Isla bike or frog ?

[cheminotte]

Time for a new bike for ds1. He's had a cnoc 16 and a Benin20. The next one is Benin 24 and its £399!
When we got him the last one 2 1/2 years ago there were no viable alternatives, has that changed. The frog equivalent is less than £200 and about 1kg heavier. He will be 8 and will happily cycle 10 miles.
Bikes do get passed down to ds2 so need to be sturdy.

That's exactly what's happened CMOT - Ds1 is riding a cnoc 20 small and can go to a cnoc 24, skipping the cnoc 20 large entirely.

Yep, boy went
Rothan
Cnoc 14
Beinn 20 small
Beinn 24
Luath 26 ( because he races lots). Each has lasted about 2 years, the luath I hope he will get 3 or 4 seasons of racing on. But it really was a bit big the first year.

Thanks April . Really need to take ds1 to try it out. I am not banking on resale values as anything purchased now is unlikely to be sold for at least 3, maybe 5 years.

How did boy get into racing Uni ? Can you link to any websites?

Boy got into racing after I saw a poster advertising kids bike races as part of a cycling festival . He was 5 and liked going fast. I did wonder quite what I had let him in for as he headed off up the high st and out of sight.... He came 2nd in the under 8s race on a hilly town centre course

Then signed him up to the go-ride youth section of the cycle club that had organised the races. Hes been racing ever since.

www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-ride

Getting them in to a go ride cycle club is a good start, the go ride scheme is a British Cycling junior coaching scheme, kids learn bike handling skills and practise in a traffic free space with similar aged young cyclists. Go-race events are entry level races , again generally split by age and always traffic free, kids can expect a certificate for taking part and maybe a medal or a wristband or a water bottle if they win.. The next set up is Youth racing, starting with under 8, then under 10, 12, 14 16. Races are a bit more focused than go-race, the kids are taking it more seriously and they can win points in a national ranking system, sometimes they can win a medal or a small prize for winning.

Unless you are lucky enough to live very close to a regular race circuit, youth racing does seem to involve driving your child to a race meet,( often on a windswept air feild, karting track or supermarket carpark) spending some time getting them gear checked and signed in , watching them whizz round for 10- 30 min ( age dependant) and then chatting while the kids mess about on bikes and the older races happen. Till its time for presentations / results. BUT it has given boy a peer group of friends who like to ride fast, are fit, who ride well and who look after their bikes... not a peer group he has at school.

As someone in Scotland, far, faaar away from Ludlow, the Frog clincher for us was the fact DD could just try out a number of them in our local bike shop. It is SO LIGHT in comparison to the old Raleigh Apple I had at her age!! Plus it was cheaper, which is always good in my book. Not planning on selling, her wee cousin will get it next, but I'm sure it'll keep a decent resale value.

My DS has an Isla bike which he loves but we are not hardcore cyclists so I have just bought DD a Frog. I think that for her needs (nothing more than family bike rides, never really more than 4/5 miles) the £200 difference was the clincher. She tried it in the shop and chose the very funky orange and is really excited about getting it on her birthday in a few weeks. As she hasn't had it yet I can't comment fully but I am confident that it will be perfect for her.

CMOT - could you link to the FB islabikes sale group? Don't need it atm, but would be useful if dd grows out of her current bike. Living in hope this one'll actually do her til she's old enough to buy her own, but you never know if they'll shoot up.

I'm still slightly regretting having gone for a dawes for myself as a replacement bike rather than the adult islabike - I'm sure the dawes was the sensible choice (very reduced as they've dropped the 16" frame size), but I did fancy the islabike!

I do think people are right that the resale value may drop. We've always sold dd's bikes for more than we paid for them (including 3rd hand Beinn 24) - but I think they're becoming much better known, and there's more of the smaller ones around.

We had this dilemma for ds1 (age 7 fairly tall and slim built) - he has 2 little brothers so resale unimportant, liked islabikes but the price put me off.
Went for a frog 55 and it is the best thing I have bought for any of the children ever! He loves it and despite coming off a lightweight aluminium framed bike his riding improved overnight. We were so impressed I ended up buying a frog52 for his younger brother a few weeks later, he couldn't keep up on his old bike anymore ????. The frame does look long but my kids seem really comfortable and will happily ride for hours. They ride to school most days too. I'm happy to chain them up in the school car park. Have quick release front wheels.
Friends have islabikes for their kids and are equally happy but mine don't want to swap!

Salik - if you search for 'Preowned Islabikes for sale' you'll find the group.

Thanks CMOT :)

My DD is a little young for riding but when she is old enough we will be getting her a frog bike. Her older cousin got one which she loves. The Frogs are also designed for children rather than scaled down adults bikes. The brakes were a problem to begin with as they worked so much better than the brakes on her old bike. But it didn't take long for her to get used to.
All in all her riding and confidence has improved loads since getting the Frog.