Took little Ollie, aged 6 and a half, down to Hillingdon this morning for the first time. Fantastic. He got to race around the track with 19 or so under 8's on his single-speed, having done a short induction by the professional coaches beforehand. Would thoroughly recommend it for anyone with kids - need to be 5+. For those over 7 they have old Raleigh/Pug kids racers that you can borrow. 5/6 years olds need their own bikes.

The only drawback of the trip is that now Ollie wants gears (!!!), so he can emulate the elder kids who were multiple lapping in formation. He is unfortunately too small for the loan bikes that they have.

Does anyone know where one can get a geared bike for a 6-8 year old that doesnt come with suspension and all the other trappings that you find in the lbs these days?

Doesnt matter whether or not the bars are straight or drop.

Looks perfect - they won't let him ride brakeless mind

you can mount gears in a horizontal dropout I believe?

this is what I found so far

http://deaves47.users.btopenworld.com/bikes/junior.htm

Saw a tiny Bianchi 24" at my LBS last week, the thing was tiny.
http://www.bianchiusa.com/typo3temp/59b45b0567.jpg

Isla Bikes, as in Isla Rowntree, mum and Cyclocross Champion and my girlfriends nemesis.

As per the copy:

You won't find:

• Heavy, ineffective suspension
• Out of reach, stiff brakes
• Dozens of baffling gears
• Large, cumbersome tyres
• Tassles

You will find:

• Light-weight aluminium frames
• Easy-reach light action brakes
• Wide-ratio simple gearing
• A choice of light-weight tyres suitable for every purpose
• Meticulous attention to detail

I just ordered an Islabikes for my four year old. Looks like it'll be excellent. They're really on it.

Missed out on this last night:



Just as well; have now looked at Isla Bikes and have an order in which will be delivered on Thursday. Fantastic customer service.

Yep the woman who helped me was a-bloody-mazingly nice and helpful. She even laughed loads when I mentioned 'nodders', she said ''I've never heard that expression but I know exactly what it means''.

Cool.

Equally impressive for me is that it's one colour and an asexual one at that- when Ollie's grown out of it, his sister gets it and she can't complain that it's the wrong colour!!

I think shes the daughter of a lecturer at my uni.
She used to work for halfords doing appollo's etc a few years ago. You can see it if you get hold of one, they look identical.

I can merit here for keeping things simple, but I feel shes mainly done it by focusing on a drab aesthetic which I am sure the kids wont appreciate.

The prices aswell, are waay over inflated. What shes selling for £250 she wouldve bought in at about £35-£50 which a normal retailer woul aim to sell at £120.

I guess shes found a gap in the market for extremely dull, overpriced but "convenient" bikes for kids.

Id personally take great pleasure in building up a bike for an enthusiastic kid out of various bikes & bits.

Or go on a hunt for something a lot nicer OTP..

I reckon that these bikes are better than the £120 models. However, that's just based on doing some Bike Doctor work on them rather then any indepth component comparison. What's the side by side chart look like?

I've done a lot of hunting - however, other than BMX which I don't want, hard to find a "proper" kids bike without front suspension once you are past the starter bikes.

I agree re building a bike - issue is finding a suitable frame; again not easy.

I'll let you know whether Ollie finds it "extremely dull" come Thursday.

geoffrey butler in croydon used to stock kids racers but i havent been in there for a while you could try giving them a ring

@skully
how is you kid getting on the isla bike?
was it worth it?

Hi!

Yeah he's had it for four weeks now, it seems very good to me (well the welds are shit but apart from that its OK). A lot of the stuff on there is kid-specific proper bike parts: not a toy. For instance, the little tektronic levers on there are amazing. I wouldn't mind one of those on a hipster bike!

However I can see what Deadly Fanny Pack means ^ about them being a bit overpriced.

Now the only thing left to do is put a suicide-fixed cog on there, he he.

My kid's at the stage where he can sort of ride on two wheels but falls over out of fear when I let go of him. So I'm still holding under one arm and running along behind him at the moment...

:)

mine is three but i am informing myself as time passes quick. he now keeps balance on these wooden bikes.
I was looking at kids bikes and they are all awful. This one looks a bit better.
Thanks for you reply

Will has had his isla bike for a month now. I'd recommend them, so would he. Still riding around parks at the moment but I guess he'll be on the (quiet Sunday morning) roads soon.
He's seven BTW.

thanks fuitbat. i met you and will at the pedalo

Yeah he was on his bike that day