Final Bike shortlist help please

holymooside

Hi!
Final help on my shortlist would be much appreciated. Cheers in advance for your vote !!

Some of the special offers I was looking at have already gone in 19" size, but can still get:

a) Rockhopper 2007 (no disc) £390
b) GT Avalanche 1.0 2007 (no disc) £299
c) Giant XTC 4.5 2007 £430
d) GT Avalanche 1.0 2007 Disc £430

Can't see the 07 disc version of the Rockhopper any more in my size (19"). Can perhaps add discs at a later stage perhaps. I'm used to v-brakes, so I'm sure they'll do for now.

Several of you and the reviews are recommending the Avalanche, but is it just good for the price? Is the disc-less Rockhopper worth £90 more than the Avalanche?

The new 2008 Avalanche 1.0 Disc seems to be the one that got the rave reviews... is the 2007 one very different? Don't think I can go full whack up to £500... have kids to feed and wife to answer to.

I suppose I want a good reliable, strong, reliable XC bike for around £400 mark (or less)!
VOTE A,B,C or D............. or pass on any other suggestions.

Cheers for everything,
John

glen4

These polls are a bit of a waste of time, due to the fact most people will vote for the bike they own, following this trend I'd vote for the specialized as I'm a happy stumpjumper HT owner, mate has a 07 rockhopper and looks a good bike. Frameset will definately support some quality upgrades as time goes by.

Hope this helps

Andy B

C or D

As they already have disc brakes, it could cost £200 to turn a non disc bike into a disc braked bike.

Try both out, both great bikes.

omegas

Have you tried any of the bikes out, they ride and feel very different from each other.

Your wasting you time asking people to vote on what they think is best; you have to find out for yourself, unless you want a bike that everyone thinks is good but is totally unsuitable for you.

Chaka Ping

It's best to try the bikes out if poss, but in the real world that isn't always an option.

So if you're buying online and don't have the chance to ride them, it might help you to know that the XTC and Rockhopper are both regarded as being quite stiff and having a harsh ride. I find the Rockhopper particularly harsh on my back - but I am getting on.

I think the XTC is probably still built on the classic XC hardtail template - relatively stretched out and fast. The Rockhopper has a more upright posititon and might be better for a novice from that point of view.

I've only ridden an Avalanche 2.0 that was too big for me on the road, but it seemed a good bike (if a little heavy) and had a riding position between the other two options. The ride didn't seem overly harsh - but it did come with bigger tyres than the Rockhopper and XTC I've tried.

I'd go for the GT or Giant, depending on what sort of bike you want.

holymooside

Cheers. All this advice is very useful. Can't try out many of these as they are the last of last year's stock ordered on-line from different shops/warehouses, although I think the Avalanche disc would be purchased from down the road in Nottingham, so I could test-drive that one at least.

Any further comments / votes would be gratefully received.
Thnaks again.

iiJonnyii

a friend of mine has a gt avalanche, and they really are great bikes for the money.. so my votes with the avalanche!

holymooside

For all those that helped with their advice, thanks.

Final purchase was a surprise one, as I saw a brand new, delivery notes and all, Specialized FSR XC Comp (2008) in a local paper (Ad Trader), so thanks to the guy that recommended that route.

£380 so I was pretty chuffed. Wouldn't have expected to have got that much bike with my cash. More importantly, I'm out on the hills again! Cheers

John.

The Spiderman

Sounds like a real bargain.I bought a 1 year old Rockhopper when I started out,which had hardly been used and came with the origial receipt.

I used it for a while but it turned out to be a little large for me so I sold it and actually made a profit.

ginge7289

D!!!!!