The Perfect Toddler Bike Made to The Right Measure at Islabikes
It’s not often that you can read something and smile. I discovered in my current copy of “Cycling Active” just that: you can get a proper toddler kids bike for the smaller members of the family. Enter the world of Islabikes – kids bikes of quality.
The Rothan model, whilst it couldn’t be described as a proper bike if you wanted the drive chain, pedals and all the rest of it, you can if you date back a couple of hundred years or so to the days of the first bikes when there were no pedals. It could better be described as a balance bike which helps children learn balance and stability skills from a young age. Toddler bikes seem to have come on a long way since the wooden scoot along things I remember as a lad.
The seat looks good as well.
What I think I love best about Islabikes, who have just moved premises to Ludlow with the intention of forming a family centre of some kind with cycle tracks for the family, is their ethos. Isla started the company just 4 years ago as the result of being unable to track down the kind of bikes her friends were asking her for. And I have to agree!
Even Byron (my eldest: 8yrs) has a Raleigh bike that is as heavy as mine! And the 4 year old’s Argos special isn’t the lightest. It spends quite some time in our plastic bike shed rather than being ridden!
So Isla started off, and looks for things like thinner tubing, and smaller size components.
The Rothan is the smallest toddler bike on offer, if you want a kids pedal bike then you need to move up to the CNOC 14 or CNOC 16.
So why my interest? Well Reuben is pedalling away on his Argos special and it really is rough on the kid. The tyres are hard, the handlebars never seem to be on straight, and I am continually fighting to try and get the brakes to work. I should have gone for something a little more sturdy, not a cheapo make do with plastic wheels. In the case of Isala, that would be the Beinn 20.
My biggest problem is that Roo has little legs. He is quite a short-bottom and I think always will be to some extent. That means that he will be ready for a cooler designed bike any day now, and yet many of the bikes that he will actually fit are still sporting little kid transfers. Not only that, but I am having a hard time sourcing a decent bike helmet for him.
Isla to the rescue, again!
So with great glee I am going to look at the Isla bikes and see if I can come up with the readies as prices start at a hefty £100 for the toddler bike, and then £150 for the spec I need for Reuben.
Oh, and then there’s that little matter of the bike carrier…
shortlink: http://icyclelite.com/toddler-bike
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