Dream Weaver

Calling Luke et al.

I fancy buying a new mountain bike when we finally move in 8 weeks or so (or if we move, if the mortgage companies have anything to do with it ).

Will be mainly used on the road, but with the odd off road stuff up in the lakes - nothing major, fields and tracks.

I currently have a Carerra which has been pretty good for the last 8 or so years, but I fancy a new bike to get me back into it again

Fancy something with suspension, and fairly good components, and would prefer to buy a ready made one rather than making my own.

Budget £500-750 ish

Spoon

My brother's just bought a Marin/Whyte 46. It looks fantastic although I think it's a little over what you require.

rogp

May I suggest you take a look at:

www.whatmtb.co.uk

or

www.singletrackworld.co.uk

Both very helpful and informative sites. The STW forum is very friendly.

Roger

[Edited by rogp - 1/30/2004 2:21:34 PM]

JimmyRB5PRO

Dont think you can go wrong with much in the Marin range ........imho.....of course.....and yes i've got one !

pbee

Take a look at, they specialise in last year's models and sell them at good prices.

I bought a Moab 1 for £450 (not available any more they only had 1 more left when i bought mine).

Pauls Bike shop

pay attention to the 2001 schwinn range. the Home grown Pro, it recived fantastic reviews in MBUK take a look in the archives.

and if you can find a ride with xt/xtr components for less than 1k please tell me where.

My bike came fully built just had to position the handle bars and the seat where I wanted them. First bike mail order that has been setup correctly for gears brakes ect.

Take a gander at the Homegrown factory if you can

pbee

also check out scott for the full pogo, and Gary fisher for another hard tail.

nice bikes for the cash.

Dream Weaver

Ooh, some of them look pretty cheap. Are they the real RRP prices though?

Not really bothered about it being a new season bike, so they maybe good.

Whats this like:



RRP £800.00 | Our Price £374.95

GT I DRIVE 5.0 ALLOY I DRIVE SUSPENSION FRAME, 4.6" TRAVEL. DISC MOUNT REAR. RST REAR SHOCK. ROCKSHOX JUDY TT FORKS. 27 SPD DEORE WITH SUNTOUR CRANKS. PRO MAX V BRAKES WITH WTB TYRES.

Rog Ford

I got a 2001 Schwinn Moab 3 from Pauls, and it's a fantastic bike for the money I paid - which was £340 quid (middle of last year). At £249, it's an absolute steal. Fork isn't the best in the world, but the rest of the components are top rate.

The GT looks good for the price if you want a full-sus bike, though I'd normally go for a hardtail in that sort of price range.

There's some sort-of reviews here
and here

(edited to make it clearer what bike I was talking about)

[Edited by Rog Ford - 1/30/2004 4:29:25 PM]

Crapaud62

Buy a copy of MBR Mountain Bike Rider from the newsagents. If you're not bothered about having this years colour scheme you can get some excellent deals on the older stock that is still 99.9% as good as the latest stuff.

Bike dealers are very flexible on clearing out old stock and some great deals can be had.

pbee

check the reviews on the mb mag sites, it depends what riding you plan to do if you want a pogo or not, main is cross country as oppsed to downhill.

full suspension in lower prices normally adds weight and saps power due to pedal power being turned into up and down as oppsed to driving forward.

if your after the fashion statement then the scott looks good.

Brit_in_Japan

A good choice would be an Orange Gringo, hardtail cross country bike. Good strong frame decent standard components. Has regularly scored well in that price range in magazine bike reviews for a few years. Within your budget for a 2004 model, or source a 2003 spec model for even less and add hydraulic brakes to it. You would be supporting the British bike industry too and yes, I do have one

Orangebikes

Whatever you do, take a few for a ride before deciding to buy as much is down to personal preference.

(edited 'cos I can't spell)

[Edited by Brit_in_Japan - 1/31/2004 4:05:14 PM]

dome

You can't go far wrong with Trek or Gary Fisher, good specs, good rides and excellent frames with lifetime guarantees(OK i used to work in a Trek/GF dealers...)

Around this time of year you may get some bargains on 2003 bikes, this is always a good thing as very often little changes apart from paint jobs...

Have a look for some local bike shops, these may have some good deals on and trying to do a warranty claim on a mail order bike can be a nightmare...

Try here too, good sites with forums.

www.bikemagic.co.uk
www.singletrackworld.com



Edited kos i kant spel

Brian



[Edited by dome - 1/31/2004 7:31:17 PM]

Dream Weaver

OK, having bought and read MBR over the weekend, I now have a better idea:

I want a hardtail as opposed to full sus, but will need good forks on the front. eing 110kg in weight I will need the forks to be able to carry me until I lose some weight.

I also want disc brakes, and would prefer an XT gearset.

The Giant XTC range is looking good so far.

Would also like to get a 02 or 03 bike with discount.

super_si

Si,

Luke surgested i bought a Kona. I got the Caldera in the end, its brilliant bike better then the Marin, Cant fault it.

Only thing i have picked up on the paint work is very brittle doesnt take much to flake off

Si

2000 sport

iTrader: (1)

had no end of problems with my giant.. it was pants!!

swapped it for a hardtail marin after months of it going back to the factory.. been very happy with the marin, no probs other than when i have stacked it..

MarkO

We use Giant XTC3/4s in our hire fleet here at The Hub, and they're excellent bikes. If they can stand up to being battered around Glentress by Joe public (99% of whom haven't heard the phrase mechanical sympathy ) then they'll stand up to most of what you can throw at it. The Giant MPH disk brakes are based on an old Hope design and work very well.

Just a bit of a shame you couldn't have been up here last weekend - we had a brand new '03 Rocky Mountain ETS-30 going for £850...

Seriously, though, DW, if you're interested in a good do-it-all bike you could do a lot worse than our Orange Sub3 or Sub5 - ex-demo bikes going for about £999. If you're interested give me a call - we could always post the bike to you if you wanted. What height are you, anyway?

We've also got a Scott Pro-racing which is a cracking hardtail going for about £800 (might be able to improve on that). It's not got discs, but it's a brilliant bike and has lovely Duke XC forks on it.

Alternatively, I could sell you a Scoot Genius MC20 for £2199, but it might be a tad over-budget.

MarkO

By the way, I have to take issue with this:
I suggest you get to an opticians, fast. In fact, if you really think a Whyte looks anything other than hideous, I suspect the RNIB is probably more relevant.

Dream Weaver

Hi MarkO, haven't seen you on here for a while, hows Scotland?

£999 is a bit steep for me, budget is really around the 600-750 mark tops.

Anyone any views on the Orange Gringo 9 disc? £650

MarkO - I am 6ft by the way with 33 inside leg and 17 ish stone (hopefully down to 14 stone after a years riding)

What size frame do I need? Cant remember what my current steed is, may be 19" or 21" 21 seems to ring a bell back when I had my Diamond Back.

MarkO

Scotland's lovely - although the romance of working in the great outdoors tends to lose its shine when you're standing in the p*ssing rain washing 35 hire bikes with a bucket of water 'cos the hose is frozen solid. Regardless of that, it's still a major improvement on the City and that commute - we've achieved what we set out to do: less income, but a massively improved quality of life.

If you're 6ft, you'll need at least a 19" frame, probably a 21". A lot of people think it's about whether your feet can touch the ground, but it's not as simple as that. The best test is to sit on the bike with your heel on the pedal with the pedal at the lowest point. You're looking for a full leg extension, but with just a slight bend in the knee (so your knee doesn't lock out whilst pedalling).

Not sure about the Orange Gringo - not my ideal choice, there are plenty of better bikes out there for your budget (particularly if you get an '03 bargain). A lot of the mags have got ads for reduced-price bikes from last year, but most of them only have smalls or larges in stock - but that'll suit you just fine...

Dream Weaver

Haven't bought one yet, but went to my local bike shop yesterday and looked at a Scott Elite Racing 2004 model.

Its over budget at £890 but what a cool looking bike.

http://www.scottusa.com/product.php?UID=4812

Anyone got any experience of these?

jaf01uk

I also got a Schwinn (rocket 4) from Pauls cycles and the service and set up was spot on, added discs and wheels myself from bargains picked up on e bay, good luck,
Gary

MarkO

I've ridden a Scott Elite racing (we're a Scott demo centre...) and it's a nice bike. Good kit, and an excellent frame. Not sure I'd pay £890 for it though - see if you can get an '03 model, and you'll probably pay about £200 less for it.

Dream Weaver

I'm a fickle person that actually likes the colour scheme of bikes.

The 03 model is £689 from pauls cycles, but its black, and I really like the blue of the 04 model

Dont know if the colour is worth £200 though