Bike for a 6 year old.

[Karl911]

As the title.
The girlfriends 6 year old boy comes with us on our long lazy walks on the weekend with our dogs and he brings his Micro Scooter with him.
However last weekend he had that look of envy in his eyes at the kids cycling past and I asked why he didn't bring his bike. Turns out it's at grandmas and no one had ever taught him how to ride a bike.
I use to spend my youth either fixing my BMX or longing for a new Stumpjumper when they first came out.
So wanting to score some brownie points and help the kid out I plan on teaching him how to ride and show him the freedom that cycling gives you.

I recently resurrected my old Rocky Mountain Stratos with Manitou 1 shocks so would be good to get back in the saddle myself.



In price order.

First up from good old Halfrauds, hate the place and loathe parting with money there. £170
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...



Next up, Merida, never heard of them. £200.
http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/2013/119/La...


My personnel favourite, the Specialized. £250.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/ho...


The one I think he would like. The Cube. £260.
http://www.bikelab.co.uk/8383/products/cube_kid_20...


Stretching it a bit. The Islabike. £300.
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn20lrg.h...


I've narrowed it down to these and wondered what the knowledgeable mummy and daddy's out there in PH land thought.

[covmutley]

I guess you get what you pay for- the islabikes come very well regarded. But I think if I was a 6 yr old boy again I'd probably want the cube.

[MartynVRS]

That Cube looks awesome! Would have loved a bike like that when I was a kid.

[PHmember]

Can't help with the kids bikes, but if you need parts for the Rocky you should try http://www.retrobike.co.uk/

[magpie215]

I think the cube from that lot suspension would just add weight for no real advantage

[AC43]

My boy has the Specialized as do some of his mates. Very good. Others have the Isla,,the dads tell me they are great. You can trade Islas in when he outgrows them which is handy. But then again the Specialized won't be hard to sell on.

Basically you can't go wrong with either of those.

[MrTrilby]

6 year olds aren't all that strong, and cycling off-road is relatively hard, even on smoothish tracks. Lightweight is more important for kids than it is for adults in my opinion. My two girls (aged 6 and 9) both have Islabikes, and I'm about to order a third because my 9 year old has just about outgrown hers (complaining of back ache on >10 mile rides). Islabikes don't have the fluff like front suspension that adds weight and cost. Comparing them to some of the monstrosities their friends have, it's night and day weight wise. They're expensive bikes, but the second hand market for them is very strong so you'll get a lot of your money back, and they'll actually get used because the kids enjoy riding them, rather than just doing 100 yard loops up and down the road because they're too heavy to do a proper ride.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Might be worth having a look at http://www.frogbikes.com/ they are a 'slightly' cheaper alternative to Islabikes.

[Perec]

Karl911 said:

As the title.
The girlfriends 6 year old boy comes with us on our long lazy walks on the weekend with our dogs and he brings his Micro Scooter with him.
However last weekend he had that look of envy in his eyes at the kids cycling past and I asked why he didn't bring his bike. Turns out it's at grandmas and no one had ever taught him how to ride a bike.
I use to spend my youth either fixing my BMX or longing for a new Stumpjumper when they first came out.
So wanting to score some brownie points and help the kid out I plan on teaching him how to ride and show him the freedom that cycling gives you.

My personnel favourite, the Specialized. £250.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/ho...

I am with you Karl. I also think a 6-year old will prefer it over the other bikes. It has suspension and however much that might be folly in reality, it will make the bike "better" in the eyes of Junior. Also, the tyres will still look good when grubby whereas the Cube white ones will discolour and the bike will look less new.

Edited by Perec on Tuesday 21st May 08:36

[paulmon]

My son rode this from 6 to 7 1/2. My advice is to buy a very simple small bike so he can learn to ride and then either keep that for a while or buy something to bridge between a bike with gears.

P

[Karl911]

paulmon said:

My son rode this from 6 to 7 1/2. My advice is to buy a very simple small bike so he can learn to ride and then either keep that for a while or buy something to bridge between a bike with gears.

P

Good shout. Is that a 16" wheel. I'm seeing it for £204 here.
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m10b190s13p10549/SE_...

[ratbane]

My sons 2nd bike was a Merida Dakar 620. Fantastic bike. Light, great angles, and good price. Merida are one of the largest frame builders in the world.

If you are interested, my sons bike is up for sale, as he has moved on the a Scott Spark 24.

[With these feet]

Ive just bought the Spec. Hotrock for my 6 yr old should be here in the next few days.

He leart to ride on a CNOC 16 and they are indeed excellent, but recently it seem that the single speed and wheel size is holding him back on trails.

Sure the front fork is a bit ott and may not do much, but when your lad asks " Dad can my new bike have a Lefty as well?" you know if it had solid forks he would be disappointed.

Most important is check the bike fits, nothing worse than a bike thats too big.

[paulmon]

Karl911 said:

Good shout. Is that a 16" wheel. I'm seeing it for £204 here.
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m10b190s13p10549/SE_...

Yep. You can have mine for less than that. Its exactly as shown in the picture complete with pads. PM me if interested.

[Kell]

My 8yr old girl is on her second IslaBike now.

I can confirm that they're not only excellently made, but they seem to hold their value like nothing else.

Her first Islabike (CNOC 16 from memory) was £180 and I sold it a couple of years later for £95 - so the actual cost of the bike was just £85. As it turned out, I priced it too low and others have sold for more than that, in much poorer condition. Isla themselves also offer a buyback policy, but when I asked about it, they only offer about a third of the purchase price.

Compare that to her first bike which was a Dora the Explorer thing from Halfords. That cost £70 and I sold it a a boot fair for a fiver. So that cost £65.

The Dora one, unsurprisingly, was heavier than my bike and no matter how I tried, I couldn't get the brakes set up correctly.

I've not tried or even looked at any other the others mentioned, but if you want an honest opinion, then Isla bikes are very good.

[Karl911]

Thanks all for your input. After having a think and a recommendation I think I'm going to be getting him the Lil Ripper, single speed so no headaches of teaching him gearing and I'm hoping an easy bike to learn on. He won't be trailing for a few years so the added suspension and trickery is unnecessary.
I learnt on a BMX and would spend all my youth out on it.

I take it in today's health and safety world I'll need to get him a helmet. He's slightly mothered and needs to man up a little and get some bruises and cuts.

[craste]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=121...

Got my son an islabike and I can't praise it enough, nobody can believe how light it is and it's made such a difference to how he rides the bike, he just whizzes along now and can go further than before, up hills wher he used to stop half way up he just motors he was up to the top.

Check out the resale values on eBay so you get a large chunk back when you upgrade plus it's a British company too!

[covmutley]

I passed through Ludlow on the way to a meeting today and spotted the islabikes factory completely by chance. Couldn't resist having a look and I have to say I was very impressed. The bikes really are very light and look great.

[Samcat]

I've just bought my 6-year-old twins one these each, they're 20" wheels, with proper brakes, gears etc. so easy to fix/replace if they get damaged. They are quite light, better than the Hafords BSO's they used to have.

[Minemapper]

Another vote for the Islabikes here. We've got two (20" and 26" wheels), and my guys love riding in the woods with me. The oldest (9) really lusted after a stunt/jump bike like he sees his buddies riding, so I told him to try one out. Rode it up and down the garden and jumped off it and back onto his Beinn. Not a fan.