Whats the best sub £1050.00 full susser

canada16

Hey Guys

Im looking for a full suspension bike and my first as well. just sold my scott reflex 40 and looking to get more serious in trails.

I have seen a few

cannondale prophet 4

specialized fsr comp i think thats it

and looking at the gt i drive 4.0 and above. please advise

im having real problems and dont really know what im looking for.

The reason for the exact amount is work is paying for this bike as part of some get well scheme and i got to pay half of the 1050.00, ps and cannot go over 1050.00rrp

Thanks so much guys

supersonic

For trails and xc I assume? All got decent specs - will come down to how they feel for ride and position, so I'd test them out. Trek Fuels are well received too.

canada16

Whats the deal with cannondale and the one sided fork is it strong enough > ?

supersonic

Oh yes, plenty strong enough! Cannodale like to do things their own way. They are very stiff, with big oversized axles and hubs. Have a google for some reviews - they aint all the same!

hodgey

trek fuels are nice xc full sussers

Prowlus

I have a Prophet 4 and I can say its been smooth riding for over 6 months now and even when i checked it in for a servicing (stage 1) , the ; LBS said "does not need a stage 1" even after 6 months of tracking through muddy roads and rocky hills not to mention busy streets with deep potholes !
I'm only upgrading it so it will have state of the art components when i try to take it to wales but overall nothing technical has happened to the bike . Not even chain rub . Cannondale are like Mercedes in a sense that their products may not have as much gizmos compared to the competition but they deliver on good build quality

russ0228

check out real cycles in ireland they can get a commencal meta 5.5.3 rrp£1299/ for £999.99 ask for seve and tell him russ0228 sebt ya. best deal out there right now. these bikes are worth the hype

davethejackal

I'm just about to pick up my £1600 2007 bike for £900, £200 less than its sale price. Make, model, supplier when I've picked it up

Here's the tactic I used, first ask them what the lowest price they can offer you the bike at, stress that this bike is just out of your price range, if they ask you what your price range is state something stupidly low but say that if you get a good enough offer, you like the bike so much that you might have to get back to them but you'll be heavily tempted.

They offered me the bike at £1000, I said this was still outside my range but would think about it. They said why not take out 12 months interest free credit.

If they are prepared to offer you a bike at n months interest free credit, that's going to cost them X% of the bike's cost, so offer them X% less than their lowest price for cash.

Ok so what is the X%? I guessed 10% and wasn't far off!

I know it's over £1000 but pedal on have the Trek Fuel Ex 9 medium at £1200... maybe you can haggle them down from that.

canada16 wrote:

Hey Guys

Im looking for a full suspension bike and my first as well. just sold my scott reflex 40 and looking to get more serious in trails.

I have seen a few

cannondale prophet 4

specialized fsr comp i think thats it

and looking at the gt i drive 4.0 and above. please advise

im having real problems and dont really know what im looking for.

The reason for the exact amount is work is paying for this bike as part of some get well scheme and i got to pay half of the 1050.00, ps and cannot go over 1050.00rrp

Thanks so much guys

russ0228

the only way it would of worked the way davethejackal got his would be for these reasons;

1) they have bought far too many of the said bike
2) they have not sold many in the first place
3) the new models are out now or wihtin the week or so

or alll three of the above.

be careful on what you buy at this time of the year as this is when the new lines are coming out for the general public to buy. a lot of shops might tyr to punt you of with a dog just to clear space for the new arrivals

canada16

Thanks guys for all you help

when the 2008 bikes come out do cannondale and gt ect.. reduce their rrp's of the bikes or do they just go on sale. as i only have 1050.00 to play with and going to wait to see if the manufactures reduce their price.. as i tell my company what bike i want and they order it in direct from company and not shop. so sale items are not really that great unless they are on sale in shop halfords uk.

Thanks once again
canada16, cardiff
cwmcarn, taff trail licked..

davethejackal

canada16 wrote:

Thanks guys for all you help

when the 2008 bikes come out do cannondale and gt ect.. reduce their rrp's of the bikes or do they just go on sale. as i only have 1050.00 to play with and going to wait to see if the manufactures reduce their price.. as i tell my company what bike i want and they order it in direct from company and not shop. so sale items are not really that great unless they are on sale in shop halfords uk.

Thanks once again
canada16, cardiff
cwmcarn, taff trail licked..

Just got back with my £915 Trek Top Fuel 8 2007 from Evans. I R teh in lurve.

And aye it was an end of line bargain, but bargain it was. I'm pretty sure any shop would go for the cash vs credit discount though, since it doesn't cost profit and means less paper work etc. Only the credit company loses out .

I agree to beware of a dog too. Pedal on have the gary fisher supercaliber on sale at £900, I can't find a decent review of it anywhere (it's the 26er not the 29er version).

The Ex 9 is an uber bargain at £1200, better if you can get it for less (I was told they massively over purchased and people tended to opt for the cheaper 8 or go for the 9.0). At the moment there are plenty of good bargain priced bikes out there, their only fault is that they bear the number 2007 in their name. I should imagine this will get less true as the sales progress.

I'd call them and make the offer see what they say. Point out the fact they aren't going to be paying for the credit on the sale. At £1050 they just might bite (though they have only medium left).

Worth a try if nothing else

Edit: AH ok didn't read your post properly. Do you work at halfords or is this through the cycle2 work scheme? Most cycle shops operate the cycle 2 work thing, so you *should* be able to purchase them anywhere.

canada16

Sorry

did not know people were aware of cycle to work

I work for RBS and they told me it was halfords i had to go to.

Dont know if it says halfords on the paper i get, not sure as getting in oct.

but it says up to 42% saving in halfords. so not sure if other places will accept this voucher.

hope this helps, as thought i could not buy bikes from evans or any other place.

Thanks maybe should have explained. sorry guys

davethejackal

canada16 wrote:

Sorry

did not know people were aware of cycle to work

I work for RBS and they told me it was halfords i had to go to.

Dont know if it says halfords on the paper i get, not sure as getting in oct.

but it says up to 42% saving in halfords. so not sure if other places will accept this voucher.

hope this helps, as thought i could not buy bikes from evans or any other place.

Thanks maybe should have explained. sorry guys

I think your company needs to sign an agreement with the cycle company first and I think it is limited to the company that issues the voucher, but if you check out evans's site for example, they have a whole page on cycle to work.

I am pretty sure (having looked in to setting it up for my company) that no money changes hands until the voucher is cashed, however.

There's also a company called cyclescheme.co.uk (check out their website) which exists purely to service the scheme for smaller LBS's. By registering your company with them you get access to a whole range of LBS's.

The vouchers CAN be used on sale items.

russ0228

quoted from davethejackel
And aye it was an end of line bargain, but bargain it was. I'm pretty sure any shop would go for the cash vs credit discount though, since it doesn't cost profit and means less paper work etc. Only the credit company loses out .


actually dave it is easier for companies to take a card over cash nowadays as it takes far less time to count card txt's. where it takes ages to count the cash in the morning. well unless you are a really pishy shop

canada16

well bad news

Phoned a few companies and they have said voucher needs to be issued with halfords only.

and OMG have you seen the poor quality bikes they have, the only one remotly is the

gt xcr 5

so they need to order direct, which means sale items are not included.

they quoted me 1200.00 for the prophet 4, so unless manufacturers bring Regular retail prices down im stuck like a f$%k

oh well will keep my eye out,

davethejackal

canada16 wrote:

well bad news

Phoned a few companies and they have said voucher needs to be issued with halfords only.

and OMG have you seen the poor quality bikes they have, the only one remotly is the

gt xcr 5

so they need to order direct, which means sale items are not included.

they quoted me 1200.00 for the prophet 4, so unless manufacturers bring Regular retail prices down im stuck like a f$%k

oh well will keep my eye out,

As far as I know you can supplement the voucher with your own cash.if you'd rather do that. Look at it like this you get a shiny new 08 bike for the same sort of discount I got on my 07 ;-)

The problem for your employer will be that if they deal out vouchers worth more than £1000 in value they have to apply for a special credit license which can cause them all sorts of problems.

This is the reason I didn't bother with scheme, and thought that getting a similar value bargain on an 07 model was as good if not better than cycle2work (plus I was a little afraid of missing out on the bargains now available though I'm pretty sure now I may not have been justified in this belief).

I guess you could always go for a discounted 07 model and pay for it yourself like I did?

One thing I would DEFINITELY recommend is NOT revealing you are buying using the voucher until discussing payment AFTER the price has been settled. Once they know you are paying with a voucher they know they can name their price!

russ0228 wrote:

quoted from davethejackel
And aye it was an end of line bargain, but bargain it was. I'm pretty sure any shop would go for the cash vs credit discount though, since it doesn't cost profit and means less paper work etc. Only the credit company loses out .


actually dave it is easier for companies to take a card over cash nowadays as it takes far less time to count card txt's. where it takes ages to count the cash in the morning. well unless you are a really pishy shop

Aye when I said cash I meant instant payment with a debit/credit card, without the credit arrangements. I paid with my debit card.

I.e. credit = arranging for 12 months 'interest free' credit.

Actually.

Zachary

Hi all,
My first post,
I am in the exact same position as Canada 16,what i have decided to do is wait and see if halfords release a gt force which is specificaly designed for halfords,as is the i-drive xcr 5.
Failing that (over £1050) i have been offered a deal with local halfords store,the xcr 5 for£800 plus £250 in accessories.
I am still looking out for somthing to catch my eye in the mean time though,I ride a heavily up graded marin alpine trail(28lb for past 7 years and cover approx 80 - 100 miles of single track per week,any one know how i - drive compaires to single pivot?
Although up graded marin is pretty tired now so will be passing on to wife,any ideas on a suitable bike for the riding i do would be much appreciated.(rrp £1000).

Cheers
Zac.

canada16

They offered you the gt bike plus 250,00 worth of stuff for 800.00?

Thats an amazing deal, the people in cardiff wont give me sweet FA

Does that include optional kit for bike like upgrades, new seat post, brakes ect...

Zachary

The deal is for the gt xcr 5 for £809 (sale price),plus additional extras to make up for the rest of the voucher (did not specify what although did say i could have a car stereo if i liked ?).
The bike will be charged as full rrp,at the end of the day halfords will be cashing a voucher for a grand ! from RBS.. and the sales man wants to make room for 2008 stock.
If you like the bike,which i think is great spec and value for the dollars and has potential to lighten ,try it on at a different store.
See the review of the halfords spec i - drive on this site if you havent already,it's rewarded 4.5 out of 5.

Good luck

Zac.

canada16

Yeh they said i could use the voucher for anything i wanted.

Wanted something in a marazzochi or fox, BUT u turn aint to bad, good spec and have always likeD gt.

the i drive got bike of the year, but like you said xcr a bit heavy on almost 40 lbs i belive

tHATS more than i wEIGH LOL

Hope they get something more as only one bike to choose from...... PRETTY POOR,