To consider buying a brand new Isla bike?

[hadtodoitagain]

Hello,

I have a son who is 10. I have heard very good reviews on Isla bikes but can not justify the price . I have been trying to get second hand ones from EBay but I keep getting outbidded. Honestly. I have tried. I'm tempting to buy a brand new one... but I'm not sure. Considering he would just be using it in the park..

Facebook has several sales pages devoted to islabikes.

They are excellent but so are frog and both have had demand outstrip supply over lockdown.

Unless you are planning on accompanying him on some pretty long rides then any decent brand aluminium framed bike will do for him.

Have you checked their website? They sometimes do ex display bikes discounted.

Islas are great, but overpriced second hand, especially this year due to covid. Frog are cheaper new. Giant arx are too. Wiggins bikes are also light.

Is your 10 year old tall? He might be xs size from brands like giant, so no need for a child bike at all. The frog 69 my son has is already 26 inch wheels. He's 8, so the next bike will probably be an adult bike.

We have Frog bikes, both our children need the next size up now and Father Christmas is bringing them. We usually buy second hand but haven't been able to pick any up in the sizes we need, so we've bitten the bullet and bought new - although that was a fluke that a local stockist literally had the two sizes and colour we wanted, as even new Frog stock had limited availability online. I rang round a few retailers and was told mixed stories about whether Frog were allowing retailers to place orders for stock as most places were out of stock on line. My youngest has his heart set on a bike so we didn't want to leave it too late, although the general consensus seemed to be shops were expecting to get their Christmas stock in, just not clear when.

It might also be worth looking at bike clubs - I think you can get a good lightweight bike for a small monthly fee.

We had an islabike Balance bike and it was so lovely. We sold it on for a good price.

Got a Frog next and it’s also very good.

The reason why I want an Isla bike is because my sons physio recommended it to me as my son has dyspraxia, with poor posture and weak core strength. A heavy bike would not be good cumbersome for him.

I’m considering getting a bike from the bike club. You rent one each month - frogs start around £11.50 then you just get a different one when they grow out of it. It seems a really good idea. They have Frog, Forme and Squish.

thebikeclub.co.uk/

Rollercoaster1920 my son is below average height for a 10 year old. But! We reckon a 26 small will last a good few years for him. Size 24 is perfect for him, looking at the measurements on the Isla site, but it would last a few months.

Frogs are nice and light, just the same as Isla. Very little in it.

Do you know much about cycling? What has attracted you to that brand?

I suggest not limiting your search to this one brand. I would be adding Trek and Giant to the search too.

DD's had a mix of 2nd hand and bought-new Islabikes since she was little, and I've always sold them on for at least what I paid if not more because prices went up faster than she grew.

She's now (admittedly a short!) 18 & still riding her Beinn 26 large & showing no signs of wanting a proper adult bike It's lovely to ride, I'm not surprised.

I'd say if you have a child with dyspraxia / other reasons to find cycling hard then it's really worth the investment if you can afford it, it'll just make cycling more enjoyable. Having said that dd is very careful by nature and wouldn't ever leave her bike around, plus we live in a very low crime area, I might feel differently in other circs.

They're great bikes. We also have, and would recommend Frog and the Bradley Wiggins range from Halfords.

There is a buying/selling group on Facebook too

Yes - as others have said, you will resell it for almost as much as you paid for it.

We have bought new Isla and Frog bikes for our kids because we couldn't get second hand and got really good prices when we sold them years later. We sold one via the Islabikes for Sale FB page.

DS2 also has dyspraxia and has found both Isla and Frog bikes easy to ride.

If you’re worried about it being stolen ring your household insurer and ask for a quote for it to be insured both in and out of the home and added to your policy - I do this with mine (several bikes each over £1k) and it doesn’t cost much.

buy it new and sell it on eBay the instant he grows out of it

There are no Isla bikes in stock at the moment anyway !

I'm after a 2nd hand Being 26 (not pink!) if anyone has one they wish to sell (SE)

And I have a red 20L which needs some love if anyone wants to buy

Frog bikes are just as good if not better

@AriettyHomily very true!
Islabikes are great, no doubt about it, and they do have the resale value.
But, there are other brands which are every bit as good - and a fraction of the price.
I was researching islabikes for ds2 when he was younger, but couldn't justify the price. I ended up getting him a Saracen - exactly the same weight, with all of the features, for £110 brand new. It got three years of regular use, and I sold it for £50 earlier this year.
I come from a cycling background, and there are very many cheaper alternatives out there which are every bit as good as Isla. It's a bit of a middle class badge, that's all. Do your research.

[quote JockTamsonsBairns]@AriettyHomily very true!
Islabikes are great, no doubt about it, and they do have the resale value.
But, there are other brands which are every bit as good - and a fraction of the price.
I was researching islabikes for ds2 when he was younger, but couldn't justify the price. I ended up getting him a Saracen - exactly the same weight, with all of the features, for £110 brand new. It got three years of regular use, and I sold it for £50 earlier this year.
I come from a cycling background, and there are very many cheaper alternatives out there which are every bit as good as Isla. It's a bit of a middle class badge, that's all. Do your research.[/quote]
This is a good point-we got a ‘zebra’ which is basically a knock-off frog and it’s progressing through the dc pretty much indistinguishable from the Isla and frogs. It’s mostly about the lightweight of the aluminium frame, esp with your ds condition, rather than the details that Isla and frog use to sell (special brakes etc)

Other good makes of bikes in the Isla type of are frog, specialised and ridgeback - all lightweight, well made and hold their value
They won't be cheap but may give you a bigger range to look out for
We have had specialized, ridgeback and ds1 currently has a frog (a little bit heavier than the others but still good, it fitted his body type better than the specialized in the same size)
Ds2 has his brothers old ridgeback and will move up to the specialized.

There’s a good selling group on FB.

We’ve just got frogs via the bike club. Seems a good deal, we pay £15 ish a month and you either trade in as the kids grow or own it outright after 3 years

We always had Islas and sold them on meaning we got the use of them for however long for about £80

We got ours on Facebook marketplace