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Islabike vs. Self Build

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  • January 31, 2018 at 11:15 am #28097
    ClubSmed

    My daughter has been happily cycling on her Islabike Beinn 20 (small) for the last few years but at the end of this year I think it may be time to move on. She loves the purple colour of her current bike but wants to move to a drop bar bike like Daddy and Islabike do not do the Luath in purple.

    So as she is desperate for another purple bike (and I want her to love her bike) that would probably mean me having to respray the bike. That got me to thinking, if I am having to do that, then what is stopping me from buying an alternative cheaper second hand drop bar bike (Apollo Tempo / Procycle Tour can be had for £50-£90) and building it up with the better components that I already have.

    It also enables me to let her ride the bike a little pre-upgrade to make sure she likes drop bars before committing.

    So my question is, am I mad for considering taking this route? What are the disadvantages? Is there some alternative that I had not considered?

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  • January 31, 2018 at 7:32 pm #911479
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    Morat

    Wrap is a good plan – and you

    Wrap is a good plan – and you’ll have a sparkling Islabike to move on when the time comes.

    Ebay has loads.

    January 31, 2018 at 6:14 pm #911477
    0
    alansmurphy

    How old is she?

    How old is she?

     

    I found an amazing Harry Hall (47cm I think) on Gumtree, almost sparkling new. Whilst looking on eBay etc there were the odd bargains, some in great condition, some not so. I was limited by a lack of driving and not knowing the exact size (she seemed a bit in between). Boardman do some good kids bikes and Halfords Wiggins are ok.

     

    As for colours, there are wrap options too, or some good stickers for a white/chrome/black bike to add the purple magic!

     

    January 31, 2018 at 5:04 pm #911475
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    Drinfinity
    ClubSmed wrote:
    I know what you are saying about the shifters and had the same concerns, but when looking at the Luath Pro they seem to use the Ultegra ones. So I am assuming that if the reach adjustment in the Ultegra is OK then 105 should be OK too.

    Regarding front mech – get your daughter to try shifting the front on your bike, and see if she can manage. My younger one still finds it tricky to change down the cassette on the Luath 24.

     

     

    January 31, 2018 at 4:45 pm #911473
    0
    ClubSmed
    Rod Marton wrote:
    My daughter rides a Luath and has a similar purple fixation, whch I managed to satisfy with a purple cycling jersey and purple bar tape. As I got the bike second hand she didn’t have any choice about the frame colour. Do you think that would be sufficient for your daughter?

    Seriously, the big advantage of Islabikes is that they design very child-friendly bikes, and any cheap frame you get is unlikely to be so child-friendly. Specifically it will be heavier and the controls more difficult to use – even on he Luath my daughter finds it difficult to reach the brake levers and uses the top mount levers exclusively. One specific issue will be the cranks, unless you get them drilled 105 cranks will almost certainly be too long, and using a triple chainset will mean that the Q factor will be too large. So the experience of cycling will be less pleasant. Hopefully it won’t put her off drop bars entirely, but…

    Personally I’d go straight to the Luath, the self-build is going to be expensive and time-consuming for what it is. If the worst comes to the worst and she doesn’t get on with it, resale values are pretty good.

    Thanks for that, it is good to know that others have dealt with colour fixated children and managed to get past it.

    I know the 105 cranks would be too large, I would either use the ones that came on the donor bike or upgrade to the triple

    Although the self build would be time consuming but if I can get the little one interested in the build and maintenance then it will be worth it.

    As for purple bar tape, it is a great idea but I am not sure if it would be enough unless I could get a plain grey bike but I think that was a special edition bike so chances are slim.

    January 31, 2018 at 4:42 pm #911471
    0
    ChasP

    The best thing about

    The best thing about Islabikes is the way they hold their value, even if you build a better spec bike yourself it will still be worth a lot less than even a resprayed Islabike in a year or 2 when she’s outgrown it. Buy a 2nd hand Islabike, upgrade if you wish (keep the original parts for when you sell it) and you’ll hardly lose anything 🙂

    January 31, 2018 at 4:30 pm #911469
    0
    ClubSmed
    peted76 wrote:
    I think it’s a great idea… the important bit on kids bikes are kid sized contact points.. so if you’ve got them you’re laughing I’d say (you might need to reconsider the shifters though…)

    I know what you are saying about the shifters and had the same concerns, but when looking at the Luath Pro they seem to use the Ultegra ones. So I am assuming that if the reach adjustment in the Ultegra is OK then 105 should be OK too.

    January 31, 2018 at 4:16 pm #911467
    0
    Drinfinity

    I would still go Luath, and I

    I would still go Luath, and I would love to see a purple one, so please post pics when it’s done. 

    The frame geometry is so much better designed than anything else. It tends to be better optimised for a bigger wheel, better Q factor, and is the heart of the bike. I had occasion to lift a fleet of kids bikes over two gates recently,  and the Luath were all much lighter. 

    You could get an old scratched red one fairly cheap, and have a spectacular pro respray, and still put some of your upgrade bits on. It would look awesome.  There’s one on Ebay now fully loaded with guards, rack, cage, spare tyres. Not sure I’d bother with a triple chainring though. Watch a kids cross or circuit race, and most of the parents are shouting ‘change up’ or ‘change down’, whilst the kids go round basically on a singlespeed.

     

    Your estimate for frame, forks, wheels and chain set is £190 – you could get a fair Luath 24 for that. 

     

     

    January 31, 2018 at 3:41 pm #911465
    0
    Rod Marton

    My daughter rides a Luath and

    My daughter rides a Luath and has a similar purple fixation, whch I managed to satisfy with a purple cycling jersey and purple bar tape. As I got the bike second hand she didn’t have any choice about the frame colour. Do you think that would be sufficient for your daughter?

    Seriously, the big advantage of Islabikes is that they design very child-friendly bikes, and any cheap frame you get is unlikely to be so child-friendly. Specifically it will be heavier and the controls more difficult to use – even on he Luath my daughter finds it difficult to reach the brake levers and uses the top mount levers exclusively. One specific issue will be the cranks, unless you get them drilled 105 cranks will almost certainly be too long, and using a triple chainset will mean that the Q factor will be too large. So the experience of cycling will be less pleasant. Hopefully it won’t put her off drop bars entirely, but…

    Personally I’d go straight to the Luath, the self-build is going to be expensive and time-consuming for what it is. If the worst comes to the worst and she doesn’t get on with it, resale values are pretty good.

    January 31, 2018 at 3:35 pm #911463
    0
    peted76

    I think it’s a great idea…

    I think it’s a great idea… the important bit on kids bikes are kid sized contact points.. so if you’ve got them you’re laughing I’d say (you might need to reconsider the shifters though…)

    January 31, 2018 at 2:51 pm #911461
    0
    ClubSmed

    To give a little more insight

    To give a little more insight into this…

    Items that I have lying around that could be utilised for such a project include:
    Full 105 groupset
    Fi’zi:k Performance bar tape
    Various Pedals
    Islabike Beinn saddle

    Items that would need to be purchased:
    Frame and Fork (cheap childrens road bike) ~£70
    Mudguards ~£10
    Decals ~£20
    Respray (~£30 if I do it myself) ~£80
    24″ Wheelset ~£95
    Chainset ~£25

    So it would look like I would be paying between £250-£300 to do this project depending on who does the respray. The end result would be specs that look something like this:

     

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