Best £500ish hardtail

shandy5

I'm pretty new to Mountain Biking but am looking to upgrade from what was a very old Claud Butler bike, to a new £500ish hardtail.

I've been doing a bit of research and have narrowed the choice down to three:

Specialized Rockhopper
Carrera Fury
GT Avalanche 1.0 disc

I know that the Rockhopper does not have disc brakes for the extra £50 but will that matter for someone who will be doing trail riding but nothing too extreme!? Also, have I missed some real gems that should be considered???

jgr

What about Giant XTC 4.5, disc brakes, rockshox front forks. I have one and am well pleased with it. I've used it for one day adventure races and a bit of larking about in the forests.

supersonic

All good bikes you have listed, the next stage is to go and test them out for suitability abd sizing. You may be fine with just Vs - the Hopper has the best frame here and would make a nice long term project to upgrade.

shandy5

Thanks guys...

Need to check out for size, and will look to test the bikes if at all possible. Someone else has mentioned that the GT Aggressor xc1could well be worth a look as well. Any views?

supersonic

Definitely worth a look, but is Halfords only. Similar to the Avalanche, but has a better fork (though inferior brakes)

TheDisposer

J.E.James do them!? :-S

supersonic

Have you got a link?! I am sure thats a Halfords only bike (though the base Aggressor, the 7spd one, is available to all dealers)

TheDisposer

Sorry dude i through you meant the Avalanche!!!

DOH!

supersonic

Hehe! I live very close th JE James, is a good shop.

mr b0b

marin northside trail 06/07 is very good

supersonic

TBH, its a bike I dislike. Nice frame, but nasty undamped fork, 8spd and cable discs put it far behind on spec and performance compared to its rivals.

mikeitup

shandy5 wrote:

I'm pretty new to Mountain Biking but am looking to upgrade from what was a very old Claud Butler bike, to a new £500ish hardtail.

I've been doing a bit of research and have narrowed the choice down to three:

Specialized Rockhopper
Carrera Fury
GT Avalanche 1.0 disc

I know that the Rockhopper does not have disc brakes for the extra £50 but will that matter for someone who will be doing trail riding but nothing too extreme!? Also, have I missed some real gems that should be considered???

All good bikes.
Halfords have the Fury at £449 at the mo. (i am a bit peed off cos I paid £499 last week!)
Giant XTC was another of my choices but got a better deal on the fury at Halfords (loads of free accessories) The GT Aggressor they do is nice too but is £549.

supersonic

Go back to Halfords and ask if they will price match themselves!

bullcross

get 10% off token from cornflakes packet
and get a furry for £405
bargin

mikeitup

you could take your 10% cereal voucher and get an Aggressor for £500!

shandy5

Haha, not aware of the 10% off voucher with cornflakes, but that's going to be worth a look....

Not sure about Halfords regarding actually putting the bike together, but then if I know where the problems are likely to be, that can be easily rectified.....

thedktor

I have a Rockhopper and its superb. But what swung me apart from the frame quality is that it just fits me perfectly - the 17" model has a really low top-tube compared to how I have the saddle (high!) but the bike does not feel cramped or too low at the front, just compact and lively.

Point being, have a sit on them with the saddle at the right height - Try before you buy!

TD