[Duma]

Been out with my daughter a couple of times for our daily exercise, and she's very much out grown her bike (first times out since last autumn, and it was a bit small then). I'd like to replace it sooner rather than later as it's been great during lock down, but all the shops are shut so sizing her is a bit trickier. In addition, at her size/age (4'9", turns 11 in May) all the sites seem to say she's on the border between junior and adult bikes, and suggest going for 26" wheels/ 14" frame, however as far as I can see your choices get hugely restricted at that size - to the extent that I've failed to find anything I'd think suitable.
I'd like to get something like this:
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-24-kids-bike-2020-1/
But she's outside the recommended size range for that (top end is 4'8")
So couple of questions:
Does the online sizing sound right? My gut feeling is that she's a bit small for an adult bike, and I don't want to set her back with something too big for her (plus the lack of availability of that size as mentioned), but equally don't want to waste money on something she'll outgrow in a couple of months or even be too small to start with.

If the sizing is right, anyone got any suggestions? See the vitus above for the sort of thing I'm looking at. Price wise <£400 or so

[nik at work]

I got a second hand 26” small adult lapierre spicy for £500 for my eldest at a similar age/size. He looked comically small on it when first got, but very very quickly grew into it. He’s not a big kid.
It has massively improved his riding, going from a reasonable basic bike rider to a pretty competent enduro/downhill rider. Albeit this is at least in part due to the fact that his riding partner is astonishingly good (not me, I’m woeful...)
Kids/people do seem to ride much bigger bikes nowadays, all seems a bit at odds to my bmx childhood...

[mrjonathanr]

My daughter is the same age, pretty sure we got 26” wheels (I went to measure them and it came back 25”    ) -she is average height. I’d go a big as she can manage; she isn’t going to be getting smaller.

[Duma]

There's not many 26" wheeled bikes around now though - the mtb are all 27.5" or 29" and the hybrids and road are 700. Nik, don't really want to get her a proper mtb, she won't use the suspension etc and it'll just add weight and cost.
Islabikes do a good one (beinn) but it's £500. Hold value well though I suppose.

[Paul B]

Is second hand something you'd entertain?

All our bikes (2 road; 2 MTB) have been bought via the Yorkshire Cycling Sales FB group. One was a 26" wheeled MTB for my wife.

[nai]

Islabikes do a good one (beinn) but it's £500. Hold value well though I suppose.

Was going to suggest this, isla, frog, possibly hoy now too and others. Much lighter than an adult bike, kid size components. Buy second hand, often still quite expensive but they retain value, if you manage to find one at the right price you'll get your money back. Obviously could be tricky at the moment.
Nipper, 11 in April and similar height to yours, has a 26" frog which is great, she has the saddle most of the way down I think. Reckon she has a couple of years left on it yet.
Saying that, 12 year old sister uses her mum's xs hybrid on the rare occasions she rides. But that's just cruising flat forest trails while nipper does like a bit of downhill single track so needs something more manouverable.

[chris j]

Islabikes do a good one (beinn) but it's £500. Hold value well though I suppose.

We are working our way up the isla bikes range as the kids grow. Pick one up on gumtree or Ebay,  pass it down through 2 kids and sell it on for not much less. Good bikes.

[sxrxg]

Plenty of decent options around in 26" wheel size and small frames:

Rigid:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Squish-Junior-26-Mountain-Bike-2020-Junior_102323.htm?source=aw&awc=6821_1585467777_6c20bc008ac308d2440aebe3594caa22&utm_source=aw&utm_medium=138195

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-ARX-26-2020-Junior-Bike_218407.htm

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-kauri-26-inch-2020-kids-bike-EV275992?wiz_medium=cpc&wiz_source=google&wiz_campaign=UK%20-%20Shopping%20-%20Mobile%20-%20Generics%20-%20Bikes&wiz_content=Brand%20-%20Bikes%20-%20Kids%20Bikes%20-%20Pinnacle%20-%20No%20Year&wiz_term=*%20%2F%20Product%20type&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjoH0BRD6ARIsAEWO9DtqC-b9ip79C86HJ_0o2Y2ZnxgWPdv8kHIKrXN2j3wH1Ni-6F8nM2QaAoHnEALw_wcB

https://www.evanscycles.com/hoy-bonaly-26-inch-wheel-disc-2020-kids-bike-EV306435?wiz_medium=cpc&wiz_source=google&wiz_campaign=UK%20-%20Shopping%20-%20Mobile%20-%20Generics%20-%20Bikes&wiz_content=Brand%20-%20Bikes%20-%20Kids%20Bikes%20-%20Hoy%20-%20No%20Year&wiz_term=*%20%2F%20Product%20type&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjoH0BRD6ARIsAEWO9Dt6RdkIjoREsOHyQZOq2L0_0ZuUyDeNwle0UfZHagmBGAehION33fUaAhBjEALw_wcB

MTB with front sus:

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/kids-bikes/voodoo-nzumbi-mountain-bike---26in-wheel-251436.html

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/vitus-nucleus-26-youth-bike-2020/rp-prod181446?gs=1&sku=sku698295&istCompanyId=8d42cf00-fc35-44ce-8770-97ae3ffd4c16&istFeedId=c759ee22-6d7f-4501-bd00-f1af47c60490&istItemId=iialawrxi&istBid=t&pgrid=60711842818&ptaid=pla-417596438377&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PLA+All+Products&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|sJaEpHIls_dm|pcrid|309840119990|pkw||pmt||prd|698295UK&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjoH0BRD6ARIsAEWO9Ds-SL2pBmI_dSNE7qaYBjkD1IrMUTQp2VqHDtxUb8meBo3rl7oD-m8aAsLhEALw_wcB&utm_expid=.kieFfYmlTGa12nhN5hQDrA.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

[Duma]

Thanks, some good suggestions there. Had seen the pinnacle but not tried tredz, those first two look like good candidates.
The islabikes look great but is a lot of money for something I can't see in the flesh before committing to. 2nd hand is fine but with the pandemic can't find any locally.

[bolehillbilly]

Thanks, some good suggestions there. Had seen the pinnacle but not tried tredz, those first two look like good candidates.
The islabikes look great but is a lot of money for something I can't see in the flesh before committing to. 2nd hand is fine but with the pandemic can't find any locally.

We've been through the Islabike range, some new, some second hand, one used by both kids.
Couldn't recommend them enough.
Have had no problem selling them all on and I'd guess either new or second hand each one cost £150-£200 max after resale.
Youngest has just ridden a full cyclo cross season on her second hand one and it's still going strong.

If you cant find second hand and can afford it I'd take the hit of buying a new one with the knowledge that you will get plenty back on resale if you look after it.

[erm, sam]

Don't know where you live but I have one of these I've been getting round to putting on ebay:
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-kauri-26-inch-2020-kids-bike-EV275992  It is not 2020 obvs, but looks the same.

I am in Stockport if you were nearby and wanted to arrange a "leave it in the front garden for somebody to try out".

I really like the Pinnacle kids bikes, we had the smaller ones before these and now have moved on to a bigger frame.

[Duma]

Thanks all, I'm in Bristol so no good to me sadly Sam. New isla was tempting but I emailed them and they suggested 2 weeks for delivery which seemed a bit much. In the end I've let my daughter go through the options with me and now we have a squish 26" on its way to us, hopefully will get here before we go crazy!

[SA Chris]

We've got Isla bikes for both the kids and can't recommend them enough either.

Very fortunate to get both second hand, and likely to sell on for same price. My son is 10 and he's on a Beinn 24 I think, I can check in garage, get you an all round video of it, or him sitting on it to give you an idea. Daughter is on his old one now, I think they've just had pads replaced since new, although hers might be due for a chain (and back cassette) replacement soon, starting to skip gears when she goes out of granny gear.

I've heard some people find the frog geometry to be a bit too long so they lean over a bit more than they would like, but that may be anecdotal.