Newbie :)

MattJ90

Hi Guys!
I want to get into MTB. Love riding my bike, wherever I am. Never really done proper MTB before, normally just ride around my local area. But me and a friend want to get into it. We went to Bedgebury yesterday, and I had a brilliant time, nackered me out lol, but still was good. We rode both the routes, kinda changing from one to the other, mainly because we didnt have a clue where we was lol.

I havnt got any of the clobber lol, no pink lycra or any of that jazz, just ride in my jogging bottoms lol

I live in Sidcup in Kent. Where is there around here, or in/around Kent where we can ride. Getting bored of the pavements lol.

Im riding a Dawes Tamarak at the moment. Its my dads, but I've stolen it off of him lol :twisted: he knows though . Thinking of getting a Mongoose Tyax Elite 08

Anyone live near Sidcup?

MattJ

MattJ90

Took a few pics at Bedgebury, thought Id share them


Fog!-


Me with my bike on the single track-


My Bike-

prophet_1000

Hi MattJ90

Glad you like the riding, dont live around your way so cant help you with trail advice.
with regards to the Tyax it looks like not a bad bike at all if your heart is really set on it? BUT if you could stretch a little more and dont mind having a brand new but slightly older bike then check out this example from CRC (its not available, but a search of the net will probably bring up similar bikes even if from different manufacturers)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=13838

or this one depending on your height/weight?

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s2p1295

Its got a lot better spec then the mongoose and will therefore last a longer before it gives up the ghost.

Bikes these days are getting a lot better at a lower price point But at £299 you really are starting at the very lower rung on that ladder and your money would be better spent on an older bike with better spec that the bike shops are trying to get rid of cheap.

The GT I have book marked is only an example but has the kind of spec you want to be aiming for if you are gonna ride mountain bikes regular.

Hope this helps?

joed05

cut out the text talk and those lols please. how much are you prepared on spending?

MattJ90

Woops sorry

Well, 300-400 is about all i can afford really. At the moment i have about £50 due to xmas

Yeah the Avalanche looks nice, will take a look around LBSs and see what they have lurking around, im sure i can find something for a good deal, especially with the January sales coming up

MattJ90

Whats the 07 Avalanche like compared to the 06 model?

hastings

i would recommend for 400 quid the scott aspect 45

tis my christmas prezzie

prophet_1000

I could not say for sure, have not had time to check but a quick comparison by you on the web should show some results, avalanche 1.0 ?, 2.0 ?, 3.0 ? there is different spec for each model 1 being the better 3 being the cheaper option.

At a guess I would say the difference would be minimal between years, with probably a slightly better fork or the same fork which has been reworked slightly to make its performance better on the 07 bike, other than that I would say there may be a couple of upgrades but at this level and with you wanting to just get into the sport I would say you would hardly know the difference other than the paint colour!!

Generally any of the bigger manufacturers would be a good bet, Specialized, giant, gt, scott, etc all make good bikes cheap due to their business position (lots of money and experience) so you wont go wrong, do a bit of research! best bet is to buy the magazines MBR,MBUK, WhatMTB etc and do some home work by checking out what components are fitted to the different bikes at different price points. from time to time the magazines run tests on entry level bikes and which ones are the best buys.

I think you can order back issues of magazines which would have contained the reviews I mention above, a quick check of the websites and an email may help?

Hope this helps?

dave_hill

Get yourself a helmet! Can't emphasise that enough.

tonyrees68

hi Matt i just got an avalanche 1.0 07 disk for my 1st bike and just came back from a ride it wont dissapoint you at al i love it and thats what counts i dont think the specs change much from year to year (performance wise for beginners) but do shop around theres are really no bad bikes for that kind of cash really just go for a smal amount of quality rather than a lot of bling , buy a good name bike youve tried out first not much of a help i know but iam happy with mine happy riding
tony

MattJ90

Yeah I like the look of the Avalance 1.0

Yes I must invest in a helmet! After riding at Bedgebury, I see the need. Good investment!

Well I'm going to take a look around my LBSs and see what they have laying around, see if I cant find myself a bargain!

MattJ

clanton

In that sort of price bracket the Carrera Fury also gets good reviews, from Halfords though so aftersales service may not be as good.

stevel

As per the thread elsewhere in this section I've just bought a new bike in the £500 ish price bracket.

Bought the Fury first but it broke on my first ride so took it back. Then having read
a ton of stuff on here and elsewhere I decided to go to the LBS pretty certain in the knowledge that I was about to buy a GT Avalanche 1.0.

The guy is GT dealer but following a long discussion with him and having tried out several bikes I eventually decided to put all my trust in his knowledge and bought a Merida SUB 60 D (2008)

I upgraded the fork to a Max Pro Lo because the one supplied by Merida was a bit of a weak link.

So in the end I paid a bit more than I'd planned because of the Marzocchi fork.

Couldn't be happier with the bike. It was a bit of a leap of faith to buy one I'd barely heard of not to mention not adding the Tora fork (again on his advice) but as someone who spends forever deciding on what to buy it was an interesting experience.

Time will tell if it was the right thing to do. 8)

clas

A helmet isnt an investment. its as important as the bike. You will fall off
if you have a helmet you will probably be OK (maybe broken bones) if you dont and you bang your head.. well you wont be riding bikes for a long time, if ever again and possibly being fed through a straw and having someone else wipe your arrse for life. Or of course you might die which for you would be the better option but not for your family. Get one before getting back on the bike