What To Look For

squeeze_10

Hello all
I'm in the market for a new mountain bike & have done a fair bit of research, but just need a bit of expert advice/ opinion. I have visited 4 lbs & Halfords.
First lbs recommended a Schwinn Messa. I haven't managed to find out much info on this bike & see it never seems to be mentioned on here.
Second lbs recomended a Spesh Hardrock Sport. Opinion on here seems to say there are better bikes available.
3rd & 4th lbs both recomended Giant XTC 4.5. Opinion seems to be divided on this bike.
Halfords recomended Boardman Comp. As this is fairly new to the market reviews are not available. This bike seems incredibly well specced. I know Halfords get a bit of stick on here, but the guy who helped me was helpful & seemed to know his stuff, certainly more than a couple of the lbs guys.
Now the advice on here is always try them out. Well I have tried all 4 bikes out & they all seem ok. But it is incredibly difficult to tell what an XC bike is like, by riding around a car park for 5 mins.
So what specific things should I look for, when trying a bike out. All of them felt the right size & I can't say that the geometry of one seemed better than the others. My initial gut feeling is for the Boardman or poss the Giant, but any help / opinion would be a great help.
Thanks for reading & I look forward to your thoughts.

supersonic

On a 500 quid bike for xc and trails, you want the following:

- a bike that fits
- a damped adjustable suspension fork
- 9spd
- discs ideally (or disc ready - sometimes bikes are specced better elsewhere when have Vs)
- Around 30lbs or less weight
- good back up and after sales.

Have a play with adjustments on offer, ask questions, try different sizes: see how the bike feels when cornering, how easy it is to loft the front up, how the fork reacts to kerbs.

squeeze_10

Thanks for your advice there Supersonic.
I'm assuming the fork on the Boardman is far supirior to the Giant?
Does anyone know the weights of these bikes? I've tried googling it & cant' find any info.
Does anyone have any experience of riding the Boardman Comp? or for that matter the Giant XTC 4.5?

supersonic

Boardmans are very new, but opinions are favourable. Giant XTC gets good reviews, but marked down on stiff frame and relativley short travel fork.

The Big Cheese

Boardman Comp. Full stop.

WillGTJumper

If I was you I would try to find another place doing the Boardman as they're after service might be better than Halfords, as theres is not the best.

squeeze_10

That's the problem, I think the Boardman is only sold in Halfords.

Supersonic, sorry for my ignorance, but what do mean by a "stiff frame" on the Giant. How will that effect my riding?

dart

I picked my Boardman Comp up last week, and (touch wood) no problems so far. I had it out on some trail stuff ,nothing too challenging, and it was great. I also had some concerns about Halfords but the spec & the feel of the bike convinced me to take a punt. If you take the advise of the forum and go prepared you should be OK. If they put the bike together as they did mine check everything before you take it home, I had them adjust the gears 3 times before I was happy enough to put the bike in the car!

supersonic

Some people find the XTC frames transmit a lot of shock through the rear, reducing comfort.

squeeze_10

Thanks for explaining that Supersonic. I think I will take your & Darts advice & go ask some searching questions & have another ride on the Boardman.
If anyone else has any opinions or experience of the Boardman Comp , I would welcome them.

Dart - do you know the weight of the Boardman comp? I can't seem to find this info anywhere.

dart

I struggled to find any info on the weight of the Boardman as well, at the end of the day it came down to trying a few different bikes and seeing which felt best, to be honest as a novice I thought all of the bikes I looked at felt similar in weight.
I narrowed my search to Giant XTC 4.5, Carrera Fury and decided I might stretch my budget to the Rockhopper Disc. When I went to check out the Fury in Halfords they'd just got the Boardmans in and after a quick trial I was sold on it, so far it's been great.
I also managed to save £60.00 with the Kellogs discount voucher, for £540.00 I haven't seen anything that comes close from a spec standpoint and I spent a long time looking!
Best advise is to go and give it a try, it suited me but one bike doesn't fit all!

squeeze_10

Dart, sounds like we are on very similar thought lines on which bike. I have tried the Boardman, along with a few others. But riding around a car park for 5 minutes I have struggled to find any noticeable differences with them all! I'm going to follow Supersonics advice & have another test ride & ask a few more questions.
I've already bought my Coco Pops, so have the 10% voucher in hand!
Do you know if Halfords do any interest free options?

dart

Not sure about interest free options, check it out when you take another look at the Boardman.
When I was in Halfords the guy that assisted claimed they were running a trial weekend with Boardmans, they were apparently providing 30 staff across the country with the bikes for the weekend to ride, strip, clean and ride again to gain familiarity and feedback. I guess it might have made more sense to do this before the launch and I'm not sure you will get objective feedback from a Halfords guy when he is trying to sell you one but they may have more info/reviews on the bikes now. When I got mine it was a bit of a leap of faith.

captainchucky

You can be pretty sure that the halfords guy will give you genuine advide on what bike to get.

Or by genuine, i mean not influenced by a particular brand, as the incentives we get are usually to do with selling accessories not a particular bike.