Used Islabikes Cnoc Buying Guide

You maybe bamboozled with the amount of colours and specs of Islabikes Cnoc's when you start looking on sites like ebay. Many sellers do not make it clear how old their bikes are – some are 15 years old at this point and have been through many many children. They may well need more than a quick wash and polish!

Here's a little guide to help you through the minefield, I hope it helps.

2006-2007

Very early Cnoc's only have a front brake, the rear is a coaster brake. This is the launch model from 2006 and although I believe there were a couple of different colours available they're very hard to find pictures of.

Notice the following details

20 spoke wheels
No chainguard
No brand tyres
2 tone saddle
Single brake lever
Welded fork ends

Price guide - Under £100

2008-2011

2008 had a choice of colours and a different stem. The coaster brake has been replaced by a standard rear v-brake. Weirdly there are some Cnoc's with a rear brake but no front brake. I can't find a press release from the time that explains this but I've seen them crop up on ebay from time to time. The orange decal bike below is setup this way.

Price guide - Around £100

2011-2012

2011 brought a change in colour scheme. Red/Blue/Purple

Price guide - £100-£150

2012-2014

Q4 2012 was a big update, supposedly 20% lighter than previous models

Lightweight 16 spoke wheels
Kenda tyres
Integrated fork ends on new lighter fork
Lower bottom bracket with new chainring and narrower Q factor
Hot Pink replaced Purple
New ergonomic saddle
Islabikes designed pedals
Tektro logo removed from brake levers
Weights declared – Cnoc 14 5.68kg Cnoc 16 5.98kg
Special edition Mango colour for Christmas 2012. Never advertised on the website apparently. Very rare, see pic below.
Special edition White colour around Q1 2014, maybe Christmas 2013. It had all the newer features detailed below. See pic below.

Approximately Q4 2013 they received the Islabikes logo on the brake levers and the bulbous ended Islabikes handlebar grips.

Q1 2014 they received the floating chainglider - see last picture

I think the chainglider ones have best price/performance ratio on ebay - assuming a seller is being realistic with their pricing. The colour scheme dates this vintage so keeps the prices honest, but they have pretty much all the mod cons of the latest models.

Price guide - £150-£200

Oct 2014-2016

New colours and new decals! Green, red and pink. No blue available on the Cnoc's for this gen. Removed Islabikes lettering from saddle, but added a frame colour splash with the 'I' logo on the rear of the saddle.

Price guide - £175-£225

July 2016-2019

New colours (Again)! Also the introduction of Islabikes branded tyres.

This coincided with the introduction of the Cnoc 14 Small and the Cnoc 20. At the time these were only available in red and pink. In November 2016 the Cnoc 20 was available in the 4 colours here but the 14 Small carried on with only red and pink till the next colour change.

To recognise a genuine Cnoc 14 Small while browsing ebay/facebook etc have a look at this below.

The top tube to seat stay angle is only around 15 degrees, almost flat. Also notice the smaller flat handlebars instead of the usual BMX style.

The teal colour of this vintage is my favourite of all the Cnoc's I think.

Price guide - £200-£300