Bikes for 4 - 5 year olds

[Ka1978]

Hi

I have a nearly 5 year old and am looking to get him his first pedal bike for Christmas.

I've been recommended Frog bikes and Isla bikes but both are out of our price range new and second hand ones are snapped up.

Does anyone have any recommendations for cheaper bikes that are light and are a good first bike?

Thanks in advance!

Do you have a bike shop locally you could go into? Maybe they can advise?

If you are just wanting a first bike he can learn on then one from Smyths or a second hand one would be ok

If he then gets into it a Frog bike with gears will be worth it - ds1 has one and can ride up hills much quicker than his friend who has a gearless character bike
And you have seen they have good resale value
But it will depend if you/DP ride a lot

My two have had second hand specialized hotrocks and ridgeback MX/melodies. They are heavier than bikes that cost 6 times as much, of course, but they have decent parts, reliable brakes that little ones can manage, and they are well balanced. My two have never had a problem with the weight. My DD, who was tiny and not very physical, and took forever to learn to ride on a random toyshop own brand bike, but she's always been secure and controlled on these "bike brand" bikes.

They regularly ride to school and can manage a good few miles at the weekend. In my view, let go of the focus on weight and look for a second hand "proper" bike brand that has a good rep for kids' bikes. Specialized or Ridgeback were the ones recommended to us 5 years ago.

The advantage to Islabikes is that they hold their resale value, so if you can find a secondhand one, you'll be able to recoup most if not all of the price. They also frequently pop up on Gumtree, so you might get lucky since people tend to require you to collect on Gumtree.

The Frog was brought in to compete with Islabikes, so I suspect they'll hold their value as well.

Decathlon bikes tend to be quite good value and reasonable quality.

Like you I was thinking of getting an islabike for my 5 year old - the reviews were always so brilliant and people said they were worth the money (especially when you consider the resale value). I kept hesitating though as they did seem expensive.
In the end we bought a Wiggins bike from Halfords - it's been amazing. Light (only a little heavier than an islabike I think), stylish, geared, and built to a good spec. It was around £200 for the Chartres model, so not cheap but quite a bit less than the equivalent size Isla bike. My daughter loves it and learnt to ride in just a couple of hours.
I don't know if it will hold its value as they are fairly new, but we are really pleased with it.

Most second hand bikes will more or less hold their value. Resale does depend on them not getting nicked or written off, so I think OP is wise not to rely on it.

Just turned 4yr old got a secondhand 16 inch islabike for birthday recently. But her first bike was a 14 inch from decathlon, yes they are heavier than Isla and Frog but she rode it straight away without stabilisers before she was 3 and a half. Ridgeback are good and cheaper than Isla etc to pick up secondhand.

What's their balance and co ordination like? They might be fine on a less expensive bike like our DD was. We upgraded to an Isla because she loves riding so much so we knew we would get monies worth, plus she can ride faster and for longer as it's so much lighter than other bikes.

Decathlon and Evans Cycles own brand (Pinnacle, I think or maybe Hoy?) are good and cheaper than Frog/Islabikes.

Are you on the Facebook selling sites for Frog and Isla second hand? You can post what you are looking for there and see if anyone is nearby - but you do need to move quick, yes!