I did it the wrong way round!

[marknotgeorge]

After months of waiting for the right weather, waiting for the Mad Scientist (the 8-year-old) to get the hang of balancing and finding a safe way to attach 3 bikes to the Magnet (my Ford Fusion - so called because of the registration letters FNE...), I finally managed to take my girls riding somewhere other than the park!

I decided on a short stretch of the Tissington Trail, a disused railway turned into a cycle and walking track that stretches for 17 miles north of Ashbourne. We did the bit from Tissington to Thorpe and back - roughly 2.3km each way.

In hindsight, I should have done it the other way. Tissington to Thorpe is downhill, so would have been better for the way back. Also, there's a snack bar near the trail at Tissington, and bugger all at Thorpe, but the car park is free at Thorpe - less crowded, too...

While the Drama Queen (the 11-year-old) sped off rapidly into the distance, the Mad Scientist struggled a bit, and moaned a bit more. A touch of fettling made it easier, but I'm beginning to think the bike (bought at a discount bike shop) is a bit too heavy for her. Both the girls' bikes are as heavy as mine is, something I hadn't appreciated until I had to lift them onto the roof bars. While the older one is doing fine on hers for now, I can't help feeling I should get the little one (and she is little - she's at the bottom end of the 16" scale in Halfords) something lighter. I just don't want to throw good money after bad. Maw and Paw think I should try taking her on a flatter run before I rush out and bend the plastic.

I've looked, briefly, at the Specialized Hotrock 16, which I can possibly justify stretching to new if I need to. Whilst I appreciate an Islabike would be a good investment, there's no way I can drop that sort of money. But what other 16" lightweight bikes can anyone recommend?

 

[Canrider]

Tricky. Check eBay for used Islabikes. Frog bikes have (as I understand) just started up with a range of kids bikes ever so slightly cheaper than Islabikes' ones, and the weight and spec is comparably light/good. The Hotrock has an aluminium frame so it'll be lighter than the overbuilt high-tensile steel frames you generally get for kids by a big margin, and again the spec is reasonable. Pricewise the Specialised new is what you might pay for a used Islabike.

BUT

Are you sure your 8-year-old needs a 16" wheel? My four year old is riding a 16" Islabike Cnoc 16 and she'll have outgrown it in a couple years nevermind four (Master Canrider (2) gets it next unless he outgrows her). What's her height and inside leg measurement? Islabikes suggests a Beinn26 (small) for an 8+ year old, with inside leg of 74cm, or a Beinn26 (large) for 11+ with inside leg 80cm, a 2-inch difference.

 

[macbikes]

Good thing about the Frog bikes is that they are sized by the inside leg measurement, for example the Frog 55 is suitable for children with a minimum inside leg measurement of 55cm.

Has anyone seen/ridden a Frog bike yet? I do feel a bit odd recommending a bike that I don't really know.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Without measuring her (she's asleep 6 miles away right now), I can't be precise, but she really is a dot. We were in Halfords today when I measured the girls against the height chart. The 11 year-old is right in the 20-24" range, and the 8-year-old is no more than a centimetre or two from the bottom of the 16" range.

 

[macbikes]

I looked at the Halfords website and that must mean she is about 114cm tall? If so she is big enough for the Beinn 20 small http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn20.html (if you can find one second hand...) I'd also suggest looking at Ridgeback - their bikes have quite a low standover height.

 

[macbikes]

And there is an Islabike Beinn 20 small on the bikeradar forum for £185

 

[marknotgeorge]

Measured her today. She's 116cm tall, with a 50cm inside leg. So she's indeed in range for a Beinn. But as I said, I'm not rushing, and throwing good money after bad. I'm going to try her on a flatter run next time, to see if I can get some confidence into her, and keep researching and keeping my eye out.

Thanks for the help.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Just thought I'd follow up. After much googling, trawling through eBay, and not a little driving, I managed to acquire a couple of slightly scruffy but perfectly sound bikes for the girls - I decided I couldn't get the younger one a decent bike without getting one for the elder, which meant second hand. I found a Cuda Mayhem for the little one, and a Claud Butler Switchblade for the elder. Although they haven't ridden them yet (I only picked up the second one today, and the weather's not been up to much), they seem excited and pleased with them, although they insisted I replace the grips.

We'll see how this goes...

 

[Sandra6]

I've seen quite a few nice specialized girls bikes recently, all under £200.