Second-hand Frog - can I tell year of manufacture?

[furtivefeline]

Just bought a secondhand Frog bike on eBay. It looks in great condition but I'm curious to know how old it is as wondering if I got good value for money or not!

Is it possible to age a bike from the serial number on the frame?

Sorry for the dull question!

Not sure - but I'm not sure it is that important. Kids' bikes don't change much and it is their condition that counts.

Haven't sold on a Frog bike (they only started up after ds was just moving on to more expensive Cannondale and then a Focus Cayo from his Islabikes, but when I sold his Islabikes no-one was interested in year of manufacture.

Thanks prettybird that’s good to know. He’s used the bike a few times and it is in near perfect condition so am very happy! By the time we come to sell it on I daresay it won’t look so shiny so year of manufacture won’t be relevant!

If you bought 2nd hand, you can usually get a similar price for good quality children's bike on subsequent re-sales. Definitely for Islabikes - and I think Frog bikes have nearly as good a reputation (just haven't been around as long).

Check out local cycling clubs for kids - both for when you come to re-sell and more importantly, it would be great for bike handling skills and confidence.

I’m interested to know what sort of cycling kids do in cycling clubs? I’ve never really come across them before! Is it racing or learning road safety? He picked up cycling easily and is (a bit too) confident now at 4yo. Might be something for when he’s older, and like you say for bike resale!

I’m not sure how you tell the year but we’ve had really good returns when we’ve sold them. Youngest lad is 5 and on his 4th frog!! To be fair he walked really young and was straight on his balance bike which he got either at his first Christmas or first birthday (January baby). He then had the smallest pedal (43), second smallest pedal (48) and is now on the smallest geared (55 I think). We bought the balance bike new but the others have all been second hand. We got more back for the 43 than we paid for it and The 48 did quite well too. There’s a Facebook frog buy and sell group which is also really handy.

I think frog bikes are brilliant. We live on a farm so the boys spend hours on their bikes every day. It’s hilly, rough and muddy and the frog bikes are well up to the job. They are light and easy to use which is great for kids starting out.

Our local bike shop do classes for kids - they start off with handling / dodging cones in the car park, then a bit of off roading near the bike shop then they progress to proper MTB rides including some road riding - there are three groups for different abilities. Youngest is 5 and he’s just joined the youngest MTB group. Sessions are 2h and yesterday he did just under 5 miles with 700ft climbing plus a pretty wild descent! It’s brilliant. He loves it and it’s really pushing him. It’s amazing what they can do when in a group and being given encouragement. If you have something like that near you then I would encourage you to give it a go.

Have a look at this link to see what Go-Ride (kids) clubs there are in your area and from what age they operate.

The club that ds was involved with (he started going when he was 11) concentrated on teaching them cycle handling, confidence and road awareness - even though they don't go out on the roads. Iirc, they started from age 5. If they're interested, they can then go on to race (ds did road racing all on circuits/parks/closed roads , Cyclo-cross and then in the velodrome but was never interested in mountain biking or downhill, although many of his cycling friends did do them)

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-ride

@furtivefeline

I’m interested to know what sort of cycling kids do in cycling clubs? I’ve never really come across them before! Is it racing or learning road safety? He picked up cycling easily and is (a bit too) confident now at 4yo. Might be something for when he’s older, and like you say for bike resale!

I'm a British Cycling trained coach @furtivefeline. We don't have a minimum age at our club as we start with balance bikes, but others begin at 5 or older, depending on their particular set up. I'm involved with 2 clubs. One has about 90 kids but only a handful who race regularly and the other is much smaller but virtually everyone is a serious racer. Everything that is in the core Go Ride syllabus is relevant to social riding as well as racing, and the skills that the children start with are very generic and applicable to most kinds of cycling. Some clubs do then focus on particular disciplines, like mountain biking or BMX but others are more general. With a bit of luck you will find there's more than one club in your locality and can pick the one that suits best. At our club, a typical session for our primary aged riders would begin wit a safety check, a couple of games to warm up with, then about 30 mins of riding activities focused on developing a specific skill, for example braking or cornering, a bit of low key racing or skills competition, usually in groups rather than as individuals, and then a cool down before home. Each session lasts about an hour in total. The vast majority of British Cycling sanctioned Youth activities take place in traffic free locations, all coaches are trained by BC, First Aid qualified, DBS checked and insured so everything is as safe as possible.There are only a few very specific circumstances when we are allowed to take (only older) children on roads and you will find that Go Ride clubs usually run in places like parks, empty carparks or specific cycle circuits. Certainly for the younger children its all about having fun, getting exercise and learning to handle a bike more skillfully. Racing is optional, and again is in traffic free environments for under 16s. Bikeability (the modern replacement for the old Cycling Proficiency) is a separate programme which focuses on things like road safety. It is more often delivered in schools than through clubs though you do get some coaches who are trained for both. Of course Covid-19 has interrupted a lot of activities this year, but some clubs are getting back up and running, so its worth having a look in your area. Some clubs have a waiting list so no harm in enquiring now even if you can't start this year. Obviously I'm biased, but I think cycling is a great hobby and Go Ride clubs are very good places for active children to improve their skills, have fun, make friends and get into racing if they want to when they're old enough. If you have any specific questions I am happy to try to answer them..

Thanks for the info- these clubs look great. There is one reasonably local to me that takes kids from 6 so we’ll likely give it a try in a couple of years time!