to be miffed at dd's new bike ...

[PlonkerForLifeNotJustChristmas]

...because despite measuring her inside leg carefully before ordering, the bike is still a good 2/3" too big for her and she'll be lucky if she can ride it in summer, never mind any time soon

Dd is desperate to go on it but can't even touch the floor on her very tippy toes never mind flat-footed!

Dh has checked and can't lower it any further

I'm just glad I hadn't sold her old bike as was my original plan ...!

can you not take it back/exchange it?

Well, I thought about that, but we bought it over the internet and it seems like such a chore to send it back. We can't really exchange it anyway ecause the next one down from the one dd got for Christmas is the balance bike which she already has

I'm pissed off because dd had been asking for a bike with pedals for months and was so excited. We measured carefully so know we got the right size bike but its waaaay too big, grrrr ...

If it really is that big that she can't use it till summer, and you want a different once she can use now, you should contact them, there should be a return policy, and they will probably send a courier to collect. Its definatley worth asking? You should act sooner rather than later, as there may be time limit.

She'll be lucky if she can ride even in summer

I'll give them a ring in the morning. Thanks.

I was going to order an Isla bike and went to out local independant bike shop to try a few other out before we finally decided. I had measured and DS came up needing a 16". In the shop a 16 Raleigh was waay to big but the 14 seemed to small ands he wouldn't have any growing room. For this reason we decided against the Isla as we couldn't try it it out in person.

Can you not sell the bike you have and get her a different brand that might fit

How old is she and what size is the bike?

Presumably it has stabilisers so doesn't matter that much if she can only reach on tiptoes?

I bought DD a 12inch bike for 4th birthday (she was far too small at 3) and DS managed it from 3.5 as DD got a bigger one for her 6th birthday.

She's 3 and a half. I don't know the size of the bike but it says it's suitable from age 3+ and for a min inside leg measurement of 38cm, which she is.

It doesn't have stabilizers, so she does need to be able to touch the floor easily.

Oldraver - it is an islabike and like you we couldn't try it out in person, but we measured her carefully so thought it'd be fine. Gutted.

Dh just measured the saddle height and it's 47cm!!! That can't be right, surely?

I knew it must be an Islabike, lol... Isla is great at customer service, just phone her tomorrow and ask what she advises. Is it the Cnoc 14 or 16? At 3-4.5yo my DC would still be on a 12" bike, though, admittedly. You could return the Cnoc and get a regular 12" wheel bike cheaply somewhere with pedals (carboot) to tide her over.

It's a Cnoc 14.

But I'm wondering if they've sent us the wrong one because from the floor to top of saddle is 47cm, which doesn't sound right for a bike which says it's suitable for age 3+ and a minimum inside leg of 38cm????

Does the saddle come down at all? It may be at it's highest setting IYSWIM?

It's down as low as it will go, dh has tried and tried and can't get it down any lower ...

Call Isla - her customer service is really good. She got us a shorter seatpost (for free) for DS1's balance bike when it was hitting the ground (he was teeny - we did wait until he was 3.5 before going for the Cnoc 14). Is there a chance you've the 16 instead?

That's what we think abdnhiker - she's only diddy but she isn't so small that her feet should be dangling inches from the floor, and 47cm from saddle to floor just doesn't sound right? We think it's definitely the wrong frame, but it does say Cnoc 14 on it?

Shorter seatpost sounds good - will definitely give her a ring tomorrow, thanks.

FWIW when to took my DD to buy a bike for her 4th birthday I wanted to get her a 14 inch one. But the person in the shop said she was only just big enough for a 12 inch one. But they don't do a 12 inch one, so others must have had this issue?

Its not a cheap bike, call them and see what they say.

Been on the phone to islabikes.

They were very helpful and asked me to email a photo of the bike to see that it was the right one and that it was on it's lowest setting. It is the right one and it is on the lowest setting. Unfortunately.

There's nothing they can do to make the bike any smaller so have given me the option of returning the bike for a full refund, or putting dd on a stretching rack waiting for dd to grow.

Not sure what to do tbh. She'd need to grow a good 2/3" between now and summer for it to be ride-able. That said, she's got her balance bike which she still loves, so maybe she just has to accept that she's too small for a bike with pedals ...

Thanks for all your responses

get a refund, then go to Halfords and sit her on a few bikes to get the right size :)

She isn't supposed to put her feet on the floor, she should be able to just touch her toes to the floor.

According to islabikes, she should be able to put the balls of her feet on the floor bruffin - she can't, she can't even put the tips of her toes on and maintain balance when the bike is still.

Am thinking of investing in some platforms

TBH 3.5 years old would be very very young to be riding a pedal bike without stabilisers, I'd be super impressed if she could do it anytime soon, even if the bike was small enough. I would have thought (judging by DD's friends) that 5 or 6 was more average.

I expect thats the reason that isla doesn't make small pedal bikes.

FWIW DD (7) still can't ride without stabilisers despite our best efforts over the summer.

I would have thought that she would be the right size for a 12 inch bike - DS1 is quite small yet managed (with stabilisers though) at 3.5 years - although he still can't ride without stabilisers (nearly 5), its not just a matter of balance (which she no doubt has from the balance bike), they have to have the strength to turn the pedals fast enough.

I think at 3.5 the choices are:

a) continue with balance bike
b) get pedal bike with stabilisers
c) get pedal bike & take pedals off (ie use as balance bike)

If her balance bike still fits you might want to do a) and wait for her to grow into the new bike. If its too small then you need to decide between b) or c).

Why not go to your local bike shop, get her to try some bikes, and based on what they have and whats the right size, then decide whether to return it.

Can you remove the saddle from the seat post, take the seat post out and saw a bit off? then you will be able to get the saddle lower.

That'd be vandalising an Islabike, I wouldn't do it!! Diminishes resale value, for one thing.

I agree about sticking with balance bike until she grows, OR

Get a 12" bike with pedals + stabs (I think I said that already). Carboots and newspaper is a cheap place to pick one up.
Learners really need to get feet flat on floor when they are learning to pedal. You can raise the seat a bit later once they have the hang of it (raise to point where they can get balls on feet on floor).

Toes only on floor when bottom on seat is for children age 5-6+ (generally).

5yo is about average age to learn to ride without stabs. I know balance bike fans say that their children get the hang of it sooner -- but ONLY if they are big enough to use the bike available to them (able to sit in seat with feet flat on floor initially). This is where 12" wheel bikes with pedals have merit.

Riding without stabilisers is vastly over-rated, btw. But that's another debate!!!

I agree about needing to have feet flat or almost flat when learning to ride, so doesn't sound like the bike will fit anytime soon.

Also as I already said I'd be very impressed with a 3.5/4 YO managing a pedal bike without stabilisers.

Me too, MumNWL. About 5.5yo really is average. I suspect it's only a few months early on average for children who have had balance bikes.

And it's a nuisance when they can ride without stabs -- not something to encourage, ime.