Best XC Hardtail under £300?

xtr.eme

Im a 5 ft 9 13 year old looking for a MTB tht gives me growing room. I do mainly XC, and want a hardtail bike that I can afford under £300. Please could you tell me which bike I should buy (I don;t care if its last years model!)? I need a sturdy frame, but still want it to be light as possible (not sure if I need disc brakes, seems like theyre just a fashion accessory at school!) Was thinking of a Specialized Hardrock Sport or Sport Disc

Feel free to ask me any more questions

Cheers,

Tom

Dan67

Hard rock or mongoose tyrax. Discs are always an advantage

xtr.eme

How does the Specialized Hardrock Sport perform? I really want a light bike, but some say you can upgrade parts of it to make it lighter - which parts, and how much would I have to spend?

cheers!

GT-Dave

Mongoose Tyax or GT Avalanche / Agressor.

carlos-g

Have you got a decathlon store near you, their bikes have had a few favourable reveiws and the weight is bang on for the price , check , - www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/Product_arboresc ... index.html

see what you think. not sure if the shifters/brakes are all in one but at least the wheels are disc ready if you decided to upgrade.

xtr.eme

Yes... not sure about discs really. When I first got into MTBing about 4 years ago it was on an apollo full suspension bike. It was so heavy it put me off heavy bikes for ever. I have heard that discs make a bike heavier - is this true?

Which is lighter, the mongoose or the specialized?
Also, if you can, what are the other pros and cons?

cheers, I think I have narrowed it down to these two, just need to decide between them.

xtr.eme

From my googling, the GT Avalanche 3.0 Disc is 13kg:
http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_camp ... _60857.jsp
The mongoose is 1 kg heavier at 14kg:
http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_camp ... _60855.jsp
and the Hardrock is another kg at 15kg:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... disc-9295#

is this a big enough difference to worry about?

supersonic

Test them to find out. And please don't double post!

RetroYetiRigid

The SCOTT REFLEX 50 at £269 or the 40 at £329 have pretty light frames.

Wouldn't trust any disc brakes on bikes below £500.

xtr.eme

(quoting fozy) Why don't you look at bikes in the £400 bracket and get the price knocked down? If your happy with last years models you should be able to get a bargain, i have just bought this years model Giant Terrago Disc for £340 RRP £425!!! Very good spec for the money. (quote)

Thanks, but I can hardly afford £300! Im surviving on a paper round, and not even very good pay. I would rather have the bike soon than save up for even longer.

To be honest, the thing that is partly putting me off the Mongoose is the disc brakes, as many people say that they can be unrelieble in this price range, and need more maintenence.

The bikes I have to decide between now are:
Hardrock Sport
Mongoose Tyax Elite
Scott Reflex 50 (not sure about how it performs)

Can anyone help me? I've been talking with my Dad & he thinks that weight of bikes is a bit of a myth, cos relatively to the riders weight, you might as well lose a few pounds yourself (I dont THINK I have many pounds to lose!). Is the mongoose really any lighter?He uses a Hardrock Comp 2003or4 and has never had much of a prob with the weight, but then he is 15 stone and I am 8. Also I cant find the hardrock for less than £299 anywhere.

Lastly, I might want to upgrade to discs later on a bike without discs: which of these bikes have disc mounts? How much are decent discs? Im pretty sure the hardrock does, but what a bout the Scott?

Thanks 4 all your help,

Tom Harding

Gambatte

I'd agree with checking out decathlon, good spec at the lower end for the money. I've just got one of their low end roadies.

As to discs, I love my Hayes9 on my GT Avalanche, however they weren't standard.

I'd advise to avoid mechanical (cable operated discs) like the plague. To me the only advantage they give is a disc ready frame and wheels, ready for the hydraulic system. If you stay away from these, you'll probably also stay away from integrated shifters and brakes.

xtr.eme

Gambatte wrote:

I'd agree with checking out decathlon, good spec at the lower end for the money. I've just got one of their low end roadies.

As to discs, I love my Hayes9 on my GT Avalanche, however they weren't standard.

I'd advise to avoid mechanical (cable operated discs) like the plague. To me the only advantage they give is a disc ready frame and wheels, ready for the hydraulic system. If you stay away from these, you'll probably also stay away from integrated shifters and brakes.

So you're saying avoid mechanical disc brakes? What are "integrated shifters and brakes"?

Cheers,

Tom

supersonic

Some bikes have the shifters and brake levers as one unit, meaning that if you want to upgrade to hydraulics you must also buy new shifters.

Mechanical discs can work well: you need to work out whether they are right for you. If you are on a budget and ride a lot in flithy conditions they will be beneficial. And at least tyou know the frame and wheels will take discs.

xtr.eme

Yes, what I ideally want is a bike with better specs generally, and no discs but that I can put discs on later when I have the money - how much more would this be?

supersonic

There aren't too many non disc bikes about that are fully ready to go to hydraulics. Sets of hydro discs start from 100 quid a pair.

WillGTJumper

i have an aggressor 2 and i use it for most things, the v-brakes are good enough on them aswell

Lukeee

The Mongoose Tyax Elite is a great starting machine.

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products. ... 0s196p1563

xtr.eme

Probs will go for the Mongoose then.

A few guys have got the Carrera Kracken @ school. What's it like?

supersonic

Superb machine, rarely find a frame this good with damped forks and 27 gears. Was reviewed in this months MBUK - only the wheels let it down, noted as being too heavy. Overall weight is 31lbs which isn't too bad. 8/10 was its score.

DomA

MBUK recently reviewed some £300 bikes. Carrera Kraken did well.

xtr.eme

supersonic wrote:

Superb machine, rarely find a frame this good with damped forks and 27 gears. Was reviewed in this months MBUK - only the wheels let it down, noted as being too heavy. Overall weight is 31lbs which isn't too bad. 8/10 was its score.

So it lost by one point to the Mongoose then:

http://www.mbuk.com/biketestdetails.asp?id=684

supersonic

One is 70 quid more than the other. I would have the Kraken over the Goose if they were the same price.

andy81

I notice a number of people have mentioned the Kraken (saying it's excellent for the money), and the GT Aggressor XC2. How do these bikes stack up against one another?

A

supersonic

Aggressor a little more expensive, but both well specced with good forks - I'd put the GT as the better package though.

jacktheoc

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=60207

i would probably go for something like this, and its got hayes discs

supersonic

But a fork out of a horror movie! the mongoose and carrera are far better specced.

jacktheoc

i admit the forks are shi*t but for £300 its not bad

andy81

Hmm, just noticed that Halfords have reduced the 2007 Kona Fire down to the same price as the GT Aggressor XC2, but the spec doesn't appear to be as good, is this true?

supersonic

Sounds about right! Kona probably has the better frame though.