Islabikes, gear ratios and Welsh hills

[Doseone]

My son (10 in November) is making good progress with his riding. He's been on a 2nd hand old bike for ages and it's too small and falling apart so time to get him a new one.

I really like the Islabikes concept and I don't think I've seen a bad review. Having measured him up the one that would be suitable for him is the Beinn 26 small.

I have one concern though and that is the gear ratio. Islabikes have gone for simplicity by having only one 32T chain ring on the front, with an 8-32 cassette on the back. I like the idea of keeping it simple, but we live in a hilly part of Wales and I'm worried that this won't be easy enough on the climbs.

The other option is a Trek MT220 from our LBS. This has a triple on the front 42/34/24 and a 14-28 cassette. So, not really ever having been able to get my head around gear ratios, how does the easiest gear on the Islabikes at 32/32 compare with the easiest gear on the Trek at 24/28?

My daughter who is 12 and is not a bad rider has a 24/34 ratio available to her on her Trek and does need to use it sometimes on the bigger hills round here, which is why I am worried that 32/32 on the Islabikes won't be enough.

I'd be grateful for any insight or suggestions you can give. Thanks.

 

[Crackle]

I'm not sure it's an issue. My son had the Islabike Beinn 20 and he could climb a 15% in the Lake District without a problem (well as quick as his dad and remember, yours could walk up behind you!). The bike is light and kids generally have good power to weight. They just twist and select. Back easier, forward harder. I think the Beinn 20 was 8.4Kg and a same size Trek I had, 10.4KG.

Set that against a triple, which will probably have a similar spread (a guess that, I haven't worked it out but it's probably close to the same) but more increments and the complication of dropping to a lower front and a bigger back, not overlapping and more key, getting the gear selection right before they hit the hill because the gears on kids bikes, especially twist grips, aren't as snappy as adult ones and don't like changing under pressure ( Based on a twistgrip Trek and Ridgeback).

So six of one and half a dozen of the other. At that age, my eldest used to moan up the hills and all the gears in China wouldn't have helped him, whereas the youngest could just be seen as a receding dot near the top. The Beinn is an excellent bike, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, except if you intend going to trail centres and getting into mtn biking, it won't do that beyond easy stuff.

 

[black'n'yellow]

The Trek has a significantly lower gear - but that doesn't mean the 32/32 on the Isla won't be low enough. It all depends on the fitness of the rider at the end of the day...

 

[arallsopp]

Gears expressed X/Y work as such:

X teeth enagage the chain for one revolution of pedals. As the chain is constant, this pulls the same number of teeth at the wheel end. Y is the number of teeth required to spin the back wheel once.

If X is smaller than Y, you have to pedal more than once to get the wheel round. An adult road bike might give you 4 to 1 in top gear, a MTB 1 to 1 in bottom.

How "difficult" a gear feels is down to how far you go per revolution of cranks. If you want to play with pi, you may. Its X/Y x D x pi where D is the diameter of your rear wheel.

A smaller wheel will be easier than a big one in the same gear, as you travel less far.

 

[Crackle]

Yeah, lowest gear on both is 18 inches: Same.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Just get the bike you like (or that the child likes).

I raised our three in a very hilly area and didn't once think about gear ratios for any of them until they were teens.

My uncaring attitude didn't put any of them off. All still ride with vim and gusto.

My generation were raised largely on singlespeed bikes until after our 10th birthday. It really doesn't hurt.

Lucky lad to be bought such a nice bicycle and good on you for wanting to do it.

But don't sweat it on the gears. Young humans are hardy and relentlessly energetic.

 

[Doseone]

Thanks all for your replies, all very helpful.

(well as quick as his dad and remember, yours could walk up behind you!)

The Beinn is an excellent bike, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, except if you intend going to trail centres and getting into mtn biking, it won't do that beyond easy stuff.

Thanks for the recommendation, I would like to get him the Islabike, it's a lot of money but I'm prepared to stretch the budget.

Arrallsopp, thanks for the explanation, I do find gears difficult to get my head around sometimes. I wasn't aware that wheel size has an effect - this probably should have been obvious, but wasn't.

Just get the bike you like (or that the child likes).
But don't sweat it on the gears. Young humans are hardy and relentlessly energetic.

Thanks, sound advice. While I'm worrying about gear ratios it's easy to forget that he's just a kid who wants to have fun on his bike.

 

[lukesdad]

Luke has a beinn 20 the one thing I would say he found the bars to narrow so i fitted wider ones. i take it you will go up to Ludlow for a fitting ?

 

[Doseone]

Luke has a beinn 20 the one thing I would say he found the bars to narrow so i fitted wider ones. i take it you will go up to Ludlow for a fitting ?

Yes we would. I'd like him to have a ride on it make sure he's happy and that the sizing is right.

Was Luke happy with his?

 

[lukesdad]

Yes we would. I'd like him to have a ride on it make sure he's happy and that the sizing is right.

Was Luke happy with his?

yerp

 

[atbman]

My son (10 in November) is making good progress with his riding. He's been on a 2nd hand old bike for ages and it's too small and falling apart so time to get him a new one.

I really like the Islabikes concept and I don't think I've seen a bad review. Having measured him up the one that would be suitable for him is the Beinn 26 small.

I have one concern though and that is the gear ratio. Islabikes have gone for simplicity by having only one 32T chain ring on the front, with an 8-32 cassette on the back. I like the idea of keeping it simple, but we live in a hilly part of Wales and I'm worried that this won't be easy enough on the climbs.

The other option is a Trek MT220 from our LBS. This has a triple on the front 42/34/24 and a 14-28 cassette. So, not really ever having been able to get my head around gear ratios, how does the easiest gear on the Islabikes at 32/32 compare with the easiest gear on the Trek at 24/28?

My daughter who is 12 and is not a bad rider has a 24/34 ratio available to her on her Trek and does need to use it sometimes on the bigger hills round here, which is why I am worried that 32/32 on the Islabikes won't be enough.

I'd be grateful for any insight or suggestions you can give. Thanks.

As far as getting to use gears properly, our experience has been that a good many kids don't really begin to change gear instincitvely until they're about your lads age. But, that said, living in a hilly area usually gets them into it pretty quickly. The Trek 24/28 will be lower, especially as it has 20" wheels, but 32/32 should get him up pretty much anything. If not, 10 isn't too early to introduce him the the idea that cycling isn't about fun, it's about pain and suffering (sounds better in a Yorkshire accent), lad.

 

[Doseone]

As far as getting to use gears properly, our experience has been that a good many kids don't really begin to change gear instincitvely until they're about your lads age. But, that said, living in a hilly area usually gets them into it pretty quickly. The Trek 24/28 will be lower, especially as it has 20" wheels, but 32/32 should get him up pretty much anything. If not, 10 isn't too early to introduce him the the idea that cycling isn't about fun, it's about pain and suffering (sounds better in a Yorkshire accent), lad.

Thanks. The lowest gear on the bike that he has at the moment (which was a hand me down from a kind neighbour) is 36/28, so the 32/32 should make life significantly easier for him.

As an aside, I am astonished at how much his current bike weighs for something that isn't all that big!

 

[Doseone]

Well, after a great deal of looking we've chosen a bike. Buying a bike for your kids is probably even more fun than buying one for yourself

I really liked the Islabike concept, but in the end I wasn't prepared to buy over the internet without him trying it, and even though Ludlow where they are based is not a million miles away I couldn't see us getting there on a Saturday anytime soon to test them in the flesh. I still think the idea of rigid forks and one ring at the front is the way to go for 9 year olds, and am surprised that the larger manufacturers haven't cottoned on to this. To be honest though, the Islabikes do look a bit plain and I could tell he was bit disappointed when looking at them online.

So, we looked at bikes from all the usual suspects, Trek, Giant, Spesh, and we chose.......a KTM Wild Speed 24".

It's a lovely bike - a bit more money than the others but good components, a half decent fork that might actually be a bit of use and it's a bit lighter than the others too. I think weight is probably more important for little legs than it is for us grown ups. It fits him really well, and the bonus for me is QR's all round so nice and easy to get in and out of the car. He's chuffed to bits and can't wait to pick it up.

 

[screenman]

One of the nice things about the Islabikes my family found was their excellent resale value. Plus the fact from experience we found that the kids grew out of 20 inch wheels very quickly, which is what a lot of other companies offered.

That KTM sure looks good, I thought they only made motorbikes.

 

[Doseone]

That KTM sure looks good, I thought they only made motorbikes.

They do a really nice range of bikes. I've seen some of them and they are lovely.