Islabikes experience?

**GuyContinental** · 06-25-2013, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by hozn

Of course!

Dibs!

**83(b)** · 11-08-2013, 04:42 PM

I know others have lamented the difficulty of finding good children's bikes. This mountain bike build Nao Tomii (builder/owner of Tomii Cycles) did for his son is pretty cool. Fully adjustable from 20" to 26" wheels! I'm sure it costs an arm and a leg unless you own your own jig and welding setup, but if you're kid can ride grow with it for more than 5 years it's a little less insane.

**mstone** · 11-08-2013, 05:38 PM

I've seen stuff like this from time to time, but I'm not convinced it's actually a great solution. By eye, it looks like the standover is higher than either of my kids' 20 inch bikes (meaning they'd need to be bigger to start). You'll almost always have an unusually short or long stem, which will affect handling. I dunno; if you're doing this to save money, the wheels & tires end up being a significant fraction of the cost and I'm not sure how much you'd really end up saving. If you're doing it to make the best possible bike, why compromise the fit? I guess I'd be interested to see how it works out, but I suspect it won't become a magic bullet for the problem of kid bikes.

**hozn** · 11-08-2013, 05:58 PM

It is always nice to see builders designing bikes for their kids. For many of us, I imagine, cycling is very intrinsically connected to childhood and it is wonderful to see projects that focus on that demographic. Really I am sure that kids could care less (give or take) so the target market is here is reminiscent parents

There are a few kids bike options that are pretty nice now. Specialized makes nice, relatively light bikes. Obviously I am very pleased with Isla (and intend to keep buying these; they rock!). They are not super cheap, but if every bike costs $400 (i am guessing/averaging) and I need 4 before they are in adult sizes, that is still less than one of my bikes. (...And so I guess I am the perfect market for expensive kids bikes.)

**mstone** · 11-08-2013, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by hozn

if every bike costs $400 (i am guessing/averaging) and I need 4 before they are in adult sizes, that is still less than one of my bikes.

This is not the argument I've tried at home, let me know how it goes. :-D

**hozn** · 11-09-2013, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by mstone

This is not the argument I've tried at home, let me know how it goes. :-D

Oh, I don't anticipate making the case to my wife. I will just use discretionary allowance; that is how my non-transport bike purchases happen -- and how my kid's CNOC 14 got purchased.

(Though $270 is basically on par with Specialized prices.)