What size Islabike for a 3 and half year old?

[Wallace]

Thinking of getting one for ds2 for Christmas (sorry for the C word ) and not sure about the Cnoc14 or Cnoc16.

I have a Cnoc14 for DS, he got it for his 4th birthday last summer and it was a bit big for him. He has always been on the 50th centile for hight. There is a size chart on the Islabikes website with min and max inside leg measurements, I would judge it by that if I were you.

Do you think your DS will be ok with a bike? I ask because DS hasn't got on at all well with his Islabike, in fact he still can't ride it a year later even though we have stabilisers. I wish we had stayed with a running bike for a bit longer as he's now refusing to even get on the bike he hates it so much. It's a bit heavy and needs quite a good push to start pedalling. It doesn't help that DS doesn't seem to understand quite how pedalling works and sometimes pedals forwards and sometimes backwards. As the Islabike has a backpedal brake this means he quite often comes to an unexpected and painful stop.

Thanks that size chart is useful, I will measure him tomorrow.

Thanks for your feedback. That is interesting that you say it is quite heavy, I thought it was meant to be lightweight.

I didn't realise that it is a back pedal bike either - the one he is on at the moment is backpedal and although he does manage, I think one that could freewheel would be easier - save his little legs going round and round so fast (he solves this by taking his feet off the pedals and sticking his legs out sideways )

Definitely needs a proper bike the next size up (he already has a 12inch wheel one without stabilisers that he is very confident on) but maybe the Islabike is not the one to go for - any other good bikes for small children?

For your ds have you tried taking the stabilisers and pedals off his bike to turn it into a balance bike for a bit to help him get his confidence up? We did this for ds1 and it did the trick

I can't work out how to get the pedals off (I'm a bit of a dunce with bikes). He was great on his balance bike and lots of people suggested that he wouldn't need stabilisers so we didn't get them to start with but he couldn't, and still can't, pedal fast enough to keep his balance so we had to give in and buy them.

Also I think it's heavy compared to his wooden running bike, it may be that it's reasonably lightweight in comparison to other bikes for children. It does seem too heavy for DS to be able to wrangle it properly so he fell quite a bit before we got stabilisers, but he's a bit of a wuss so a tougher child would probably cope.

The biggest problem with it is that, although I got the correct one for his height, when he started the pedals weren't right for his leg length. When the seat was at the level that he could get toes to the ground on both sides (ie the highest possible without him falling over) then the top turn of the pedals was too high for him, he couldn't seem to bend his knee enough and his food kept coming off the pedal. Now that he's taller and the seat is higher it's less of a problem, which is why I would recommend you go for the smaller bike than the larger if your DS falls into the correct range for both.

I see what you mean about going for the smaller size, it does make sense.

I do find though that kids grow out of their bikes so quickly. For example we bought ds1 a bike that said 5 to 8 whn he was 5, and he grew out of it before he was even 7. So something that lasts a bit longer would be good.

Measured him this morning. If I go for an Islabike it would have to be a Cnoc14. He is just over the minimum size.

we have both 14 and 16. the new islabikes dont have a back pedal brake
i had the 14 for a 3yr old. he was fine. my 5 yr old rides the 16, but he is quite small.

Dd is 3.5 and has just got a Cnoc14. She was tall enough for the 16, but her inside leg wasn't long enough.

It is light (much much much lighter than her friends' bikes of other makes) and she absolutely loves it.

Thanks.

I guess I need to wait a few months and see then. I wish we didn't live quite so far away from Islabikes.