Quality kids bike manufacturers Islabikes have confirmed to Cycle Sprog that they are discontinuing their entire Pro Series range of bikes. The Pro Series was launched in May 2016 as an offering for kids wanting a higher specified bike. The target market was junior racers who had been tweaking their standard Islabikes to make them more race friendly. The ambition was that a future generation of Olympians would reach the podium having raced on the Pro Series, but it appears that demand for the bikes was not sufficient enough to make it worth continuing production.
Islabikes have faced tough competition on the CycloCross front from a number of specialist race orientated companies, such as Kids Racing, Scatto and Worx, whilst the big mountain bike manufacturers have woken up to the fact that kids want to race bikes with their name on it.
With what we’d have expected to have been their most popular bike, the Pro Series Luath, already having been discontinued last year, along with the single speed Cnoc 16, it’s not surprising that the Beinn and Creig models aren’t being retained either.
The remaining Pro Series bikes are still available to purchase on the Islabikes website, with limit stock remaining.
The news comes in the same week that Islabikes announced that they are closing their US operation to concentrate on the UK and EU markets.
Are you surprised by this news? Have you bought one of the Islabikes Pro Series, and if so what were your thoughts? Do leave your comments in the box below.
Other posts you should read whilst you are here:
- Review of the Islabikes Creig 24 and Creig 26
- Islabikes launch new Beinn 27 kids bike
- Islabikes introduce radical new parental leave policy
- Children’s bikes – what’s so good about Islabikes?
- From Imagination to Reality – the Islabikes Imagine 20
- Islabikes to close US operation to focus on UK and EU
- Where to buy cheap Islabikes
- Islabikes launch new Icons bike range for the over 65’s
- What does the new Icons range mean for the future of Islabikes?
Comments
Hi Karen,
Do we know if Islabikes will still ship to the US?
Like most I was sad to see the company leave Portland. Did they try and find a US buyer or just pull out and go?
Thanks,
Adrian
Hi Adrian – at the moment Islabikes are (sadly for their international fans) only shipping within Europe.
Their business model is currently direct to customer, and to date I’ve heard of no plans to change that. A sad loss for US families, but I understand you’re getting more quality kids bike brands coming along all the time – some of which we’ve yet to get here in the UK. Hopefully there’s enough choice to fill the gap left. Karen
Hi Karen,
Thanks for this interesting article. While I was initially slightly irrationally cross with Ilsa Bikes for releasing the pro series in the first place – I thought the prices were far too high and it all seemed too elitist – I’m sad they haven’t been able to make it work.
They are now testing me to see whether I’m a hypocrite though, as I’m sorely tempted to buy the Cnoc Pro for £500, but is even that price which is %40 discounted really a sane amount to money for a bike for a 4 year old? I just don’t know!
Hello Rich! I think there are always going to be people wanting to spend their money on their hobbies, and I know the more time we spend on our bikes, doing more serious stuff, the more we appreciate the high quality kit. Weight becomes an obsession when you’re carrying the bike!!
Not surprised you’re tempted by the Cnoc Pro – it’s a great price, and if you keep it in good condition you’ll have a rare classic on your hands. I won’t tell anyone you were against them at the outset!
That said, the problem will be what to upgrade to from there. If you’re used to that quality at the age of 4 it’s going to be hard to palm off a cheap bike in the future….
Hope all is good with you and yours, Karen
We have had a ProSeries Luath 700 for over a year now and our son loves it. It easily competes agaisnt the other bikes in the US in cyclocross and with good road tyres can work well for junior road racing.
He will likely get another 12 to 18 months out of it. The components are top notch, the geometry very well suited to both CX and road. He has been racing it since Oct 2017 in California.
There are two other kids who also race Islabikes in CX this year (a 24in and a 26in).
It is sad they are pulling out of the US overall. Wish they had been able to better figure out the market here and how the extremely large geographic boundaries are not conducive to single point of entry sales. There is a huge growing market (especially MTB racing) where they could fill the void that the Biggie manufacturers haven’t quite solved (e.g., 1 or 2 x 10 MTB with trigger shifting, hydraulic brakes in a $700-1500 range).
Their service was impecible and my son always feels special when riding one compared to the other “popular” brands. It is like riding a Colnago or S-Works for juniors.
Bottom line: a lot of kids will miss out on a very well designed and made bike.
It’s such a pity they’ve not been able to make it work – as you say the geography is very different. Here in the UK it’s so much easier for people to travel for a fitting, or for them to have pop-up stalls at various events. Your ProSeries Luath 700 is sadly going to be a rare collectors item….