wouldn't go to Halfords unless you like paying more for the same stuff you can get in a proper bike shop, but put together badly.

A tip - if the saddle won't go low enough on the 16" bike, you can gain about an inch and a half by dismantling the saddle clamp and reassembling it upside down so it fits inside the saddle - a bit fiddly, but worth it to avoid buying a smaller bike which they then grow out of too quickly! I've done that (and undone it when they get bigger of course) on about three or four bikes so far...

simonk

Frog bikes are great, can't recommend them highly enough. Avoid Halfrauds...

monquixote

Legionreturns said:

 A crap Halfords bike will be harder to ride, heavier and less well equipped plus you'll lose all your money as they have no resale value. 

ICBM said:

I wouldn't go to Halfords unless you like paying more for the same stuff you can get in a proper bike shop, but put together badly.

Agreed.

I just went in there because there happened to be one next to the car park when I went to town earlier.

I do like the Isla bikes, but they are a bit too far on the pricey side (cost more than my bike I bought for commuting on!)  for something they will grow out of pretty quickly.

Legionreturns

monquixote said:

Legionreturns said:

 A crap Halfords bike will be harder to ride, heavier and less well equipped plus you'll lose all your money as they have no resale value. 

ICBM said:

I wouldn't go to Halfords unless you like paying more for the same stuff you can get in a proper bike shop, but put together badly.

Agreed.

I just went in there because there happened to be one next to the car park when I went to town earlier.

I do like the Isla bikes, but they are a bit too far on the pricey side (cost more than my bike I bought for commuting on!)  for something they will grow out of pretty quickly.

That's true, but they hold their value. Even better though, use a growing club as mentioned above. There's a few of them out there... 

Here's an example

https://www.thebikeclub.co

monquixote

Looks like a lot of people are selling Isla's for £200 when they are £289 new. 

That's actually less of a hit than buying a POS and not being able to give it away.

Guitar_Slinger

monquixote said:

I'm also not sure if I want to get her a 14" or 16" frame. I nipped into Halfords today to have a look. She was more comfortable on the 14" ones, but they looked very small. The 16" ones freaked her out because she was on tiptoes to touch the ground, but I think she would have a lot more growing room on it.

Ones I've seen so far that look interesting are:
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/kids-bikes/raleigh-zero-kids-bike-16
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-fourteen-kids-bike/

14" / 16" is the wheels... I've made the same decision with my 5 year old and am going for a 16".  He's had a 10" balance bike since his second birthday and 12" with pedals since he was 3.  He's spent about 18 months pedalling.

As well as the leap in size and weight, I had hold the seat for the first 20 minutes, to stop him wanting to keep using feet on the floor like a balance bike.  Sore shins!

I've gone for cheap stuff (end of line or whatever) because they get dropped/scratched and there'll be no re re-sale value if it gets nicked..

nick79

I was in the same situation a couple of years ago, ended up going to Halfords and getting my lad a Carrera Cosmos.
It's not the usual Halfords rubbish - Decent components, very light at 6kg (which was my main criteria) and it's held together well.
My lad has just outgrown it and i've finally managed to get him off it onto a bigger one so it's going to be up for sale soon. 

stimpsonslostson

Another vote for Islabikes. My 5year old went straight from balance bike to Islabike when she was about 3.
They're lightweight, well made, the frame geometry is great for small people and (most importantly) the brakes have a really light pull weight on them so small hands can operate them safely.

They ARE expensive, but they retain value really well, so you won't take a bath if you sell it on later

Flanging_Fred

Frog bike or something good quality. As is mentioned, second hand ones are almost as expensive as a new one, so not only are you getting a much better bike but in the longer term it works out cheaper than buying a low cost nasty (heavy) Halfords  one.

guitarmangler

Hold out for an isla or frog on eBay/gumtree with pickup only. Then sell them when they've both outgrown.
Buy the size that they need now, so they're comfortable (coming from the man who bought a 16", and then a 14" the week after for his 5 year old !)
Regarding weights, the lightweight ones are only a couple of kilos lighter than the main brands. I ended buying giants secondhand (that's the 14" and 16") because that's what my wife and I have. A little heavier, but I live in cambridge so there's no hills.

benecol

Another vote for Islabikes here; both my kids have had them. Costly first purchase, but they hold their value amazingly well. Think of it as spending £50-£75 to lease an amazing bike for them.

FX_Munkee

Keep an eye on ebay, with a local search radius. There's always "good" kids bikes for sale, you do have to filter through a lot of dross though.
In the last 6 months I've had to get all 3 of mine new (to them) bikes.
My 5 year old got a 16" Specialized Hotrock, it's extremely light and sturdy enough. Cost me £28 and 5 minutes in the car.

maidenfan

Islabikes again, in fact, I need to sell our one, blue cnoc, both our kids had it from 4

monquixote

maidenfan said:

Islabikes again, in fact, I need to sell our one, blue cnoc, both our kids had it from 4

Might be interested...

dchwhite

I have a couple of kids' bikes I'm looking to move on, that mine have outgrown. I think they might be a bit big for yours though - 20" wheels.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/two-childrens-bicycles-1-raleigh-made-in-uk-1-full-suspension-suit-ages-7-10-approx/1252261060

(PS if I don't want to get into trouble - if posting Gumtree links is against the rules, please don't tell the modmins).

monquixote

dchwhite said:

I have a couple of kids' bikes I'm looking to move on, that mine have outgrown. I think they might be a bit big for yours though - 20" wheels.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/two-childrens-bicycles-1-raleigh-made-in-uk-1-full-suspension-suit-ages-7-10-approx/1252261060

(PS if I don't want to get into trouble - if posting Gumtree links is against the rules, please don't tell the modmins).

Yeah those modmins are right bastards

dchwhite

monofin

Bought my 4 year old a btwin which is great - very pink though