Kids bike recommendations?

Islabikes are awesome, the ones to  beat. Look here http://www.thelittlebikecompany.co.uk/bike-brand/early-rider.html for the best alternatives at that age

My boy was on a crossbar seat from 6 months, but refused point blank to do any riding himself. He was ok with the Trailgator, but I was doing the "no stabiliser" thing so he just refused point blank to ride  himself.   I gave in after taking parenting not cycling advice, and around he trundled. I knew that he could ride himself, because I'd filmed him doing it the once, but he just didn't want to

then, one weekend, after several years of this, we were at a campsite, and there were a group of kids taking turns on a bike his size. I threw the kid off next time they came past, put my lad on, gave him a shove and off he went!  Because he wanted to, not because anyone else said so ...

he's now racing road and cross on a Worx bike after a few Islas, and has got his eye on a PlanetX. He can out sprint and climb me if I'm on my Pashley, at the horrifying age of 11 ...

https://youtu.be/sFX2KO8zpbw?t=84

just get the lightest bike you can afford, and keep it fun.  

Another Islabike fan here.

Now that my boy is turning 5 and soon to outgrow his Cnoc 14, I'm seriously considering The Bike Club (http://www.thebikeclub.co).

You "lease" what seems to be decent quality bikes and swap them as soon as they're no longer the right size. Annual running cost is a lot cheaper than a brand new Islabike. It's a brilliant idea... so much so that Islabike is going to develop a similar scheme: 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2016/oct/21/islabikes-radical-new-plan-means-you-may-never-need-to-buy-your-child-a-bike-again

... and it's good for the environment so you get to feel smug as well.

Re stabilizers, the other day I saw a Cnoc 14 withouth bottom bracket or pedals, ring, etc of course. Not a bad idea I'd say.

My eldest took to cycling really well and worked his way through a balance bike and has now nearly outgrown his second Islabike (which are fantastic).

My youngest (now 4) tried the balance bike and didn't take to it, and then tried the smallest Islabike (with and without pedals/chainset). The thing that got him riding and wanting to ride was dragging him along with a Trail-Gator which he loved: http://www.trail-gator.com/

They're about £40, and you need your kid to have a bike with pedals so he has somewhere for his feet, and you can really tell when he bothers to pedal. A bike of riding with that and then he wanted to go and ride on his own. It's really easy to attach/detatch mid-ride as well (and fine on off road on 'family trails').

Hi, Woodsman (could we be distantly related?).  Apologies for being a bit late to the Isla Bikes love-in party, but I would have to agree that the Cnoc 14 - if you can afford/justify the initial outlay - is a sound bet. 

That said, when my son got his Cnoc 14 for his third birthday the RRP was £200.  I thought that was expensive enough 2 1/2 years ago, but the list price now is £280!  That's quite a commitment if, as in your case, your child doesn't seem overly keen to actually ride a bike. 

On the plus side, as others have said, Isla Bikes do seem to hold their price fairly well.  And the one we bought - currently in near-perfect condition - will be handed down to little sis, so there's a bit of a saving there.  Just a few more things:

I agree that you should try to avoid stabilisers if at all possible: the bloke I spoke to on the phone at Isla Bikes just about refused to sell me any (the stabilisers were my OH's idea)!

Balance bike use for a year meant he was able to ride his Cnoc 14 - including turning corners and getting off without falling over - within a matter of minutes of taking it for its first ride. 

If buying second hand perhaps look for the more recent models with the integrated chain guard. 

Lastly, my son has caught up a little with his peers, but was rather small for a three year old.  I'm not sure if the Cnoc 14 was available in Small & Large varieties back then, so you might want to check the sizing carefully if your lad is relatively tall. 

I got my son one of the Decathlon bikes when he turned 4. He'd had a balance bike but still had stabilisers. When we wanted to take them off he got the hang of it in about 20minutes. At 4 1/2 he rode 8 miles on it around London during the Freecycle. 

There are lighter bikes and ideally you wouldn't use stabilisers but you just have to go with what's possible (affordable) and what works. 

Islabikes. They are lightweight, which makes it possible for your child to ride up hills, your child will actually be able to operate the brakes, which will make them feel safe, and you will be able to resell it for most of what you bought it for. Think of it as a cheap loan.

Don't fit destabilises! Everyone learns at their own pace, if he's not happy on the balance bike yet there's no shame in having fun on a micro scooter.

Frog bikes - we gad a real dilemma getting our kids bikes and settled on those over Isla bikes - you can check them out in loads of places. It made the difference for our two between not wanting to ride their big heavy first bikes to being on them all the time and they're designed for little ones of all sizes.
Like Isla they hold value well. They are very well made and light for a kids bike..

My local club does a kids club 'Peddlamaniacs' they teach kids who can't ride to ride and take the pedals off bikes to turn them into balance bikes first, before moving to pedaling. Agree stabilisers are a thing of the past.

I would STRONGLY advise against using stabilisers. They only make it harder for the child to ride when you remove them.

You'll be very lucky to find a Cnoc for under £150 but they are worth the extra, I promise. There is a preused Islabikes sale group on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/826309394088435/

Otherwise I'd second the recommendation for Ridgeback MX bikes (I think there is an MX14 in the lineup). They are excellent value and appear regularly on ebay.

Islabike Cnoc 14 - the best bikes out there for kids, undisputed.

You can pick em up on ebay for less than a ton and you'll get back most of that in resale value.

You're very welcome.

My kids started off with Ridgeback MX14s. The brake levers are reach adjustable so coudl be managed by small kids, which is a common fault on budget bikes. I see the Hotrock gets round this by having a coaster brake.

https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-hotrock-12-coaster-2016-kids-bik...