Islabikes Luath 700: children’s bike review | Martin Love

Light, strong and durable, the Luath is a set of wheels your kids will love

Learning to ride should be the start of a love affair with bicycles. Yet our first set of wheels is usually heavy and unwieldy with binary brakes that knock our heads backwards and gears with teeth that shred the skin from our shins. But then along came Isla Rowntree. The former competitive cyclist set up her company in 2005 in Shropshire with the aim of making decent bikes for kids. Starting with balance bikes for two-year-olds and going through the range to this Luath, which is for age 13+, Islabikes are light, strong and so durable they're usually handed down through families, before going on to cousins, neighbours and more. Thoughtful details, like the Luath's short-reach brakes for little hands, make them brilliantly usable. They are expensive, but your children will appreciate the outlay.

Price: 549.99
Weight: 10kg
Gears: 16-speed Shimano
islabikes.co.uk