£800- which hardtail would you get?

trailblazer83

Hello,

I have £800 for a mountain bike, I am hoping to do trails mainly but would like a good bike all round so that I can get a feel for all the other disciplines. A hard tail is what I would prefer.

Anyone got any ideas what I should get?

Nath

James_F

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=42&categoryId=39 or

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=560&categoryId=100

Andy B

I second a bike from Merlin, either of the ones in the link are very good bikes for the money.

dunker

yep thirded, got one meself and i'd get the same though they are about £250 cheaper this year so i'd upgrade it to 08 full xt groupset and get them to build it on xt hubs with xm719 rims and dt db spokes for a little extra i'd guess

Barrie_G

Yet another vote for the Merlin 8)

Anyone else starting to see a pattern here

sparrowlegs78

Another vote for Merlin yet again....a very proud owner of a Malt 2 here....best spec of bike for your money..and upgradeable too

OllyUK

Focus at wiggle are good value:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... isc%202008

However they are very cross country orientated and you said you want something a bit more versatile so I'd reccomend Merlin

Edit: Merlin bikes are on sale atm, check out the Malt 4...£751

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=39

pdid

I think the above posts speak for themselves. Gotta be Merlin, unbeatable at this price point. I have a Rock Lobster and its superb.

Phil

bullcross

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... isc%202008

cracking bike looks mint too

trailblazer83

thanks guys will look into those. Just on the same note what does everyone think of GT's?

sparrowlegs78

The Hubby has a GT and he loves it....also good bikes for the money

lost-time

On-one?

http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/4 ... Bikes.html

supersonic

Trying a few out would be advantageous.

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

Those are good, but this will give you a bit of change, and will basicly give you the same performance

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... ryrn_82401

* `powerful` brakes
* lightweight frame
* shimano gears
* comes with seatpost as standard

what more could you want?

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

or this

http://www.eurocosm.com/Application/Pro ... ike-GB.asp

Is perfect for carrying a multitool on the trail.

Also the single speed takes all the hassle out of DH

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

or buy the giant xtc while it's being sold cheap everywhere, put some marzocchi forks on it and you're away

Not Another Hill

Orange P7 steel framed hard tail. Superb do everything hardtail. Gets 9 or 10 out of 10 in most of the mags. Had mine 2 and a half years. Loads of abuse: Glentress black run, Coed y Brenin, Peaks, Dales, Pennines etc. Race on it (35th out of 370 odd competitors in Holme Valley Challenge). Fantastic.

dannyg

You could have a look at the Boardman Team MTB, well kitted out for £800

jeffers696

lol

dannyg

why the lol?

z000m

i could get a job delivering pizzas with that :roll:

Marjory Stewart BAxtor wrote:

or this

http://www.eurocosm.com/Application/Pro ... ike-GB.asp

Demonix

At this price would probably go for the Marin Eldridge Grade - decent spec do it all hard tail...

The Spiderman

dannyg wrote:

You could have a look at the Boardman Team MTB, well kitted out for £800

The £1000 Pro version got 10/10 in this months MBR.
I`d also be looking at the Merlin Malt 4,for this budget.

dannyg

yeah i know i've just bought on of the Pro models.

I'm amazed at the spec and how light it is, you wouldn't expect to see that sort of spec until you get towards the £2000 mark.

I'd strongly recommend it, but give it a good check over depending on whether you get a novice or an experienced guy to build it at halfords

mbr kid

look at the sunn hardtails on ride central, maybe look at the forest jump.

www.ride-central.com

dunker

i think saying it matches the spec of a £2000 bike is a bit of a stretch. the two main top spec kit things are the juicy 7's and the x0 rear mech. elsewhere for 2k you can get a Ti or carbon frame with full xt kit and hope hubs and mavic rims and a step up from the reba race maybe even get a reba wc in the deal plus change. sure it's a lovely bike but it's not a £2000 bike in my opinion.

Matteeboy

That Boardman Pro bike IS seriously good value though!

mrwibble

Triad 1 from Edinburgh Cycles looks good.

truebrit87

I busy looking for a bike in this price range and alot of people have suggested the Boardman Pro because of the spec.

z000m

what does chris boardman know about mountainbiking?

dannyg

he persoanlly might not be fully up to speed on mountain bikes, but from what i've read on the web they've got a lot of big names from MTB manufacturers working for them.

I've just bought the MTB pro and it's tremendous, very light and a great spec. I've searched for months trying to find a hardtail for £1000 and there's nothing comes near. You won't be dissapopinted with one. Just ask them to take extra care when building it to make sure they do a good job, or alternatively take it home boxed and build it yourself.

Anyone who has any doubts about the boardman range should do a bit of web research and see whjat you come up with. They don't get high ratings for their entire range for being rubbish