First Bike to follow on from Balance Bike

Marty McFly

Hi


So our daughter had a GIANT balance bike as her first bike. We're now thinking it's time to try her on her first proper bike and give our younger daughter the balance bike.

Went back to GIANT there first bike comes in 12 and 16 inch she's to big for the 12 and the man in the shop said he had none in stock but at 3 1/2 she may be to small for 16 it would be borderline.

I've been to a few shops since and got little to no help in all if them with two shops saying I should put her on stabilisers crontadicting everything I read confusing us more.

Just looking for advice on what to do? And what bike to buy? I've read islabikes are good but the 14 is more like a 12?

Thanks in advance.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Go onto adverts or donedeal and buy a used 14” bike and the same when she needs a 16” bike. Children grow so quickly that you get no time at all out if bikes before they’re too big for them so don’t spend much.

My 5yr old is on a 16” bike we bought new at Christmas. My 7 year old is on a 20” bike which she should get a good few years out of. Both them are above average height and grew out of their smaller bikes within 6 months.

We paid around €80-100 for their smaller bikes but only got €25 for them when selling them second hand and they were in near perfect condition so my advice would be buy second hand till they get a bit bigger.

jethrothe2nd

Marty McFly wrote: »

Hi


So our daughter had a GIANT balance bike as her first bike. We're now thinking it's time to try her on her first proper bike and give our younger daughter the balance bike.

Went back to GIANT there first bike comes in 12 and 16 inch she's to big for the 12 and the man in the shop said he had none in stock but at 3 1/2 she may be to small for 16 it would be borderline.

I've been to a few shops since and got little to no help in all if them with two shops saying I should put her on stabilisers crontadicting everything I read confusing us more.

Just looking for advice on what to do? And what bike to buy? I've read islabikes are good but the 14 is more like a 12?

Thanks in advance.

No stabilisers, I'd say..My elder daughter went straight from balance bike to proper bike and she was able to cycle within literally a couple of hours. Once the balance is there the rest comes easily. My younger daughter would never use the balance bike as she wanted to be on a proper bike like her sister so she had stabilisers. Teaching her to cycle without them has been a more painful exercise. Literally.
On Islabikes I'm about to get one for me daughter as well as they seem to be the bees knees. Interested in others views on the sizing.

De Bhál

Definitely don't get stabilisers. I have a three Yr old that went straight from a strider to a pedal bike almost immediately. He had to learn pedalling and pulling the brakes but was balanced straight away.

I bought him an Islabike on here second hand. Perfect little bike, nice and light and really a quality build but they are a ridiculous price new. I couldn't justify a new one for a small child, unless I was very well off.

Marty McFly

Thanks for all the replys.

Been looking online for islabike second hand and they seem few and far between. Hard to justify a new Isla bike


From reading around Frog bikes seem to be getting reviews. Anyone any opinion on them?

Also can anyone recommend a good shop were I might find them and staff that are helpful?

Macy0161

We went the bso route when they were coming, but they were (and are) same height despite the age difference so islabike x2 wasn't really an option financially. They're out growing bikes so quick (still) - they're 9 and 10 and I reckon I'll be sizing xs adult frames for their next ones - we've probably only got 18 months max out of each bike.

One advantage of a bso is that they got left out, so they played on them much more. Now they have semi-decent bikes, they're locked away and they have to go to a bit of effort to get to them, I don't see them doing laps of the house like they used to (more likely to be on the scooters which are just left out). We're in the country, so in the city that might be less of an issue as whatever option may have to be locked away!

NamelessPhil

We had and Islabike as a first bike and Frog bikes after that. Our daughter is average sized and each of the bikes has lasted her two years of heavy usage ( school run most days, trips out). So, age 4-6, 6-8, 8- The Frog is just as well designed as the Islabike. If you're going to be doing the school run, get mudguards.

If you're in Dublin Joe Daly's stock Frog. I know kids grow quickly but there's nothing worse than a heavy bike to slow them down.

NamelessPhil

If she's used to a balance bike, no stabilisers. You'll be going backwards in terms of cycling development. Our daughter went from balance bike to pedal bike in a few days.

LittleWhiteDog

My son is on his third islabike & they really are a beautiful little bike & very lightweight. Lots of his friends have the frog & they are a great little bike also. Little Sport in Fairview sell them & as far as I know they often have second hand ones. Frog run a scheme called 'leapfrog' where you can trade your previous frog bike in off the price of a new one. They are a great alternative to an Islabike. We probably would have gone for one this time around except our son was in the middle of the size range for the frog bike & just at the beginning of the size range for his current Islabike.