P1Fanatic

Ok as the summer is over I need something to keep up some level of fitness through the winter period and mountain biking looks a safe and fun bet. I have a 10yr old halfords Carrera MTB and have been out the past few weekends with the girlfriend and we have managed to find some good offroad trails through woodlands and forestry commission which has made want to get into it even more.

My bike works but is very hard, tyre sidewalls are cracked, brakes arent up to much and gears stopped working fully on sat so looks like cabling needs retensioning anyway so sooner or later I need to get something new. I was thinking of £300 budget but then found out work does the cycle to work scheme which works out about 49% discount for high rate taxpayer. So Im now looking at a budget of £500-£600max.

Tbh I havent a clue where to start. Ive read a few online FAQ's and most recommend a hard tail at that price range rather than full suspension. Also Specialized seem to get a consistently good write up & recommendations. However cant say Ive been that impressed by them aesthetically. Not the biggest factor but is nice to have something you like the look of when spending £600.

So any suggestions from you MTB'ers? As youve probably gathered Im pretty new to this but do like blasting down hills and tracks as fast as poss. However there seems to be quite a bit to choose from. So what specific component types am I looking for in a bike?

Cheers,
Simon

Simon C

Have a look at GT, Marin, Kona, Specalized.

GT Avalanche 1 is fairly good for the money.

The Chief

I'm in the same boat, but only have around 250-300 quid tops, was looking at Trek 3900 or 4300.

what is this ride to work scheme about.

tell me more.

2000 sport

iTrader: (1)

Kona Kula Mountain Bike 06 - £549.99

Kona Kikapu Full Suspension Mountain Bike 06 - £499.99

Felt Q720 Mountain Bike 08 - £549.99

Marin Nail Trail Mountain Bike 06 - £599.99

Orange G3 Mountain Bike 07 - £549.99

Orange P7 S Mountain Bike 06 - £599.99

Specialized ROCKHOPPER COMP DISC Mountain Bike 07 - £599.99

all good, (some better than others) but you need to have a ride on them to see what suits you best !

dpb

IS your office on top of a mountain with only a rock-strewn goat path leading to the entrance

Scoobydid

For £600 you will get something pretty good, but I'd forget full sus as you already know. Go for something with Disk brakes as the rims will get covered in crap and a. not work when you need them, and b. the rims will grind away and eventually give way. Get hydraulic if you can aford it in the spec, cables stretch and get claged up with mud pretty quick. If you go down hills quick, you will need a better spec, preferably longer travel fork, so when you hit a log or rock the wheel will ride over it. When I first got into off road I got a Giant XTC4 for £500. was good, but then I decided I needed full suss and better forks so overhauled it and gave it to my wife . Main thing is to make sure you get a good frame & fork. The rest will wear out quickly in the mud and grime, so you can upgrade as you go. I keep an eye on the Singletrack website classifieds, you can pick up some bargains.
Pedalon in Tadley are very good. www.pedalon.co.uk
I'd pop in there and just have a chat, explain what you want to do on it and what sort of money you want to spend. They are all experienced riders / racers and really helpful.

Next thing you will want to do is get some good lights and go nightriding for the ultimate buzz.

Good luck
Andy

P1Fanatic

I saw a GT (I think) in Halfords yesterday and it looked pretty good.

Simon

P1Fanatic

Get a tax free bike for work | CYCLESCHEME

P1Fanatic

Nope but you dont have to prove its for Work use only, or actually even prove you use it fullstop. Maybe its a misleading but hey I dont care if it means saving wonga

Simon

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

You'll struggle to get summin new for £300 thats gonna any thing like quality. Worth looking at second hand bikes on Ebay for that sort of money.

If not your looking at £600+ For summin thats gonna last and have quality frame and components.

Even at that budget i'd stick with a ridgid as the quality of the forks at that sort of money would be **** poor and add 5-6Lbs to the weight.

Good time of year to be buying though as all the 2007 models are going cheap to make way for all the 2008's

Funkii Munkii

I bought a Giant Boulder for some fun riding and fitness, lightweight and fantastically put together IMHO, not a pro bike by any stretch of the imagination and unless you're serious about it and you're ready to throw yourself and the bike down some unhospitable tracks why spend silly money.

just my 2p's worth

Simon C

I have an Avalanche 2 (model below) and its OK nice well built frame which is what I was after cos you know after you ride it for a bit components are going to get changed.

So far I've changed brake leavers, grips and saddles on the list, then maybe the bars as well.

A 10 min test ride will tell you if major things aren't to your body's liking, but the finer points come up when you've done a few miles.


Chainreaction cycles are a good place to look as well for the final buy.

RB5_245

I'd say go for a bike with the bits you like on it, changing parts later adds up to more than a bike with the stuff you want on it in the first place. For £600 i'd go for a 2nd hand one. Year old or so and from a decent bike shop.

Nigel H

They must be new on the bike2work scheme IIRC.

I've just gone for this

Evans Cycles: Product: Specialized FSR XC Comp 2007 Mountain Bike

figured if Gordon was going to knock 50% off a bike I'd take him to the max (I bought some shoes and jersey to go with it)

Nice and comfy, adjustable sus and those disc brakes are fantastic.

SirFozzalot

I recently had a similar budget and bought myself a 2008 Marin Bobcat Trail. I'm loving it and it suits my riding style perfectly.



The main thing is to make sure you test ride them. I tried 5 different makes all around the £500 mark (Marin, Saracen, Scott, Dawes, Specialized) and I found the Marin suited me best and yet my friend preferred the Scott. I was surprised just how different some bikes can feel when you ride them. The bike I liked just happened to be the cheaper out of them too.

Another thing, the way I saw it is that the Marin flowformed frame is a pretty good frame (in this price range) and anything else like brakes or forks I can upgrade at a later date if I need to.

KiwiGTI

Any of the Giant XTC series, get a 2007 model and save a bit of money.

http://shop.devercycles.co.uk/images/prod_3169.jpg

Mountain Bikes from Giant (London & Surrey UK) at De Ver Cycles (Streatham, London, UK)

SirFozzalot

There are some great deals about for '07 bikes, the problem I found was finding the right frame size. All of the '07's I liked were either massive or tiny and the popular sizes were all sold out.

That's why I ended up with an '08

TopBanana

Since we're on the subject, anyone tried a composite framed bike? I have a Giant VT2 right now which I don't really like, I'm tempted to go back to a hardtail

RB5_245

Not really worth geting a composite hardtail imo, a friend of mine has a full carbon Scott. It's phenominally light which leaves me standing over the flat or non technical climbiming. As soon as it get's technical you can't beat a decent full suspension bike imo. I ride an '08 specialized stumpjumper, There's hardly any sag peddling and it's in a different league when it gets technical or fast. Both similar prices too.

OzzyWRX

You can't go past any of the big names like GT, Marin, Specialised, Cannondale & Kona.

P1Fanatic

Hmm hasnt made it any easier lol. I get drawn to Kona, Specialized and Marin from what Ive seen so far but seems they are all different to ride.

Do shops generally offer trial rides on all bikes or just certain demo models? From what everyone on here says it pays to have a go on a few. Thing is each shop seems to specialise into just a few brands so you cant do it all in one place.

Thanks to Scoobydid for the information esp about brake discs. I just thought they had better stopping power but I appreciate they are a lot less likely to get fouled by mud and crap from the tyres and rims.

Cheers,
Simon

P1-Brad

Check out the Trek 6300 ... had mine about 4 months now and rate it highly!

Great lookin' bike too in black or black / white.

RB5_245

MBR Magazine

and this should help confuse things

Mountain Bike Reviews, Bike Gear, Accessories | BikeRadar.com

The Chief

With me i wont be going up any mountains or anything just muddy tracks, canal paths etc.

cant really spend more than 300 quid, so which would people say is the best make....

Trek, Marlin or Giant?

TopBanana

Are there any popular mtb forums in the uk?

TopBanana

Giant always seem the best value to me, important in that price range.

[Davey]

I've had Marins for years and couldnt recommend them enough

SJ_Skyline

If you're not going up mountains, just muddy paths and towpaths then you might want to consider something from Halfords. I kid you not - Mrs had a Carrera Kraken at about £300 a couple of years ago and despite the frame being a little on the weighty side she's taken it off-road quite a lot: towpaths, local woods and the New Forest as well as using it for the occasional ride to work.

Cable discs and low-end shimano components, it's what I would call pretty good value for money and good start point. You can always buy somthing more expensive, light and durable if you find yourself using the bike more often than you thought you would.

Hope that helps!

"Trek, Marin or Giant?" - Trek for me (see my scooby)

PG

I had the cyclescheme thing at my work. It's brilliant! more than 40% of the workforce took it up!
It's worth noting that you are limited to retailers that are members and you may find that they wont be overly keen to do bikes that are discounted as the cyclescheme takes their cut off the price too.
The vast majority of people at my work went for Giant or Spesh. What most did was to bear in mind that on average a 'good' bike would cost you circ £400 and as such budgeted £800 so as they were getting so much more for their money as oposed to saving money if you get what I mean.
With a £600 budget the Spesh Rockhopper disc 2008 looks a very good buy.
It's giving you a 4" travel with lockout, a dual piston hydro brake so you'll not have so many issues on pad wear and maintenance (although they area doddle to change) but most importantly you are getting the M4 alloy frame, nice and light, very strong and a frame that will last and take upgrades well.
You see a fair few Spesh bikes about for a reason. Not only are they good value but they are good at what they do and have been for years. Many manufacturers and producing cheaper bikes now but are comprimising on the groupsets, wheels, ect. Spesh have kept a constant of good bikes for good money.

Paul.

PG

Singletrack - Mountain Bike Magazine