Mountain bikes

[Gilly]

Guys

i am sure many of you are just like me...you find a new fad, and want to find out all about it before you ***** some money...therefore...

i want a decent montain bike, what are the best mags/websites that have stuff like...top ten bikes and that kind of chuff, not sure how much i want to spend, just want to see some stats and catagories first, you know how it is...

quick before i find a new fad to waste time/resource on


Goodwood friday...woo hoo !

 

[Dazmo]

Guys

i am sure many of you are just like me...you find a new fad, and want to find out all about it before you ***** some money...therefore...

i want a decent montain bike, what are the best mags/websites that have stuff like...top ten bikes and that kind of chuff, not sure how much i want to spend, just want to see some stats and catagories first, you know how it is...

quick before i find a new fad to waste time/resource on


Goodwood friday...woo hoo !

If you want a good mountain bike and dont want to pay silly money, i would get a carrera kraken from halfords.

The carrera range out performs bikes worth twice as much, just look at the reviews mate, your talking £400-500 for a carrera kraken or alternative carrera model.(they tend to have 1/3 off offers on all the time)

Dont let the fact you buy it from halfords put you off as these are the Excellent quality bikes they are not the rubbish brands like appollo, plus i have one! and halfords do a 3 year service deal for £30.

Service and repair for 3 years for £10 a year, mine has not gone wrong in over 2 years mate, and its good enough for me to get to work on.

Im sure there are people on here who will say you need to spend £1500-2000 on a bike to get a good one, load of b*****s if you ask me.

 

[sportstractor]

after a new MTB myself. Lots of bikes are adequate. But the more you pay, the better components you get, hence the bike being stronger and lighter. I myself am looking at a specialized hardtail of somekind, and spending about £600, which is a good amount to spend if your not hardcore and want the bike for lots of use. Would be looking at more for a full sus, but i wouldnt recommend full sus as it knackers you right out.

 

[CMD]

If you are going to take MTBiking up seriously spend the money now as you will find that you are forever trying to upgarde the cheap bike to match your skill level. Hard tail or soft tail bike's will be the first bridge you will have to cross, i'm old school and have been riding mtb's since 1988 and as the year's have gone by,i have had a few mtb's. I have just sold my long term ride. as pictured. I built this bike up over 10year's and for the last 3 year's or so has been my daily ride for work. I have a few type's of mtb. 1x Giant trance (soft tail) 20051xCube Ltd pro 2007(hardtail)..1x Chris Boardman Pro 2007 (hard Tail) But none are as fast as the GT Zaskar race . All the above bike's have had upgrade's to suite me and the type of riding i do (when i'm fit) you will find that you will feel the need to change standard part's ie Bar's (longer or shorter) stem's brakes even shock's as time goes by new rider's alway's say to me " i will upgrade at a later date" and within a month they say " my fork's are crap and the brake's are not good enough" as there skill level is getting better, so a £500 mtb within a year turn's out tobe £800-£1000. Buy a good one from the start.

 

[matt a]

If you are just getting started, I would go for a hard tail, for a couple of reasons, you get better value, and you learn better balance IMO.

Stick to the bigger brands, specialized, cannondale, scott, trek, etc, and maybe look for either 2009 or 2010 models, as these will be cheaper.

Good magazines: MBR, MBUK, good website: moredirt.com

Here's my current bike: Orange Alpine 160

 

[CMD]

Here's my current bike: Orange Alpine 160

[/QUOTE]

Someone like's a bit of down hill.

 

[JohnboyC]

Top tip....lock whichever bike you get - My Carrera Kraken got nicked from my Garage - so lock it up to something imoveable ! Don't scimp on quality of lock either !

Now got a Claude Butler hybrid.....which is so much better on roads, old railway tracks, canal paths, etc

 

[Gilly]

cheers guys....i have spent the afternoon reading what mountain bike and am still none the wiser....i just need some thing that will cope with the many hills of bridgnorth without knackering me out !

tell you what tho i am tempted with this bad boy
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ducati-Corse-...d=ViewItem&pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item335e58fcee

 

[CMD]

That's a nice bike. You will find that a light bike will have many light part's but still strong. With many 2nd hand bike's you will have no warranty.

 

[fingermouse]

what sort of riding are you doing ??? If its roads and tracks then you need a hard tail and 100mm front travel.
If your wanting to do harder trails / cross country then 120mm front and poss look at rear suspension
For harder cross country / downhill then 140 front and 100+ rear travel.

All depends on what you want to do, I got a Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 last years model so £1000 off and it does every thing I throw at it

 

[OldRedEyes]

Specialized all the way, my current steed is a 2009 Rockhopper comp, i love it.
Trying to look after this one, now i have a bit more cash to spend on it, years ago, i ran Marin's, loved them, but decided on a spesh this time round. i take the chain off at least once a month and pop it in my ultrasonic bath with petrol, then dry it out pop it back on and lube it up with some dry lube. In the winter i will be doing it much more often.
A good mate who spends as much on bikes as most do cars swears by this to keep everything running sweet and to stop them wearing out too quickly.

 

[Gilly]

what sort of riding are you doing ??? If its roads and tracks then you need a hard tail and 100mm front travel.
If your wanting to do harder trails / cross country then 120mm front and poss look at rear suspension
For harder cross country / downhill then 140 front and 100+ rear travel.

All depends on what you want to do, I got a Rocky Mountain Altitude 50 last years model so £1000 off and it does every thing I throw at it

yeah i am a bit more clued up now..i will be sticking to light terrain/road and likely to be tackling hills a plenty so a hard tail is definatly the way to go by the looks of things...and yes the rocky mountains are looking good...vertex rsl 50 is my current number one choice....seems to be quick and light, just what i am after

 

[Gilly]

for any one interested..... i am going to go for a specialized rockhopper sl pro, what do you guys reckon

looking forward to hooning it round the wyre forest / shropshire hills very soon

 

[A3Tom]

for any one interested..... i am going to go for a specialized rockhopper sl pro, what do you guys reckon

looking forward to hooning it round the wyre forest / shropshire hills very soon

good shout mate, it'll see you well. Used to sell hundreds of the things

I even ride one at work on the odd occassion and they're nice

 

[crazy88]

Yeah, that's a nice bike dude! I am currently after a cheapo MTB/ hybrid jobbie for work which I can leave at the station no worries. My current GT is just likely to get nicked I bet, so it'll stay at home. Currently i'm having to bring it on the train and leave it in my office all day

Let us know how you get on with the bike.

 

[Welly]

:sign_plug:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....52741&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_500wt_1154

 

[RosMc]

A few pics of my Commencal Meta 5.5 UK - thats as clean as it gets (dont really see the point as it will be filthy again within days :lol: ).

And my Spec Rockhopper which i use for taking the dog up the hills and generally pi$$ing about locally. Commencal reserved for the likes of the Nevis Range, Glentress (30 min drive which is handy) and the rest of the 7Stanes. :twisted:

 

[Ian W]

I'm currently rebuilding my 94 GT Zaskar, biking is good fun but can get expensive.

If I had the money I would be going for a Rockhopper nowadays, great bikes.

 

[unkle]

Some companies have a 'Cycle To Work' Scheme where you dont have to pay VAT and get a small discount on new bikes, they had Halfords come round the place where I work with their catalogue, would of saved about £150 off a £500 bike which seemed pretty good, might be worth asking around, maybe yours or a friends employer has the same scheme...

 

[RosMc]

Some companies have a 'Cycle To Work' Scheme where you dont have to pay VAT and get a small discount on new bikes, they had Halfords come round the place where I work with their catalogue, would of saved about £150 off a £500 bike which seemed pretty good, might be worth asking around, maybe yours or a friends employer has the same scheme...

Yep, my work does this scheme. You can get a bike up to £1000 in value, and with tax savings you only pay about £700 in total which comes straight off your salary as part of the your deductions. Bargain.

 

[OldRedEyes]

Don't forget that you are only hiring the bike under this scheme, it's owned by the company / scheme and at the end of the hire period, if you want to keep the bike, you have to pay whatever it is valued at, at the time.

 

[BigBird]

When I finally finish my ****** MBA dissertation I'll be off into the hills on my trusty '99 Marin Mount Vision.
Trying to get the wife into cycling, so borrowed my mates Cannondale Raven prototype for her to try. Lovely thing and weighs nothing. The bike that is.

If she's into it, new bikes will surely have to follow... :thumbsup:

 

[Lloyd149]

singletrackworld.co.uk is a good site IMO, especially for second hand bikes/bits.

 

[RosMc]

Don't forget that you are only hiring the bike under this scheme, it's owned by the company / scheme and at the end of the hire period, if you want to keep the bike, you have to pay whatever it is valued at, at the time.

Really? I havent opted into this scheme as my bike is worth significantly more than the £1000 deal so it doesnt really concern me anyway. I am however, led to believe that you still save a significant amount, whether you have to buy it at the end or not.

 

[mitch78]

From what I remember reading, the minimum value you can buy it for at the end of the scheme, is equivalent to about 5% of the bike's new value. Any lower than that and you lose the tax benefit.

The Rockhopper's a good choice too, ideal as an entry level bike. I love Specialized bikes and have a Stumpjumper myself.

And if we're posting pics of our bikes, here's another one of mine in the living room: