need advice on buying a bike?

children and adults need to learn on a lightweight bike in good working order that is simple, clean and the correct fit for them.

the only way to learn to ride a bike is to start on a balance bike. once a rider has their balance the pedalling will follow. riding with stabilisers teaches a child to learn to ride a bike with stabilisers. This is different to riding a normal bike. The bike handles very differently. children who learn with stabilisers have to unlearn a whole host of things when they are taken off.

although there are balance bikes available on the market these are almost invariably made for the very little ones.

I teach riding by converting any suitably sized pedal bike into a balance bike. This is easily done by simply removing the pedals. The seat needs to be able to be lowered far enough for the rider to have their feet flat on the ground and their knees slightly bent - they need to get purchase as they push off the ground and scoot.

balance bike seat height and riding bike seat height are very different. there is a difference of around 5-6cm which in children’s lives is around a years worth of growth. given that the average child’s bike should last for around 2 years this means that expecting the same bike to be used for learning (as a balance bike) and for riding (independently pedalling) results in you getting substantially less use out of the bike you have just brought.

if you have access to a number of bikes or have a number of siblings growing through this may not be a problem to you. however one option I can offer is to let your child (or you) learn on one of my bikes meaning when they are riding independently you can then buy a bike suitable for their actual size. by then you will have more idea about what you are looking for in a bike that will work for them.

a Childs bike needs to be appropriate for the child’s size, weight and power. this is not the case with most children’s bikes on the market. I choose to teach on islabikes as I believe these to be the most successful for children’s riding, especially at a young age. they are the lightest bikes on the market and their child specific parts from brake levers to cranks to bottom bracket to seat to handlebar size all work together to give the child the best possible chance of being successful with their riding.

when that child pushes off and has to find that second pedal they need to have enough speed to make the bike go fast enough to stay upright and give them time, they need to easily be able to get on the second pedal and they need to find it easy to keep pedalling. they then want to have fun, not be worn out by dragging a heavy frame and suspension forks they are not heavy enough to activate. they want to have large enough wheels to keep rolling and be comfortable enough to want to go for ever. in my experience Islabikes are amongst the few bike companies that deliver this.