cnoc 14 or 16

[TonbridgeSteve]

Hi,

My son currently rides a rohan balance bike nearly everyday to nursery but it is getting a bit small for him and as it is his birthday in a month we thought we would get him a new bike. Having had such a good experience with Islabikes with the rohan we have pretty much decided to get him another one from them.

The decision comes down to his size. We measured him this morning and his inside leg is 41cm. (as best as you can measure a 3 year old).

According to Islabikes website the sizing chart says the following:

Rohan (max inside leg 42cm) - this matches our opinion that it is getting to small for him.
Cnoc 14 - min inside leg 38cm, maximum 48cm
Cnoc 16 - min inside leg 42cm, maximum 52cm
Beinn 20 (small) - min inside leg 46cm

Our thoughts are:

1) Get the smaller Cnoc 14 as it will be lighter for him and hopefully easier for him to transition from balance bike to one with pedals. He would then hopefully be able to go from that to the Beinn small as their is some crossover in size.

2) Get the larger Cnoc 16 which would last him longer. (I hate thinking about the value and the length of time he will use it for but it is a consideration for us).

Are their any other reasons that we have not thought of for choosing one over the other? Has anyone had experience with either of these bikes?

He loves riding his bike at the moment and I would hate for us to get the wrong bike and put him off cycling. I would love it if we could try him on both bikes and see which fitted him best but that is not practical.

Thanks for any help/advice you can give.

 

[Arch]

I think you're best to err on the side of small - I got my nephew a Rothan when he was just old and big enough (doting auntie, couldn't wait for him to have a bike), but it's taken him a year to grow enough to enjoy it - at first it just made walking hard work and was a bit heavy for him to hold up, but I gather he's got the hang of it now.

Generally I gather (having no kids myself) that it's better to avoid the 'he'll grow into it' mentality, because too big a bike just feels wobbly.

They are lovely bikes. I know of small adult ladies who have the largest in the range, as full on tourers, and I could hardly bear to part with the Rothan, it's so cute.

If you could manage to day trip to Ludlow, they are having a family fun day...

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/why/family_day_2011.html

 

[summerdays]

[QUOTE 1333275"]
I've bought 4 Islabikes, and for all of them I've been able to visit Isla to size them up with my boys. I'm glad that I did because when they sat on the bikes that the website said would fit, the boys have always been too big for them.
[/quote]

I had the opposite - in that I measured up my son and decided the Beinn 24 was too big for him based on inside leg measurement. Went along to find out how much too big and they wanted to put him on a 20. Fair enough as I was expecting it to be too big. But I persuaded them to put him on the 24 to see how much more he had to grow into it (to see whether it was going to be a Christmas present in 6 month time or longer than that). Put him on it and off he went potholes and all, and loved it... so he literally just fitted onto the 24 - it was in our house within the week.

It really is worth seeing if you can try one - where do you live perhaps someone has one near by you?. They are definitely becoming more common ... I now see about 10-20 Islabikes (perhaps more) a year around Bristol whereas if you go back a couple of years I would only spot 1 or 2.

 

[TonbridgeSteve]

Thank you all for your advice and help, much appreciated.


[QUOTE 1333275"]
Where do you live?...

We've got one of the Cnocs. I'll try to remember tonight to check which one it is, measure the boy's inside leg, and let you know how much seat post is showing. PM me if I forget and you still need to know.
[/quote]


We live in the south east so it's over a 3 hour drive to islabikes shop, as much as I'd love to take him and check it isn't really that practical.

It would be great if you could let me know the details of your Cnoc and your boy's inside leg, it might give us a bit more of an indication.

I think you're best to err on the side of small - I got my nephew a Rothan when he was just old and big enough (doting auntie, couldn't wait for him to have a bike), but it's taken him a year to grow enough to enjoy it - at first it just made walking hard work and was a bit heavy for him to hold up, but I gather he's got the hang of it now.

Generally I gather (having no kids myself) that it's better to avoid the 'he'll grow into it' mentality, because too big a bike just feels wobbly.

That is my general thought at the moment but just wanted some other opinions of people who know bikes well, thanks for the help.

 

[TonbridgeSteve]

[QUOTE 1333280"]
3 on Ebay at the moment- http://sports.shop.e...d=p3286.c0.m282 - one in Essex.
[/quote]

Thanks for all the information, I think we will probably go with the 14 as I don't want him to struggle on a bike that's to big and we'll keep hold of the bikes for his sister once she's old enough so should get some good use from it.

I had spotted the one in essex on ebay and will keep an eye on it and may well put a bid in.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[TonbridgeSteve]

Just wanted to say thanks again to all who commented and offered their help, after calling Islabikes and chatting with them we eventually decided on a 14 even though he could have had a 16 according to their size charts.

We missed out on a couple on ebay but decided that it was worth the investment to get a decent bike which will be hopefully be used by our daughter as well and then sold on as they seem to hold their value well.

Islabikes were really helpful and we had a cnoc 14 in time for our sons birthday.

9 days later and he has got the hang of pedalling and just needs a small helping hand to get started. He is so pleased with the bike as are we, below is a picture of him today enjoying the bike.