Why is it that 99% of kids bikes are hulking great machines that weigh half as much as the poor imps desperately trying to pedal them along? The answer, of course, is cost!
Bike manufacturers can mass produce lots of steel leviathans at minimal expense. Their profit margins are maximised by charging reasonably low prices, thus increasing market share. That is all fine and we must bear in mind that many children - especially those just getting used to life without stabilisers - will treat their bikes with a fair amount of disrespect. The heavy steel offerings can generally take quite a beating but how much fun are these to ride?
A trip to Halfords or Argos (in the UK) will reveal a welter of colourful bicycles designed to temp children and break their parents' will. Snazzy stickers, tyres and gears all create a tempting package, but none of these bikes are ideal for young children. This is simply because they are far too heavy.
If we consider that an average high street store sells bikes for five to nine year olds that weigh an average 12 - 15 kilos, it is not difficult to appreciate why kids rapidly grow tired when sitting in the saddle. The picture above shows a bike sold in Argos that is nearly 15 kilos - we are talking bikes that weigh half as much as the rider. If we assume an average adult male is around 70 kilos, then the picture is clarified. How many adults ride around on bikes that weigh 35 kilos?! Can you imagine what such a bike would look like and how tough it would be to ride. Most Adult bikes are no more than 10 kilos, but we expect our offspring to handle metal lumps a good 30 - 50% heavier than that.
Islabikes is - to my knowledge - the first UK company to recognise this problem and seek to enhance the cycling experience of our little'uns. Their solution was very simple - build light bikes. The problem, as you would expect, is that they also charge two or three times as much as you would pay for a typical Halfords number. But what price the comfort of our kids.
Islabikes were for many years the only viable option, if a lightweight kid's bike is your desire. There are other companies building decent products, for example Puky have a good line that includes sealed hub gears, something genuinely unusual in the children's bike market. A sealed hub gear means that the gears are literally within the bike and not exposed to the elements. This has the advantage of reducing or eliminating servicing and also protecting the mechanism from falls. The good old Raleigh Chopper from the 70s/80s had the same design, I believe, but these days manufacturers prefer the cheaper external derailleurs.
Anyway I digress. The Puky line is unique and has benefits but it is offset by one major problem - you guessed it, they are heavy! The Puky Crusader comes in at nearly 13 kilos. A heavy bike may be made easier to pedal with gears but it will still handle a lot worse than a significantly lighter alternative.
If Puky had gone the extra mile and created a lighter bike with the same hub gears, then they would probably have stolen a significant portion of the higher end market from Islabike. I dismissed this option, when shopping for my youngest son, because the weight is absurd. Incidentally you can generally expect a higher weight with hub gears vs derailleurs due to the design. It is all swings and roundabouts in life!
But what if you want a light bike that doesn't have gears? To my mind gears are a complication that many young kids do not need. Hell many adults don't need it and single speed bikes are again starting to become popular across all age ranges. We want our children safe and focused on the roads and what is going on around them, not desperately trying to engage the right gear to get them over a steep hill. Also let's face it, a lot of kids will fiddle with gears just because they are there. It is something different that can be pressed and produce results. It is also one more thing to break!
Gears also add weight that we could really do without. There was no solution to this problem (if you are shopping in the six to ten range) until Sir Chris Hoy released a new line of kids bikes that included a 20" model called the Meadowbank. The Hoy bikes - marketed exclusively through Evans Cycles and no I do not work for them - are to my mind the first real competitor to Islabikes. They are new to the market, so have not had time to generate the same fan base but info is starting to spread and people are increasingly looking to Hoy as a viable alternative in the ultra light bracket.
For me there were two options - the Bonaly or Meadowbank. The Bonaly comes with six gears and is more of an all terrain hybrid bike. The Meadowbank has no gears, a racier profile and rides on slimmer, low resistance tyres more designed for roads, trails and park life. The Meadowbank is like a hybrid between track bikes and a BMX. Indeed the blurb tells us that this is exactly what inspired its creation.
If you look at the profile pics above, we see that the design is very consistent between both options. It is not difficult to spot the Bonaly derailleur, however, and of course this is one more thing to service.
Most buyers will opt for the Bonaly, simply because of the gears and all terrain marketing, and it may well be the right bike for you. If, like us, you are a fit and active family but not really avid cyclists then you may be better off with the Meadowbank. It is 12.5% lighter than its sibling and is designed for speed and minimal resistance. Also you could take it on the local BMX race track and not be out of place. My oldest son opted for a BMX, which are always single speed, as he loved the style and wants to get into racing. We bought a WeThePeople Curse 20" and he absolutely loves it. It is reasonably light at about 11 kilos and is geared low, so hills are a bit easier. He is two years older than his brother, however, and the extra weight and size make a real difference.
You can get some very light racing BMX bikes, which are also suitable alternatives to Isalbikes, but they tend to cost around £500 (brands such as Redline), which is a bit prohibitive for many families. To be fair most people will not want to spend the best part of £300 on a Hoy or Islabike but the price isn't completely unrealistic.
Interestingly I noticed that when the Meadowbank was first released in 2014 it did not have brakes and featured the classic racing drop bars. I imagine this setup generated limited sales and they realised that hybrid bars and standard brakes were required, in order that typical cyclists could benefit from the design advantages. In its current 2015 guise it is a truly useful bit of kit. As a track bike with no brakes, well I am not too sure what they were thinking to be honest.
So what inspired my careful analysis of the children's bike sector? We had been on a few walks recently where my youngest son began to tire and he had been using his big bro's hand-me-down bicycle for a while. It had lasted four years and was a Decathlon B-Twin Single One. Weighing in at 11 kilos, it was about the lightest steel kid's bike I have ever encountered. That is why we bought it of course :). I think that bike was fantastic value at only £89.99. It was basic but did the job really well. The tyres were a grippy, all-terrain style and I handed it on through Freecycle (with the front brake a bit dodgy but the rest intact) to start a new life elsewhere. The new owner loves it. I don't think they stock this bike any more but if you can find one and are on a budget, then I would definitely recommend it.
Anyway it was clear my youngest needed an upgrade to really inject some enthusiasm into his cycling. He is confident and was able to ride without stabilisers at less than 4 years old, but I have seen him come off enough to know that gears are a distraction we can do without for another year or two.
At barely seven kilos with pedals the Meadowbank is lighter than pretty much any kids bike on the market. It is more like an adult trying to move a bike that weighs 14 kilos. I am still left asking why they can't make a four or five kilo bike for kids, but perhaps that will come in the near future - at a price! Cost wise you are looking at £280 for the Bonaly and £270 for the Meadowbank. Considering the lack of gears that should tell you something about the engineering and materials used to make the latter, as it is virtually the same price as its all terrain sibling.
First impressions:
When I collected the bike it was clear that this really was a lightweight piece of kit. Everything about it is designed to produce a racy, simple to manoeuvre bicycle that really inspires confidence in the rider. They have dropped the frame and modified the handle bars to make turning and braking a breeze. I was able to compare it against the Bonaly, as they had one on display, and the weight difference is obvious. The Bonaly's tyres are massive compared to the Meadowbank and yet the latter's are still sensible and not ridiculously slim. The brakes worked brilliantly and stopped the lightweight frame on a sixpence. I was satisfied that I had made the right choice.
This was vindicated when my son was presented with the Meadowbank and took it for a test drive. The difference in his cycling was massive. He was zooming around, hills were little trouble - especially compared to his old bike - and he was relying on the brakes much more than his feet.
One thing that concerned me was the slimmer profile, racing tyres. We all know that kids will end up off road in the leaves and bracken at some point. Whether it is cutting through the park or taking a woodland trail, their bike needs to be able to handle different conditions.
I need not have worried because although they lack conventional grooves and pits, the tyres were perfectly able to handle grass, woodland trails, loose stones and moderate mud/leaves. We went for a cycle at the country park nearby and the Meadowbank glided out of the woods, up a pebbled trail and back onto the tarmac without any issues. The lightweight frame doubtless helps to prevent it sinking too quickly when the ground becomes softer. Of course it is not a mountain bike, but it won't struggle in most of the conditions a typical family will throw at it.
It looks fabulous in the deep blue and white colour scheme. The paint looks very high quality and the aluminium frame is moulded together well. It is a head turner.
This is a very good bike for kids aged six to ten. Finally there is a worthy alternative to the Islabike and I bet these will hold their value every bit as well. The Hoy legend is massive and his bikes align with the quality he delivered on the track. I carried the bike home with one arm and it really wasn't tough. It will be incredibly easy to transport the Meadowbank.
If you want an ultra light (by typical standards) bike without the complication of gears, then there really is only one option in the six to ten year old bracket.
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