RALEIGHRWM494 - Universal Fit Stabiliser Set for Children's Bicycles with 12-20 Inch Wheels in Silver

I ordered this particular product because it's Raleigh, you know, a name you know. Being someone who mountain bikes i should have known better, Raleigh used to be a name you could trust.I'm happy around bikes, i can strip them, fix gears, brakes etc. But these were a pain. The instructions were like a bad photocopy and made little sense. Thankfully i figured it out fairly quickly.I was fitting them to my 4yr olds bike, they don't fit very well, they are too high off the ground and the next notch means they sit lower then the tyre.During fitting the 'instructions' tell you to remove the wheel nuts, place the stabiliser, then the washer then the nut. Only they don't have a washer. So getting to the nut to tighten is a pain. A socket won't fit in and a spanner is barely quarter turns with the open end. They come with two kinds of bracket to fit to the lower frame. Non of which were any use. Being a small Ben 10 bike it has a plastic faring covering the chain. As a lot of bikes of this style do, so that would have to come off. This is not something a 4yr old wants to happen or that i was willing to do. So i tightened them as much as possible. Of course because they sit too high from the ground the bike has a lot of lean, so much so that as we were to discover, it will fall over when being ridden. Pretty crap as stabilisers really.

From some of the negative reviews I almost didn't buy these, but I couldn't find anything more suitable so decided to go for these - I'm glad I did.They seem quite sturdy, and coming with 2 different types of support bracket and different possible ways of fitting these I'll be able to re-use these on other bikes. I could have fitted these a few different ways, but I decided on fitting them at an angle as shown in the photo and using one of the support brackets to get just the right height off the ground. I thought the decorative chain guard might make fitting stabilisers tricky but these fitted easily enough.With suitable sized spanners, a screwdriver and some pliers to help bend the support brackets to shape, these fitted very well. Pleased with the result.

Perfect. Ignore the naysayers. I am no bike expert - but these took less than ten minutes to fit. The instructions are poor but if you struggle, there’s a very clear YouTube video. Just google ‘how to fit Raleigh universal stabilisers’ and you’ll be there. The ‘c’ clip is fiddly, there’s a little ridge to push it into which may be hidden by a washer, I pressed them on with one of the additional brackets in the pack and they just clicked into place. These really do seem to be the perfect thing and my son is delighted.

After having several adult tantrums and a bloodbath later I got the stabalizers on the bike. Fitting the little clip on the metal behind the wheel left my fingers sore after trying over and over and eventually prizing it on with the end of a spanner, said spanner slipped and gouged a nice bloody hole in my thumb.So fitting them is an absolute pain, prepare for a battle and injuries.That being said, they do the job and are sturdy.Can't say how long they might last cause my kid decided to use the bike once then moan that it isn't a scooter.

The stabilisers are well made, height adjustable to fit different size children's bikes and feel sturdy; not at all like some thin bendy ones.So why only 3 stars?The instructions are pathetic even with a magnifying glass. I presume only 1 side and some of the parts were applicable to my granddaughter's bike - that wasn't clear at allAs some other reviews mention it's worth wrapping Duct Tape around the bike frame before tightening the fittings to avoid scratching the paint.Once the stabilisers are assembled they were easy to fit on the bike, this may not be true of all bikes judging by the extra parts supplied. They will be easy to move to a similar bigger bike in future.The real problem is assembling the stabilisers in the first place [before fitting]. Fitting the wheels to the stabilisers is almost impossible unless you have incredibly strong but minute fingers. I cheated by swapping the supplied washers with slightly thinner ones of the same size to permit slightly more space to force the clip fittings on. I note other reviews suggest having a first aid kit to hand given the high chance of self inflicted injury. There must be a more practical design than the one adopted here.Now that they are fitted I'm very pleased with them; the smug feeling after fitting them does not compensate for the half hour of swearing whilst assembling them, or so my wife says.