Islabikes Beinn 26

Islabikes have been the leading 'proper' kids' bikes in the UK for many years, and all the reasons that they've been the market leaders still hold true, which makes a bike like the Beinn 26 Large an excellent investment. It's a lightweight bike with a near-perfect spec that's fun to ride, and it'll hold its value better than pretty much any consumer product I can think of. The ticket price is high, but thanks to the extraordinary resale value owning one of these bikes for several years will, in reality, cost you no more than half the retail price. Looked at like that, it's an absolute steal.

Isla Rowntree is a successful competitive cyclist – British veteran cyclocross and cross-country mountain bike champion across a number of years – and the children's bikes that she's been producing over the last decade show that racing DNA. Go to any youth racing event and you'll see a high percentage of Islabikes on the start line. But the reasons that they're great for racing – light weight, child-specific spec – also make them great all-rounders.

The Beinn 26 Large is a 26in-wheeled flat bar bike that's suitable for kids of about 10 and up. The wheels may be adult sized but the bike is not. The geometry of the alloy frame and chromoly fork are scaled down for smaller riders and so is the other stuff: the cranks are shorter, the brake levers have a shorter reach, the wheels are a light build because children aren't as heavy as grown-ups. You get an eight-speed SRAM X4 derailleur setup with a twist-grip shifter and Islabikes' own multi-purpose tyres that are reminiscent of Kenda's Small Block Eight, with a close knobbled tread that's good for tarmac and hardpack.

The bike can be supplied fitted with a kickstand, bottle cages, mudguards and a rear rack depending on what your offspring will be using the bike for. You can also have a name decal on the top tube, and Islabikes offer a wide range of accessories (panniers, tyre options, pedals, pumps, helmets, mitts and more) for purchase with the bike. The bike-specific stuff such as mudguards and racks is worth looking at; most of the more generic kit can be had more cheaply elsewhere.

The bare-bones bike weighs in at 9.8kg. If you're used to the rarefied world of sub-7kg race bikes that might seem a lot but there are very few kids' bikes that are lighter than this. Cheaper children's bikes of this size weigh in at up to 15kg; with, say, a 40kg rider, that's a lot of bike to haul about.

Daisy (11) has been using this bike for about six months now and she loves it. She's not really interested in racing but she's very interested in rolling along the Two Tunnels greenway to Wellow trekking centre to see the horses (her first love) and get a milkshake. On the way back there's a big old hill back up to the house and this is the first bike she's managed to conquer it on thanks to the wide spread of gears. She finds the twist shifter easy to use (although I still think a Rapidfire shifter would be a better option) and the bike easy to ride.

There's not much point going into the finer minutiae of handling with a bike like this, although suffice to say they always seem to be the first over the line at local kids' cyclo-cross races. The geometry works for the size and ability of rider, and the rest of the equipment does too. The brakes are especially good, so much so that the first application of them was a bit hairy, but once Daisy was used to them they gave her plenty of confidence. The 165mm cranks (shorter than the grown-up standard 172.5mm) work well and the 32-tooth chainring with an 11-32 cassette gives a more or less perfect range of gears for younger riders.

So is it worth £419.99? It is, but you should also bear in mind that these bikes hold their value like no other bikes. Head to eBay and you'll see that they regularly change hands second hand for over £300. Certainly you can expect to get £250 for yours after a couple of years of use, and even if you keep if for two kids you'll probably get back half what you initially paid. Looked at like that, it's a no-brainer. That's an outlay of £50 or less a year for what's still among the best, if not the best, all-purpose kids' bike. Still the one to beat, even after all these years.

Verdict

Still the children's bike to beat, with super performance and incredible resale value