Help For another newbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

akelly
akelly Posts: 7
edited January 2008 in MTB beginners
Firstly id like to say Hi and congratualte you all on such a good forum, ive been having a look round it over the past few days. My Dilema at the moment is the 4 bikes below, ive decided my treadmill days are over and its now time to get back in saddle. Having read through the forum iv narrowed my choises down to these 4 bikes. Im not sure about the BeOne as its a name ive not heard before but thought id bring it to the table and see if anyone had any thoughts on these. My other concern is whether to go for v brakes or disc brakes. The reason im unsure is are disc brakes on such budget bike really worth it are they really any better than their v brake counterparts. My riding will mainly consist on tracks, paths, road and the occasional mountain bike track. I have the luxury of living near the Scottish highlands you see. Ive also put my reasons why ive narrowed it down to these 4. Any advice more than welcome even if it is suggesting an alternative because at the end of the im the novice here!!!!!!

BeOne Aspire 3.0 Hardtail Bike (unsure of brand and quality wild card)

Scott Aspect 50 (brand)

GT Avalanche 3.0 (looks and brand)

Mongoose Tyax Elite ( forum favourite)

Comments

  • papasmurf.
    papasmurf. Posts: 2,382
    even mechanical discs are better then Vs in wet and mud.

    I'd stick with bikes you can try and ride first, I think you can only get the BeOnes from CRC, otherwise I'd say look at the focus bikes on wiggle. Cube also do some good value budget bikes and you might have a dealer near you.

    The GT and the Tyax would be my choices to go and have a test on..you could also probably find a Avalanche 2 07 in the sales for the same or just a bit more then the 08 3
    Meta5.5
    Duster
  • suggsa
    suggsa Posts: 12
    Hi, also a newbie, don't know what sort of budget you ave but I just got great deal on my GT Avalanche 1.0. Just by going into an independant bike shop and asking what discount they could give. I got almost £100 off.
  • Johnclimber
    Johnclimber Posts: 92
    Disc's every time, V's are crap 75% of the time off road.

    Go for the GT as it's a great frame and easy to upgrade later on.

    What's your budget?

    Have you thought of a steel hardtail as they are a lot more comfortable than aluminium frames. You can pick up a great frame only from around £140, then build it up as you like.
  • xcracer
    xcracer Posts: 298
    There's a an article on £300 entry-level bikes in the January What Mountain Bike. Might be worth a read as that seems to be your price range. The Mongoose and the GT are reviewed along with some others.

    Well maintained V brakes are perfectly adequate for towpaths and roads etc. If you are going anywhere muddy or with steep downhills discs would be advisable.
  • akelly
    akelly Posts: 7
    Cheers for everybodys help and sdvice im off to tesco to get my What Mountain Bike magazine and read up on these reviews!!
  • OllyUK
    OllyUK Posts: 230
    Most WMB, C+ reviews etc end up on this site eventually. Hence I subscribe to singletrack :lol:

    In regards to brakes as stated above disc brakes perform much better in mud/wet and are more powerful. However if you're not going to be riding in these conditiions V brakes are a fair bit lighter.
    Overall, if you can, get disc brakes.Mechanical ones do require a tad more maintinence but can be just as powerful if you get them set up well.

    Also consider the Carrera Kraken (07) they are selling sub £300 atm and have 27 speed transmission and a farily good fork and cable discs.
    http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... n-07-20130

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