Cuda Vs Frog bikes for Kids

I haven't looked at Cuda but we went with a Frog for our 6yr old and a few weeks in we are very happy with it. Her previous bike was an Islabike and the quality of the Frog is similar. I haven't seen the comparable Islabike model in the flesh mind you but on paper the spec is quite similar too.

In case you are Dublin based, we bought the Frog in Joe Daly Cycles in Dundrum, they had some in stock so our daughter was able to try it out and give it her seal of approval, which was very useful. They were very helpful in there too, I've been back since to buy a kick-stand, SKS mudguards and a pannier rack for the bike (the stock mudguards it comes with are very basic/short so not great for my daughter given that she'll be commuting on this bike), I'd recommend the shop.

Our daughter has been using the gears already, mostly out of novelty probably but I could see them being useful for her on some of the routes she cycles on occasionally.

My 6 year old boy has a frog and my 4 year old his old cuda.

The frog is an absolutely cracking bike, its light and he flies around on it and uses the gears all the time up and down hills. I didnt like the idea of him having gears, but turns out they are great and he loves them.

The cuda is a decent bike but not anywhere near in the same class as the frog. I have a third boy who is nearly 1 and thats the reason I spent 300 odd quid...there will be serious hand me downs.

If you are interested, take a look at Islabikes and Early Rider aswell. They are great quality bikes, but even more expensive. There is unbelievable resale value though on all these bikes, so you really wont be sorry.

Also, I had a really bad experience with Little Sport, in Fairview, buying the Frog. I ordered a new bike and after two weeks, got a call saying it was in. Picked up the bike and at home noticed it wasnt very clean, had a number of scratches and looked like it had been ridden.

So I took a look online and the 2015 version had a number of differences from the 2014 version (this was April), like more gears, different handles etc.

So I rang Frog in the UK to see if Little Sport had ordered a Frog in the last two weeks and low and behold, Little Sport hadnt ordered a bike since before Christmas (i.e. 4 months ago).

Initially, he had offered me to buy a used shop demo model for like 280 but I said I would pay the 320 for the new bike. Sneaky little b**tard......he had tried to pass off the demo as a new bike and I had him by the balls.

So I went in and calmly explained the issue to him, he threw out that he had the box upstairs and everything that it had been built just the other day. I didnt tell him that I had spoken to Frog, but stated very clearly that this wasnt the truth, that I didnt want a refund, just that I wanted the bike that I ordered (6 days before his birthday).

Got on the phone to Frog again on the monday(they are seriously helpful) to make sure that the order had been received and it was. Got the bike at about 5.30pm as they closed the day before sons birthday. Of course the owner wasnt around and I was given the right bike by a bike tech.

Never received an apology or any sort of explanation and would never ever step foot in the shop again! Bandits!