So; little girls birthday coming up, and she isn't bad on her giant puddon, but it's too small and she really needs gears.

So, me and the girlfriend have two to pick from, Islabikes Beinn vs GT Scamp.

£159 vs £221.50 (both INC shipping)

Looking at the two, they both have aluminium frames (6061 vs 7005, so probably in favour of the isla).

Wheels are both aluminium with QR hubs.

Suspension fork on the GT (debatable if it's a plus)

Brakes are same

Shifters and mechs are much of a muchness.

Tyres are chunkier on the GT.

Finishing kit are much of a muchness (maybe slightly in favour of the GT because of the QR seatpost clamp, but that is really picking peanuts out of poo).

Cranks are better on the isla (cartridge bearing vs square taper).

But is it all really worth the extra £60?

Any suggestions? Anyone own a scamp?

I want the Isla, 3 year old has a Cnoc 16 and it's ace, but if I am gonna get the Beinn I need to be able to explain to the girlfriend why it's £60 better than the GT.

Isla bikes, we have a couple for our boys, both have been brilliant, perfect for little, hands, feet, strength etc etc.

Is there much difference in weight between the two?

Big fan of Isla bikes, great customer service too.

Ridgeback MX16 or 20 depending on which fits him best – usually one or two on ebay

Don't really like the ridgeback.

Not sure on the weight difference, can't find the weight of the scamp, islabike is 8.8KG

Just buy the islabike, you know it makes sense. Although I don't own a modern islabike (no children) I do own an islabike track tandem and a custom cx bike from the 90s which are both very nice.
Islabikes will give you proper customer support, a bike really designed for a child, a route to upgrade in the future, supporting a UK company, and your child will be getting the best bike for the job.

Hi there, my eldest has a Cube Team Ltd, 20" and it is superb. He is dead slight and found the Giant too heavy. The Cube has rigid forks / gears and shimano kit. May be a bit more compared to others but it has been well used and abused and still looks great – I'm hoping that it will be good for #2 son and #1 daughter

My daughter has an Islabike Beinn 20. She loves it, it's small and light enough for her to ride comfortably and she knows it's special (which I think is the deciding factor!). The gear ratios that Isla has put on it means she gets up most of the hills that the rest of the family can tackle with 27-speed set ups.

My son had an MX20 (best of the rest for the year I was buying – given I'd not heard of Islabikes then) and the sus forks have never worked properly and added quite a bit of unnecessary weight. The chainring was too big to allow anything very steep to be tackled – I was grateful when he bent it so I could replace it with something smaller.

I believe Islabikes will do a trade-in deal once she has grown out of it, by which time she will want another Islabike as everything else is just not good enough!

Ben

Why not consider a lightweight folding bike. If I was going through the kid thing again, that's what I'd do.

My Dahon fitted my daughter from about 7 and still does at 15. Saves having to buy a new bike every few years.

It will probably fit the little boy by the time she has outgrown it, and it's silver and purple, so not too girly.

Not too bothered (and neither would she be) about a folding bike.

Will talk the missus into it, know the resale on these is silly (got a CNOC 16 for £65 and I know I could sell it 6 months on for more than I paid for it).

Looking to buy two bikes and from my other thread looking for advice the islabike route does look an interesting option. Are they really that different and is their marketing hype true about them being designed to suit kids with lightweight build and appropriate spaced gearing?

My 2 children have had Islabikes, CNOC and Rohan to learn on, one has been handed down, and I'm about to buy 2 more.
Brilliant, noticably lighter than run of the mill and just generally well thought through.
Highly recommended from here. I would say the others identified that are ally would be just as good, but having also just bought the trailer bike (steel) and compared it to a friends alloy Adams I have been using the Isla is both lighter, more ergonomic and better put together!

Plus as has been said British with great customer service.
Phil

At the outdoor centre i work at they've got some of the GT's seem reallty good up to now,pretty light and qr everything,the chainring is a useable size for little legs too,the ridgeback mx20's we had before these we're really heavy and had massive gears,the GT just seems better thought out.

Put my hand in my pocket in the end.

Stumped up £220 for the islabike beinn.

With the other little one riding a cnoc, they will look cool together (and that's the most important thing ;)).

The CNOC is brilliantly made, so sure I won't be let down. And hopefully it's not too girly to pass to the little boy once she is done.