Getting kids into riding on the road

the islabikes luath (http://www.islabikes.com/bike_pages/luath700.html) is certainly worth a look. So is the Kinesis KR210 (http://road.cc/content/review/16219-kinesis-kr210-youths-road-frame-fork). scott and giant have made good kids' road bikes in the past but i don't think they have much in the current line-ups

Thanks for your help Dave. I would have thought that there would a healthy supply of used small framed bikes given that kids will grow out of these bikes in no time.. alas no such luck in the classifieds or ebay.

in my experience the decent youths road bikes usually to belong to the kids of cycling club members – or at least keen cyclists – and they often get passed down within a club or to friends, which might explain why you don't see so many advertised

I'd say the same, though it applies more to decent road bikes than MTB-style kids' bikes.

Islabikes are probably the best children's bikes you can buy. They do appear on ebay regularly but since demand outstrips supply they won't be especially cheap. Having said that, you get what you pay for, and if you buy new resale value will be healthy.

g1deonian: you didn't say how tall the lad is?

My son is 11 and, although a little taller than most of his classmates, fits on a 52cm Trek and he'd previously ridden his Mum's 50cm Trek. ie try your boy straddling a 48 or 50cm bike and you may be surprised, especially if you fit the shortest possible stem.

We have fitted a 7.5cm Bontrager stem and he's perfect for now although we expect to have to fit a longer stem once he shoots up.

By the way, agree with all of the above on Islabikes. If he really is too small for an 'adult' bike then Isla's are brilliant if you can find one. Trouble is he'll start growing like crazy the second you buy one. Always a dilemma.

Yes, as above my son is nearly 12 and on a Carrera TDF which has about a 48.5 frame iirc. I did swap for a shorter stem, 110mm replaced by 80mm, but he was fine reach wise. When he first got the bike I felt the seatpost needed dropping a fraction more but the water little bosses on the downtube hindered that so I raided my spares box and found one 50mm shorter. It did the job, although that was late last summer and wouldn't be an issue now. Also as he was used to flattie pedals I started him the half clips which helped him too.

Islabikes are good because they have shorter cranks and appropriate gearing for children.

Thanks for all the good advice. I am going to keep an eye out for a second hand Islabike on eBay. Alternatively I may give the Carrera TDF a whizz. Halfrauds are selling them for a mere £350 at the moment which is a veritable bargain.

If you do look at the TDF try a bit of bartering instore as last year an extra 10 percent off was easily achieved, sometimes more.