Junior road bike - Not Islabike?!

[loudlashadjuster]

Despite me being about the biggest Islabike evangelist going (we've had four), my son has outgrown his Beinn 26 and was looking for a road bike to come out with me more often and for the first time since my first Islabike purchase about eight years ago I was not convinced of their offering.

Although I know the Luath 700S would tick all the boxes in terms of fit, performance and quality, two things conspire against the larger Islabikes making them seem poorer value than the smaller bikes in the range.

Firstly, the initial cost is a good bit higher - £550 in this case - and this, combined with the more limited secondhand market for larger road-only bikes, means that for the first time ever I'd be looking to lose a fair amount of cash when moving it on, as you will inevitably do with a kid's bike.

I currently see Luath 700s going for around £400, and some nearer the £300 mark. Considering I've pretty much had a net expenditure of £0 for the two smaller Islabikes I've sold so far, this is a big difference.

I did consider secondhand but it's a Christmas present and, well...Santa isn't a cheapskate.

So the TCO is higher, fine I guess, but there is also the fact that at his size, small-framed adult bikes begin to move into the picture. You see things like CAAD8s going for £400 - even lighter than the Luath - and start to question the Islabike price even more.

Frog and other 'proper' kids brands often not really much cheaper than Islabike but I hunted about and did find one option that intrigued so I've pretty much decided to buy...something from Halfords a Wiggins Rouen 700C.

Not bothered in the slightest about Wiggins' supposed association, but it does have many things going for it:

• Perfect size - Isla Rowntree's influence in the market obvious here, it's not just a small adult bike
• Age-appropriate gearing - the only issue with small adult bikes
• Carbon fork(!) - just like Mum & Dad's
• Largely Sora groupset - I'm not a huge groupset snob but most junior bikes have no-name/Tourney or maybe Claris if you're lucky so this is a definite step up
• £450 RRP but on sale right now so only £360 with BC discount - Santa approves!
• Even has folding bead tyres fitted

Halfords will even chuck in £15 worth of accessories which I can spend on inner tubes if I buy before the 4th of December

Anyone else have any experience of the 650C/700C Wiggins bikes?

[boyse7en]

Tried the Rouen 650c for my daughter and it felt like a quality machine. She loved it.
Very light and rolled well.
I would have bought it, as it seemed good value compared to the Luath/Hoybike/Frog alternatives but I wanted her to have an MTB as I didn't think she would do much road riding.


The colour scheme wasn't to my taste though.

[Roman]

Sora + carbon fork + folding tyres looks hard to beat for £360

[sjg]

The Wiggins one does look good.

Decathlon do at least one of their lower-end road bikes down to XXXS (and the smaller end of the range is on 650b wheels) but they don't have 2017 lines out yet and limited stock on 2016.

[louiebaby]

I'll be watching the discussion with interest, ready for my kids in a few years.

One point I would be concerned about would be the brake/shifter levers being suitable for smaller hands. Should I be?

This could mean that a women's bike may offer a better solution, if they use smaller components for ladies hands. Just a thought...

Also, Planet X always seem to be giving away kids Ally frames for about £30, so if you're handy with a spanner, a home build could work?

[JustinF]

Reach shouldn't be an issue, current gen Shimano stuff it's just a twist of an allen key to move the levers closer, last gen stuff you can get a rubber shim that sits on top of the lever, used these on my son's bike until he grew.

[lllnorrislll]

louiebaby said:

Also, Planet X always seem to be giving away kids Ally frames for about £30, so if you're handy with a spanner, a home build could work?

The problem with the planet x bike frame, is that it takes a 540 etrto wheelset on the 24in bike. 540 or 520 wheelsets are like hens teeth and your then left with option of building a wheelset, which would probably mean the build price would be on a par with some complete bikes.

[47p2]

Friend of mine is selling a lightly used Pro-Lite TheOne

[gazza285]

Downtube shifters for the win...

[7 Sevens]

I'm in the same position as you this week. I have two boys 7 and 10 and they have always had Isla bikes. The luath 700s is £550 which is steep in my opinion.

Have a look at the cycle sprogs website as they compare isla, Frog, Dawes and Wiggins. Halfords have ordered me in a 700c Wiggins and going along tonight with my eldest to try it. Spec looks very good. If it's to big I may go 650c Dawes Academy as that's just been reduced to a similar price at Evans.

[louiebaby]

lllnorrislll said:

louiebaby said:

Also, Planet X always seem to be giving away kids Ally frames for about £30, so if you're handy with a spanner, a home build could work?

The problem with the planet x bike frame, is that it takes a 540 etrto wheelset on the 24in bike. 540 or 520 wheelsets are like hens teeth and your then left with option of building a wheelset, which would probably mean the build price would be on a par with some complete bikes.

Thanks for the knowledge, some points to consider in a couple of years!

[loudlashadjuster]

Picked up the Rouen 700c Carbon today. Now all I have to do is find some time to build it up and hide it for the next four weeks!

Managed to get a colour-coordinated Elite bottle cage and three inners to go in the spares drawer for the £15 accessory sweetener. Decent.

The last Luath I had added to my Ebay watch list just finished for £295 and was four years old so I'm happy with that.

[idiotgap]

I happened to notice this 650c Rouen on gumtree just now. Thought someone reading this thread might be interested:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/wiggins-rouen-6...
£195