Carrera Saruna / Abyss 24 Vs Islabikes Beinn 24

Anyone got any experience with a Carrera Saruna ? In need of a new bike for my small 8 year old girl and really would like to get a 24" wheel bike but most of them have frame sizes that are a bit too big for my dot, so its this or the very good but expensive Islabikes Beinn 24 at the moment?

Cheers B.

I have been a serial buyer of 24" bikes including quite a few of the Specialized Hotrocks and Rockhopper 24s and we currently have a Marin Bayview Trail 24.

The big advantage of the Isla is that it has rigid forks rather than the very heavy front suspension offerings of all the others.

Finding 24" rigid forks is a nightmare and in the end on the latest bike to reduce weight we ended up running a rigid 26" front and my daughter loved it

Plan B would be to get a light short A-C rigid fork and have the brake bosses relocated to the right place for the 24" wheel. approx cost is £30 plus powder coating.

This plus the frame of your choice will be significantly cheaper than the Isla

So a nice light carrera, Specialized, Marin, Scott or Kona frame, ditch the front mech and do the forks will still be cheaper than the Isla.

See also:

viewtopic.php?t=157652

I got the idea for the 46er from this:

viewtopic.php?p=425290#425290

The great thing about the Isla is resale value. Of the 5 we have got through, we rarely lost more than £50 each even though used by two boys. We have even sold some on at a profit after a year's use.

Bullpup, that's a great 46er and could be tempted to make one my self in few more year. Definitely don't want sus forks for her as she would like to have a go at cyclocross after seeing me weez around on Sunday. The big problem I have is the size of most 24" wheel frames are likely to be to big. My girl is small and only needs a 12" frame any bigger and its to big.

The Careers looks like a good bike for the price, even if I put some better grip shifts on it and my be nicer rear mech.

I'll keep looking for now.

The specialized were 10" and the Marin 11.5" if that helps.

This ridgeback looks spot on if you can get it collected or posted:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171468093508? ... 1423.l2649

Thanks for that, gives me a bit more to play with.
I had seen the ridgeback and have asked if the will box it up for me.....

Have you looked at Frog bikes? They are light, rigid and cheaper than an Isla.

http://www.frogbikes.com/lightweight-ki ... rid-bikes/

I regularly have to service my neigbours' daughters 24" Carerra

Bottom bracket is made of cheese - I replaced it with a UN54

Brakes are next to useless steel v-brakes - on the list of things to fix,

Tyres are heavy, fork is heavy.

Basic components are ok. Standard fair frame/stem/bars but everything else is absolute bottom end

Islabikes have about the best reputation and unlike the others they start with the child in mind, not just take a small frame and put on adult fittings. Plus islabikes hold their price incredibly well :shock: Which means as she grows you have a greater return to buy the next size up.

Take a look on ebay and you see the carerra will go for peanuts and frantic bidding on he isla. Its a tough economic world out there, best take precautions