Bikes for kids / children / very small people

Mine had puky balance bikes, then a mix of Raleigh Performance, Dawes Academy and islabikes cnoc. Not much between them apart from price and q factor on the cranks.

We have since added a white cx bike (name escapes me) and a decathlon MTB to the mix. (10, 8 and 8 years old)

Raleigh Performance, Dawes Academy and islabikes cnoc

Cheers. This is what I need.

Dawes seems like quite deals can be had. But it's a bit less clear how rhe sizing works vs Islabikes - which are quite slick. From the size charts I think I need a 16" wheel.

If anyone needs a strider let me know BTW. Not sure how much the sell for anymore.

cough https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/390126/ cough

I paid 40 quid for RP and DA, quite a bit more for IC.

From memory the frames were all similarly sized. We went from 14 to 16 to 20. 20s lasted for ages

Cheers. I'll see what my OH thinks.

We're in Herts, so would need to meet somewhere like Canary Wharf.

Cheers, let me know if you want it.

Am sure I could get it to Canary Wharf or somewhere near by.

Looking to get my kiddo his first bike. He turns 6 next month and only recently has shown an interesting in cycling. I'm guessing we need something in the 16 to 18" wheel category. Does anyone have one that's in good condition, ideally a Frog or Islabike because that's the only ones I've heard about.
And silly question, I can just remove pedals and he can start off using it as a balance bike right until he's more confident?

Some steep discounts on Isla Bikes at the moment - particularly the Roadlocravel range;

https://www.islabikes.co.uk/collections/childrens-road-bikes

I'm a bit salty as I spent nearly this much doing up an old Wiggins road bike, but in fairness the Isla Bikes start too large for the lad anyway.

I can just remove pedals and he can start off using it as a balance bike right until he's more confident?

Excatement

I removed the cranks and bottom bracket when I did this, less to catch legs on etc. My youngest used it like this for about 3 months and then got the hang of pedals very quickly and mostly by himself.

We have a 8 year old who has graduated from a basic two wheeled scooter, and has destroyed the charity shop thing he has been riding on the skatepark.

Does anyone have a proper stunt scooter for an 8yr old that would be looking to shift?

https://road.cc/content/news/islabikes-cease-production-after-18-years-304725

I'm after a 24" bike for my (tall) 9yo daughter. She wants something similar to her current bike (a charge cooker - rigid fork but chunky tyres and disc brakes). What's about?
I'm ideally trying to not spend £400, but open to new bikes suggestions as well as anyone who happens to have something that fits the bill for sale in the Bristol area!

Why 24”?

My tall 9yo is ready for her first 26er, that we’re going to build together. She looks proper gangly on her current 24” Islabike…

You know what - I’m not sure why I was thinking 24”. I just thought that was the appropriate wheel size. A 26er is not a bad idea. How tall is your 9yo, out of interest, and what size frame did you go for?

It's a small old Saracen aluminium jump bike frame, with a short seat tube. No idea what size it is nominally. The idea is for it to be her 'forever bike' as far as components go, with just the frame getting upgraded when she grows out if it.

Okay both kids (6 and 4) ready to move past the push bikes - the 6 year old for some time now. I'm an avid mountain biker of many decades planning to raise good riders to rip with.

Half of me knows hills exist and wants them to have gears, other half knows that gears are a mental complexity and doesn't want them to have any yet

Which way to go?

I'm almost leaning towards locking out the gears in a reasonable ratio and removing the shifter until they can descend well.

Overthinking it?

Yes. Get them geared bikes. They probably won’t use them to begin with, but then you take them on a slightly more adventurous trip and they have a revelation about how useful being able to change gear is. Once that happens you can’t stop them.

Settled

Went to halfords to have a look, horrorified how rough the BB were, which bikes have standard Square taper BB?

halfords

That was your first mistake.

Probably a bit late to the party here but my tall 9 year old has just outgrown his 24" wheeled charge cooker and I bought a small framed retro Cannondale headshok bike for him with 26" wheels and it's perfect.

Been doing a bit research, frog or isla look ideal but bit pricy, what the consensus on squish brand looks bit better built then the cheap ones?

I have found frog to be ok but pricey, Isla are really good but are no more and I’m not a millionaire so out of my price range.

The wiggle Vitus kids bikes have been really good as have the Giant ARX range.

But kids bikes are twice the price they were 5 years ago