Road bike for 7/8 yo wanted

[DCLane]

My youngest is asking about a new road bike. He's 7 at the moment and it'd be Christmas/birthday next year.

Someone's suggested an Islabikes Luath 24.

Does anyone have experience of these or a similar bike? The budget's up to £300 but he's agreed to help out from his savings, so we're looking at a maximum of £500.

 

[Hicky]

My lad is 8 and has a cube 240, a little heavy but rock solid(MTB).
Most 24 wheel bikes were too big on the top tube but the cube has a lower top tube.....and can be had for
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=57289 £254!

I was going to go for a decathlon kids road bike (triban junior £199!!!!!) and change the tyres to cx but I dont think he has enough mechanical sympathy for a road bike.

 

[VamP]

My youngest is asking about a new road bike. He's 7 at the moment and it'd be Christmas/birthday next year.

Someone's suggested an Islabikes Luath 24.

Does anyone have experience of these or a similar bike? The budget's up to £300 but he's agreed to help out from his savings, so we're looking at a maximum of £500.

The Luath is the best there is. 400 Quid new, gets you a proper road bike, but kid size, and most importantly light weight. They are really sought after second hand too, so retain their value much better than most kid's bikes. In children's road and cyclocross racing 95% of kids are racing on Luath's.

Just be careful with sizing - depending on your lad's size you might want to look at the 26.

 

[Nigel_A]

Apologies for the belated contribution, but this my first post after discovering these forums!

I would like to put a word in for the Pro-Lite 'TheOne which I bought from CRC. My son was just big enough to ride the 24" version at seven and a half - getting used to the brake leavers was harder for him than the frame size.

My daughter has the 650c version which is equally good barring a tyre clearance problem with the front brake (described in my review on the CRC site).

They can both get up to 30km/h in top gear yet still climb reasonable hills in bottom gear.

Regards (and hello all),

Nigel

 

[veloman]

Plus 1 for the Pro-Lite. My daughter (10) also has the 650C size, very well made, just like a real adult bike but sized accordingly. Just be prepared for the speeds these kids can do on them, checked my daughters computer the other day, top speed over 59 KPH!!

 

[rockrat]

i recenly bought both my kids the Dawes Espoir 3000 direct from dawes on amazon and whilst its a tad heavy they both love it. admitedly i was consdiering the fact i had 2 bikes to buy, but at £230 each at the time i think they were a bargain.
but... i notice amazon no longer have them, and the second cheapest place i found for it at the time bikesdirect2u has also slightly increased the price to £260 , still a good deal
http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B3941.html

islabikes a great, our kids triathlon club have loads of them, but try to get one.... they are like golddust and comparing the dawes to them at the club theres very little difference.

 

[DCLane]

Thanks - I've shown him the lot and he's preferring the Islabikes. However, it'll be next spring before we get it. They seem to keep their value well too.