Islabikes calling it a day

[pjclinch]

If you're not snobby about brands then Carrera (Halfords) and B-Twin (Decathlon) make very good and in my view underrated kids bikes. Voodoo also make some nice kid's MTBs and I assume Boardman do too (both Halfords, obviously). My older son currently has a Voodoo Soba and a Carrera Luna and they're both reasonable quality and durable.

I think the trick with bargain brands is stick with the basic stuff: as soon as you get in to the whistles and bells bits of the range you tend to be looking at stuff for show rather than go, so suspension that won't do much aside from add to cost and make it heavier, disc brakes that aren't any better than typical Vs etc.

Decathlon seem to be a generally good brand for getting the basics right for sane money and this extends well beyond cycling.

Pete.

[ratherbeintobago]

Forme make a range of copy-cat Islabike-look-a-likes. My younger son has the Forme Cubley 14 and it's brilliant (he even goes round BMX tracks on it, age 4). It's definitely just as good as Islabikes, if not a notch above, despite the odd name.

Forme was a Moore Large house brand, and ML went bust in Mar last year.

[jimster99]

I think the trick with bargain brands is stick with the basic stuff

I don't agree. Halfords "basic stuff" means Apollo bikes which appear to be made with metal rejects from the local aluminium foil factory and assembled by myopic cretins with inadequate training (or perhaps, unreasonable targets). I've had 3; 2 had the frames crack and all were very poor quality (components impossible to keep aligned, massive rust etc). Carreras are more acceptable but the basic ones come with e.g. crappy cable disc brakes & awful forks whereas if you get mid-range Carreras they do sometimes come with acceptable components & frame (still low end, but acceptable, to me at least).

The real trick in my mind is to find the VFM "loss-leaders" in amongst the drek (which unfortunately changes from year-to-year i.e. the B'Twin Triban 540 from Decathlon some years came with some Shimano 105 kit and was awesome but downgraded in later years).

Forme was a Moore Large house brand, and ML went bust in Mar last year.

Exactly - and that's why I mentioned them because their entire stock was auctioned off cheaply and is still available new at cut-down prices or used even more cheaply. My younger son is currently riding a Forme Cubley which I picked up in excellent condition extremely cheap, and I think it's marginally better than the very similar but far more expensive Islabike Cnoc.

[pjclinch]

I think the trick with bargain brands is stick with the basic stuff

I don't agree. Halfords "basic stuff" means Apollo bikes which appear to be made with metal rejects from the local aluminium foil factory and assembled by myopic cretins with inadequate training (or perhaps, unreasonable targets).

We are at cross purposes here. By "basic stuff" I mean e.g. given the choice between the unsuspended bike with V brakes and the full suspension bike with disc brakes at a comparable price, you want the former basic one, not the latter whistles & bells one.

Pete.

[jimster99]

We are at cross purposes here. By "basic stuff" I mean e.g. given the choice between the unsuspended bike with V brakes and the full suspension bike with disc brakes at a comparable price, you want the former basic one, not the latter whistles & bells one.

I see what you mean and yes, with that I fully agree!

[rjb]

Other brands have caught up with the requirements of youngsters on bikes. I picked up a second hand Carrera Abyss for my granddaughter. It had a narrow bottom bracket which i had not seen before, and a host of child friendly equipment. Short cranks, narrow bottom bracket, brake levers for small hands. The only fly in the ointment was the Shimano Revoshift rotary gear lever which my granddaughter found too difficult to rotate as she didn't have sufficient strength in her wrist. I got over this by increasing the diameter of the twist grip using several sections of an old inner tube. job done.
She's now outgrown this one which has been handed down to my grandson and moved onto the 24" wheel version.

Most of these bikes get very little use but plenty of abuse so if you don't mind fettling them you can often pick up a bargain.

[AndyK]

Forme was a Moore Large house brand, and ML went bust in Mar last year.

Exactly - and that's why I mentioned them because their entire stock was auctioned off cheaply and is still available new at cut-down prices or used even more cheaply.

There was a feature in BikeBiz, the bike trade mag, recently about a new business that started by buying up a load of the Moore Large kids' bikes (Forme and Cuda) qnd selling them at reduced prices: Discount Bikes Shropshire. They're now expanding into producing their own range of "lightweight and affordable" (their words) children's bikes under the Shyre brand. Article here (opens in horrible Yudu online reader)