Road bike for a 9 year old

[Nosaj]

My 7 year old daughter has one of the Decathlon Road bikes and it is a decent bit of kit for the price. Tyres are 650/23. 7 Speed and a big clunky gear change (great for little hands) on the hoods press up to go up a gear press down to go down. Very simple. Brake levers on hoods as well enough space for one 750ml water bottle.

Most importantly the little n loves it

The only downside is that it weighs more than more than my road bike which is double the size!

 

[Dilbert]

Mine had a few Isla Bike Luaths in all the sizes from a club and I was not overly impressed tbh, and I tend to agree with Boris about the hype. They are not road bikes as such but cyclocross style bikes, and while this makes them a bit more flexible in terms of terrain, fitting mudguards etc, the cantilever brakes can be a bit troublesome compared to dual pivot. The rear mech is a mountain bike one. Generally I don't think the spec level justifies the price, although as others have said they consistently fetch bizarre prices on Ebay, so you may get most if not all of your money back!!

One thing we found was that the brake levers on the tops (pretty standard on cyclocross bikes) encouraged the kids to ride with their hands on the tops instead of learning to use the hoods and the drops, which is a bad habit to get into, and really defeats the object of having a road bike, so watch out for that.

The Decathlon range is worth a look, he may fit one of the smaller 700 cc ones - the Triban 3 or 5 both look like good bikes. We didn't get one for my lad in the end as we wanted 10 speed gears so he could easily use my wheels as spares at races, but they seem excellent value.

You can make quite a difference to the reach by fitting a shorter stem, and playing with the spacers on the headset, and its easy to change as they grow. Shimano Brake levers have reach adjustment.

 

[Globalti]

Seconded the suggestion of a Bheinn 26 small, we've just sold ours to a family with four small kids and I'm confident they will get as much use from it over the next few years as our son did over about four years. It's fast, light and as good on the road with the standard tyres as off the road with knobblies.

 

[I like Skol]

I'd been looking for ages and was simply not impressed by what i saw on IslaBikes' website and what I saw of their product among friends' children and in bike racks. I didn't (and still don't) get the hysteria. it reminds me a little of the enthusiasm for Cath Kidston kitchenware some years ago. Quite inexplicable yet the product and the lust for it were ubiquitous.

There can be issues with brake-level size, but not big issues. Many children have a bit of a reach issue the first time they use a certain set of levers, but this goes very quickly. It can be exagerrated by the unfamiliar layout of the bars and levers, so a non-issue can appear to be an issue.

You will not get many years out of a road bike bought for a 9-year-old. Mine was for 3 children in succession, so there was less of a cost per user.

I think I am firmly planted in the Boris camp on the topic of Islabikes. I admit they may be good quality but otherwise they do not seem to cry out as better than any other quality bike from the mainstream 'proper' bike brands. I feel there is something of 'the emporers new clothes' about the enthusiasm portrayed for the brand by some parents. This was partially confirmed for me during the summer when both my boys attended a track cycling training session when the coach and assistant both tried to help a young girl riding an Islabike who was struggling with the brakes. Brake lever alignment was soon sorted but both were left muttering and grumbling when they realised there was no reach adjustment on the brake levers fitted! FFS, this was a 20" wheel bike aimed at 5-8yr olds so some requirement for adjustment would be a certainty in my book!

 

[summerdays]

One of the things I liked about Islabikes (sorry I'm a convert), was that the frame sizing was different to other brands so that my son was able to move up wheel size sooner than on other brands. As the youngest in the family it meant he was better able to keep up without putting him on a bike that was too big for him. I don't think he is really small for his age but certainly not above average height, he had only been riding a 20 inch bike for a year and a bit when we bought the Beinn 24 at age 8. And it took until he was 11 to move up to the Luath 26. He would not fit onto most standard 26 inch wheeled bikes and certainly not any small adult frames. (He probably sounds tiny in comparison to other peoples children but when I see him with school friends he looks to be a similar size to them).

I'm surprised at the brakes - though I've never needed to bring them closer to the handlebars since they are designed to be closer in the first place. (Are you talking about on the Beinn or the Luath).

I've also had good aftersales service when a part arrived slightly damaged, I just photographed it and the replacement part was with me in a couple of days.

 

[hobbitonabike]

Hmm some interesting thoughts. Think we are going to have to get down to some serious research!!

 

[atbman]

The first bikes we bought for our Kids Club were Decathlons, because there were no other road bikes for children which didn't leave us partially limbless. The youngsters loved them and one or two parents went down that route. However, once Islabikes came out - lighter at the same size, better and more child friendly components and more flexible ('cross and road) - parents started buying for their own children.

It may be that, since Islabikes were pretty much the first full range of properly designed kids bikes on the market, people's opinions are still affected by that. However, our selection is pretty much booked out every Saturday and many of the kids get bought them for Christmas, birth and grownoutoftheirs days.

There is also the fact that the latest versions are now lighter and therefore even more child-friendly. This isn't to say that there aren't any other good ones on the market, because there are, but we'll stick with them until something better comes along (and we can get a grant to buy them)

 

[hobbitonabike]

Ok...we have ended up with a Dawes Espoir 3000. We went through to Wheelbase and ds had a ride on a 24". After a bit of a shaky start he was soon flying round!! Its now being reindeered off to Father Christmas to be delivered for christmas morning!! Bike looks good. Just a touch over 11kg and has proper shifters which he thinks is great cos they're just like mum and dads lol.

 

[hoopdriver]

Again, another vote for Islabikes - excellent bikes for kids.

 

[Andy_R]

We have just ordered this for small boy:

I wonder why he wanted it in Yellow?

 

[summerdays]

We have just ordered this for small boy:
View attachment 18617
I wonder why he wanted it in Yellow?

I didn't even know it came in yellow!!!

 

[Andy_R]

I didn't even know it came in yellow!!!

Neither did we until I 'phoned to order the bike and was asked if we wanted the special edition. The gentleman at Islabikes emailed me the image of the special edition and as soon as Jake saw it, he said "YESYESYES!!!"