Really really really small bike! For a tiny woman.

[horizon]

yael: thanks for that but are we still not agreed that there is no essential difference apart from size? The quality issue is nothing to do with cycling, it's to do with attitude (on the part of parents and makers). The cost element doesn't really come into it as there are plenty of parents driving Jaguars and BMWs who are nevertheless unable to buy a good quality child's bike. My impression is that children's bikes are seen as toys, Xmas presents or status objects - they are not designed to be ridden. This says a lot about the state of cycling in the UK but rather less about the essential difference between a child's bike and an adult one.

[Russcoles]

Maybe try an old shopper? A Raleigh Twenty or Dawes Kingpin. They are well made bikes that are designed to fit most heights and will take panniers no problem. It will need some modification to reduce the weight but the cost of getting one from ebay is quite low.
Check out raleightwenty.webs.com for ideas.

[jan19]

I imagine all of you posting on here who really can't see a problem with riding an Islabike are all of normal height, and can swan happily into your LBS with a whole list of possible bikes. If you're as short as I am, or even shorter like the OP choosing a bike isn't a pleasurable experience, its a nightmare. The same can be said of lots of things in life which are made difficult because you are so short. I'm sure very tall people have other difficulties due to their height.

Believe me, it DOES matter when you are expected to use something (bike or otherwise) designed for a child. It may not be obvious to the casual observer, but you'll always know. I completely understand the OP's reluctance to get a child's bike.

As for the post that said a bike with its seat a lot lower than its handlebars won't handle properly - that's how mine's set up, its perfectly comfortable and it handles just fine.

Jan

[Vorpal]

Islabikes aren't like other children's bikes, and they also build bikes for small adults. And I am certain that if someone needed a modification or adaptation for an adult using a child's bike, they would be happy to do it. Islabikes would certainly be the first place I tried.

A couple of posters have suggested an old shopper like a Raleigh 20 or a folding bike (which have similar geometry). A Brompton is out of the OPs budget, but some of the Dahons aren't. I would think that might be an option.

[Tonyf33]

Apollo did a 47cm bike (actual 43cm with sloping top tube) we sold this to a gent for his 11 year old son who was 4ft 9, it had 700C wheels which were fine and made the bike quite stable and easy to ride.
Raleigh do racing bikes with 47cm frames with sloping top tubes, I think a 13 inch frame is too small

[Malaconotus]

I imagine all of you posting on here who really can't see a problem with riding an Islabike are all of normal height, and can swan happily into your LBS with a whole list of possible bikes. If you're as short as I am, or even shorter like the OP choosing a bike isn't a pleasurable experience, its a nightmare. The same can be said of lots of things in life which are made difficult because you are so short. I'm sure very tall people have other difficulties due to their height.

Believe me, it DOES matter when you are expected to use something (bike or otherwise) designed for a child. It may not be obvious to the casual observer, but you'll always know. I completely understand the OP's reluctance to get a child's bike.

As for the post that said a bike with its seat a lot lower than its handlebars won't handle properly - that's how mine's set up, its perfectly comfortable and it handles just fine.

Jan

Jan,

I work in my LBS. There is not one single bike in there that fits me without expensive adaptation, and my touring bike was ordered from the US and custom-built so I had one bike which fitted me properly without changing forks, stem, bars, cranks, seatpost etc. Believe me, being extremely tall is more difficult, and more expensive, than being very short in terms of buying anything which has to fit. Short people can wear children's clothes and shoes. Only one UK high street retailer has clothes which fit me and they have extremely limited choice in my sizes. Marks and Spencer decide what cut and colour my work shirts and trousers are, not me. Most of my casual, sports, and outdoor clothes come mail order from the USA which is a very expensive lottery; when I find something which fits I buy two more in different colours. I do understand the problem.

A 700C bike with a 75 degree seat tube and a 70 degree headtube and bars six inches higher then the saddle, with a 4' 8" rider, will be slower, harder, and less fun to ride than a properly proportioned and designed bike for a rider of that height. If this was a good design for a bike then medium and large bikes would have slack steering angles, short stems, steep seat angles, high bars and upright riding positions. They don't, with good reason. The only reason small adult's bikes have these undesirable features is cost. A manufacturer doesn't want to use a different wheel, fork, crankset, and levers on the small sizes because it substantially increases costs on a model which comprises less than 2% of sales. So massive wheels are shoe-horned into a tiny frame.

A bike for a 4' 8" rider needs 24", or possibly 26" wheels, good quality components including proportional cranks, levers, saddle etc., and a riding position which enables reasonable distances to be covered without excessive effort due to an odd riding position. Islabikes make those bikes. The objection to them as child's bikes is nonsensically prejudiced. They don't even look like child's bikes. The Beinn26 is absolutely identical to the 'adult's' Beinn29 apart from its smaller size... http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn29.html

What would be preferable for someone with a 22" waist and 25" inside leg? A pair of "adult's" 26" jeans with a belt and 4" of turn-up at the hem, or a pair of "child's" jeans with a 22" waist and a 27" inside leg.

Graham

[[XAP]Bob]

I have to agree that either isla or custom made are the best ways to go - merely from looking at most of the small bikes available. Very few manufacturers bother scaling anything other than the frame, so you may well struggle to reach the brake levers for instance.





I can't quite scale the images properly - but those both look like decent bikes - they are both in proportion, and both feature similar styles of hardware.

I'd wager that very few people would recognise Isla as a "kids" make, and those that do would know that they are an excellent "small adult" make as well.

[TwoWheelsGood]

Islabikes aren't like other children's bikes, and they also build bikes for small adults. And I am certain that if someone needed a modification or adaptation for an adult using a child's bike, they would be happy to do it. Islabikes would certainly be the first place I tried.

I recently saw an Islabike for 'real' and it was just as if someone had fired an incredible shrinking ray on an adult bike, making all the bigger bikes look somehow oversized by comparison. I suspect that a suitably-sized Islabike would require minimal or no modification (perhaps a change of saddle and/or brake levers/grips?) to be 100% suitable for a small adult, though of course only the person riding the bike would be able to judge this for themselves.

[LollyKat]

Whatever bike you get make sure that the cranks are shorter than the standard 170mm or even 175mm normally offered, otherwise you are likely to develop knee problems sooner or later. 160mm or even 155mm would be better - do a search for crank lengths here on the forum or the CTC site. (Josie Dew uses 150cm.) If the LBS can't supply these for you then I think that Islabikes can, even if you don't buy the actual bike from them.

Edited to correct cm to mm

[[XAP]Bob]

Whatever bike you get make sure that the cranks are shorter than the standard 170cm or even 175cm normally offered, otherwise you are likely to develop knee problems sooner or later. 160cm or even 155cm would be better - do a search for crank lengths here on the forum or the CTC site. (Josie Dew uses 150cm.) If the LBS can't supply these for you then I think that Islabikes can, even if you don't buy the actual bike from them.

175 cm??? Crikey 6' cranks?
170 ish mm is more common but you are right, completely inappropriate for someone of constrained altitude

[LollyKat]

175 cm??? Crikey 6' cranks?

Oops - now corrected!

[Tonyf33]

170mm cranks are perfectly fine for someone around 5ft, my mum (with quite short inside leg) has been riding the same for around 40 odd years and never gave her any problems, she has also ridden 20" frames even until quite recently though I got her a new smaller bike last year.
Isla bikes are fine if you have the brass but there are plenty of other options if you look around and try stuff out that come in a heck of a lot cheaper!

[V4281051]

A Bike Friday New World tourist will fit you fine..They even make them for people shorter than you..Check out their website..
I have one and they are fabulous bike and their after sales service is second to none..

[thelawnet]

I always thought that the point of the Islabikes was that they were adult-quality bikes that would fit kids, it seems therefore rather churlish to object to one for a small adult.

[DavidT]

Islabikes are only for children? They look absolutely fantastic bikes, but my child won't be getting one (and it has been on the agenda) due to the cost being so high in relation to the fact he is likely to outgrow it in 18 months. (Like his last 2 bikes...) Meanwhile an Islabike for a short adult sounds an ideal match and excellent value for money.