This year marks the 10th anniversary of Islabikes, the acclaimed UK-based child-specific bike company. I have followed their progress of the past decade and have heard many, many great reports about their bikes.
Sometimes parents are put off by the price. Islabikes are not cheap (from £149.99 to £749.99) but they boast an amazing attention to detail and offer bikes that are very easy for kids to ride. In addition, the resale of an Islabike is usually very good, with many bikes selling second-hand for more than two-thirds of their original price.
I am writing a few articles and blogs in celebration of a brand that has been very keen to encourage more kids to ride bikes and not simply to boost their own sales.
Here are 10 things you might not know about the Shropshire-based firm.
1 Islabikes was founded by renowned British bicycle designer, one of the few female designers in the industry. Isla wanted to create children’s bikes made specifically for children and to therefore encourage more kids to ride bikes.
Founder and bike designer Isla Rowntree.
2 While traditional, and much cheaper bikes, are often very heavy (heavier than adult bikes), Islabikes are made of super lightweight but strong aluminium.
3 The bike components are designed to suit children. So among the many features they boasts child-customised chainsets, gears, cranks, pedals and handlebars.
- As an example, Islabikes have customised pedals and cranks. The pedals are designed to contact the rider’s shoe at the perfect angle for set off. All Beinn bikes feature an ultra-narrow distance between the pedals known as a low Q-factor. This allows riders’ feet to touch the ground without fuss, pedal comfortably and lean over in a corner without clipping the pedal.
- Simplified gears include lightweight and wide-ratio cassettes for a nicely-spaced and broad selection of gears.
- Custom-made aluminium handlebars offer a super slim hold for smaller hands and saddles are made to suit a child’s smaller bottom.
- Beinn Islabikes use “exclusive aluminium wheels with quick releases for easy removal plus super secure, multi-surface Kenda tyres”. The rims have a strong box-section profile so they’ll stay straight for a long, long time.
- The Luath road bikes have Shimano STI integrated levers, which allow riders to change gear and brake with the same controls. The levers have been adapted for smaller hands as an extra safety measure, there are brake levers on the flat top of the handlebar.
- The Luath drop handlebar is designed by Islabikes to offer a shorter, shallower and narrower shape for young riders.
- Following years of research and development, Islabikes now fit all their lightweight starter bikes with a revolutionary chain guard. The patented ChainGlider chain cover has been designed to enhance safety for very young children.
4 Islabikes are sold on-line only “to ensure continued sales quality”. They claim to be very good at sizing bikes an rarely get it wrong. However, Islabikes – and the sales team – are popping up at more events across the UK. This means kids can try the bikes for size and ride. See Isla Bikes on Tour. The next Scottish date will be TweedLove.
5 Islabikes are made for kids from the age of two to teens. They cover balance, starter, multi-purpose, mountain, road and cyclocross cross bikes.
6 Balance bikes offer a far easier transition to pedal bikes. If the balance is already there, rather than the “unbalanced cycling with stabilisers, it usually means kids will be riding pedalled bikes far, far quicker. Isla, herself, claims to be able to teach a child to ride a bike in 45 minutes. She uses a balance bike rather than stabilisers.
7 Islabikes joined The Living Wage foundation in 2010 and was initiated because of the belief that if you work a 37.5 hour week your basic needs should be met regardless of your level of responsibility within a business. The Living Wage Foundation provides the framework for Islabikes to pay a fair wage relative to external economic factors.
8 Islabikes support World Bicycle Relief and help to raise money for Children in Need, too.
9 Islabikes have brought out one adult bike. “An adult bike for family cycling, commuting, touring or mountain biking.”
10 Rather than getting upset by the launch of similar bike competitors, such as Frog Bikes, HOY and (this summer) kids bikes by Sir Bradley Wiggins, Islabikes sees this as a “victory for kids”. Steve Chapman, at Islabikes, says: “Isla’s dream was to get more kids on bikes because they enjoyed riding a bike made for them. We are delighted to see that other companies are taking this concept on, too.”
Also see:
Islabikes review