I need help buying a bike for my DS

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

It needs to be light weight, assembled and around £100. Does anyone have any ideas?
Halfords do assemble th for you but don't have a great range. The weight is the key factor here, his current bike is really heavy (not sure how heavy though) and it makes it hard to cycle up hills, making him lose interest. It was a hand me down so I feel ok about replacing it!

[VivaLeBeaver]

You'll only get something secondhand at that price.

Look out for a Frog bike. Isla bikes are fab but you'd struggle to get a secondhand one for £100.

Also look at Giant bikes.

Not sure about decathlon kids bikes but they do decent adult bikes for a decent price. So they might have kids bikes in price?

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

Do you mean if I want something good quality? There are loads of kids bikes £150 and under, but if I want something lightweight and decent am I dreaming? I don't actually mind second hand at all but need to know what I'm looking for.
Will an aluminium frame be lighter than steel?

[VivaLeBeaver]

Yes decent and lightweight will be more than £100 new.

I'm sure you can buy any sort of crap for less than that. Halfords, etc are heavy and as you've found it does put kids off.

When dd was younger she had Giant bikes. Couldn't afford Isla. I think her bikes were approx £200 new. Frog bikes are a new brand but very good reputation and lightweight. Cheaper than Isla I think.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Yes aluminium would be lighter than steel. You don't need suspension, it adds weight.

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

Ok, so I'm looking for an aluminium frame, second hand. Isla or frog brand. Good place to start...halfords do have one aluminium bike in his size for £140, do you think that's going to be crap? Bear in mind he just uses it to pootle from the park and back, no major bike expeditions.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Well you said in your OP his current heavy bike is making him lose interest. A £140 bike from Halfords will likely be similar.

If you've got a decathalon near you then check the bikes out there. I've had a look online and they do kids bikes for around £120-£140, they'll be better than halfords.

[WeAllHaveWings]

Remember if you buy a decent bike you can recover some of the money if you sell when they grow out of if, especially the well known makes like ridgeback.

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

That's a good point but I really don't have £££ to invest. Is this useless? www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=165607&productId=1085587&storeId=10001

[BikeRunSki]

I second everything Viva had said about Islabike and Frog bikes. Frogs are s bit heavier for their size than Islabikes, but still lighter than "high street" bikes.

Aluminium bikes are not necessarily lighter than steel. Cheap aluminium had to be quite thick to make it sting enough for a bike - steel tubes can be thinner to provide the same strength.

I would avoid Halfords "bicycle shaped objects".

[BikeRunSki]

16" Islabike £150 Buy It Now on eBay. Will last and last, and retain a lot of it's value.

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

Islabike a are all going for £200+ on eBay which is really out of my price range :(

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

Thanks that looks good but he's 6 and the size guide suggests the 20 small or the large for his age and height.

[BikeRunSki]

Oh sorry, I just looked for the same size as in your Halfords link.

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

I'm not sure why but the Isla bikes seem to be different sizing to the halfords ones. Maybe it's wheel size and frame size?

[BikeRunSki]

Islabikes are done by frame size.

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

That's it then, the others are wheel size. Anyway the more I look the less I see that I can afford so I'm not sure what to do now.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Have you looked at decathalon? They have bikes the same price as that halfords one and they will be better.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Other thing to do is do you have anywhere near you like a forest, bike trail place where you can hire bikes?

Go to one and ask if they have a suitable sized bike for sale? That's what I did for dd's current bike. They didnt have any actually up for sale but sold me one of the hire bikes. It was that seasons Specialized for half the shop price and they even serviced it for me before I took it.

[rememberingnothing]

I'd recommend decathlon DH very into riding and no budget for islabike and similar. She whizzes along on hers and can keep up with me.

A great bike for the money. Avoid Halfords. If you go to Decathlon and try some out you might be able to pick up a second hand one of the right model.

Good luck

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

Ooh I found one on that decathalon site which is 9.3kg, that seems pretty light?

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

The islabike beinn 20 weighs 7.8kg

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

For comparison the cheapest argos bike weighs 17kg! I reckon the one he has now is approaching that, so 9.3 would be a great improvement?

[BikeRunSki]

That's a lot of the reason why Islascjst what they do.

[EhricLovesTheBhrothers]

There is a site selling ridgeback bikes which seem to have good reviews - there is an ex display one for £100 8.8kg aluminium frame - should I pounce on it?

[VivaLeBeaver]

If its the right size buy the ridgeback.