Torn

JamieP

I have spent the past few days trying to decide what hardtail xc to buy -I'm fairly new to this.

Basically the bikes I have seen are all fairly new and I can't find any reviews. Can someone put me out of my misery and decide for me

Cannondale 2008 F4 £669
Merlin Malt 1 approx £600
Orange G3 £600
Felt Q720 £500

Any useful advice would be gratefully recieved also if anyone would like to throw others in the pot let me know. (Don't say Carrera Fury- Halford's sound a nightmare and I get enough bad service from British Gas and Virgin Media)


Cheers

JP :?

supersonic

Not all Halfords are bad, don't let a few bad stories put you off the best value bikes out there. For instance if you buy a Merlin its odds on you wont be able to try it, have a free service and will have to send it back of it goes wrong, making a worse scenario than if bought from a poor Halfords!

Testing is recommended - going on value the merlin wins, the Felt and Orange lack the specs the Merlin offer. Cannondale has the best frame, but shorter travel fork but not bad value for a Dale. Others would be the trek 6500, Giant XTC and Specialized Rockhopper.

BigRedR

I just bought a Spec Rockhopper Disc and cant fault it. I also liked the Giant XT 4.5 (there are a few deals on at the moment for this) but didnt like the Trek 6500.