Ever since one of its forks failed on a child’s bike four years ago, British children’s bike brand Islabikes has been on a mission to recall and replace every single one of the pertinent parts, just in case another problem arises.
“Fortunately, the child was unharmed, and the company immediately launched a full investigation,” Islabikes founder Isla Rowntree said, referring to the incident in 2022. “But we chose to replace all 7,677 forks, as a precaution.”
“Four years on, we’ve now replaced 82% of them,” Rowntree told CW. “What’s unusual is that we’re still actively working through the remaining bikes – including those that have been resold and are no longer with the original purchaser. We continue to email and phone owners every week, and the replacement remains open indefinitely.”
The company is now extending its appeal, in an attempt to track down the last remaining forks, which featured on four models of children’s bike sold between 5 October 2019 and 16 May 2022.
The voluntary fork replacement program is open to people who have bought an Islabike second hand, as well as new, and Rowntree is encouraging anyone who may have an affected model – namely the Beinn 24, Beinn 26, Beinn 27 and Creig 20 – to get in touch with the brand as soon as possible, so it can post out a replacement part. You can also check the recall page on brand’s website.
How to check whether your child’s bike has a faulty fork
(Image credit: Islabike)
“We’ve always built our bikes to standards we’d want for our own families,” says Rowntree. “We’ve already replaced the vast majority of forks, and we’ll keep going for as long as it takes. If there’s even one bike still out there, we want to find it.”
Islabikes has been manufacturing well-considered bikes for children since it was founded by designer, pro racer and national cyclo-cross champion Rowntree back in 2006. More recently, the brand has branched out to offer adult’s bikes. She has been at the helm of the company for the majority of its 20-year history, aside from a two-year period in the early 2020s.
In 2023 Islabikes hit some financial bumps during the turbulence that followed the Covic pandemic, and ceased producing bikes. However, a year later, Rowntree took back full ownership, relaunched the website and refreshed the brand’s offering. The latest model, the Rosetta, is a gravel bike for adults.
