HALFORDS - GT I-Drive XCR5 2008

arrogantowl

Hi Guys,

I am just about to join our Cycle to work scheme and im limited to £1000 to spend in Halfords (unfortunatly i cant top this up with my own cash either........ :evil: )

So the concultion that i came to was to get the GT I-Drive XCR5 08 model (in black not the 07 blue model)

The had the 08 model in the showroom so i had a good look at it. The Halfords website seems out of date as it only had the 07 model on there.

I notice the smalled size they do is the 18" and being 5'7 im not sure if this is going to be to big for me or not!!!!!!! :?

So most of the reviews i have found refer to the 07 model and i cant find any reviews of the 08 model.

So does anyone have the 08 model and if so what do you think of it? Im particularly interested in what its like downhill?

Look foward to any info from you guys,
Cheers, The Owl.

dnsmiff

The picture shows the 07 model the description the 08.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_271225_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_106167_crumb_33980-33957-106165_parentcategoryrn_106167#

I have the 07 model and am really pleased with it - however I am no expert and would not describe myself as particularly competent at downhill so I can't really help with any views there!

arrogantowl

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

Well im no downhiller mysef this will be the first full suspension bike i guet. I will mainly be using it for XC and have the confidence to do the downhill sections a bit faster than i currently do on my hard tail.

I guess for £900 im not going to be getting a serious downhill bike.

Cheers for the info ref the Halfords website, to be honest i could not remember the exact spec from when i was in the store to when i got home to look it up on the net.

My main concern i guess is the size they only had a 20" there, but i fear that 18" is still going to be a bit to big for me at only 5'7.........

dnsmiff

I'm 6' and have the 20", never tried the 18" version.

Andy B

Th GT I-Drive XCR5 '07 was very highly thought of in a MBUK test, it's very well specced for the money & if the '08 version has a similar spec you won't go wrong.

Usually £1000 full sussers have RS Tora forks (XCR has RS Recon's which are better), Deore mech's (XCR has XT/deore) & quite often cable discs (XCR has hydraulics) (all specs based on the '07 version)

Top spec for minimum cash.

arrogantowl

Thanks for the Info.

I have seen that the bike has had some fantastic reviews, which is what prompted me to look into some more.

I guess by going on the 07 review the 08 versions should still be a fantastic bike. Like you said it has many componatnts that would not be on a bike at this price (am i trying to seell it to myself here? )

A freinds has just pointed me a Merida AM 500-D which apparantly i can get from Halfords (special order) thro' the cycle to work scheme. I have seen a few good reviews about this too.

Cheers
The Owl

Andy B

I'd go for the GT personally

arrogantowl

yer i think the GT looks nicer to, however im just concerned about the size issue. Guess i need to go and sit on one and take it for a spin in Halfords :?

Andy B

Yeah get sat on one, only way yo know for sure.

If they won't let you have a test ride, either in the shop, or in the car park tell them that you're gonna go to another branch & get it from there instead

heez29

bit of advice, go for the o7 one!

i work at halfords and the 08 one has juicy 3s everything else is the same. and more importantly its cheaper so u can buy extras!!!
only problem the idrives are weighty for xc but they feel quite nice rolling around.

arrogantowl

thats great advice :-)

Do you know how much the 07 is selling for :?:

I guess its going to be in limited supply right now? first come first serv basis?

Yea i guess the extra weight could be a drag on some of the 60mile XC slogs i do once in a blue moon, however the one in the shop did not feel "too" heavy; although you never realise until you start on a long accent.

heez29

809.99 i think bt been in work lately tho, broken collarbone :P

yeh but we have all sizes available i think.

u will only notice if you try out another bike. if you dont you'll be fine! just remember to get them to set up the front and rear sus to your weight, it dont come with a shock pump.

bailed out

I have the 20" frame and am very impressed with it the finish is superb and the front forks are amazing the wide bars take a while to get used to and i found for a while that i understeared a lot at first. The avid jucy brakes have good stopping power but are hard to get them set up without rubbing on the roters and have a large amount of fade on long desents (i lost a lot of breaking power by the time i got down scolty hill in banchory but two minutes later after a rest they were fine again). The gears are superb and the rims take a good pounding as well as the sturdy frame. There have been some complaints about the rear shock spiking but trust me if u set it up right this does not happen it just takes some time to get the sag and rebound set up just right. As for the 18" frame i dont thik that for you it will be a problem once the sag is set it should feel ust right i'm only 6 foot 1 and i find the 20" frame a good fit. Overalll thiis bike is great and now the price has been cut you could spend the extra £200 on some new brakes such as the avid jucy carbons. Any questions just ask

Aspect_Addict

Shame it's Halfords you have to buy from. However, the Voodoo's don't look all that bad.

peddlefaster

hi
i work for halfords i dont know if you got a bike yet but the 08 banshee XXX is £889.99 atm we have £100 off and we can then take a ferther 10% off that to £809.99 then that gives you 200 left to spend

has avid code 5
Rock Shox Monarch 3.1 Air shock
Rock Shox Domain 318 160mm
27speed, SRAM X7 front mech, X9 rear mech, and X7 shifters
SUN Single Track SL 1 rims with eyelets on Shimano Deore QR rear, Formula 20mm front hub

tony30uk

bloke on ebay offered me the carrera banshee xxx on sunday brand new for £400 collection only from worcester
think hes relisted it but he was prepared to let it go for £400 cash
might be worth looking at
new listing item number 280288172677
dont forget he was going to take £400 cash which is a superb bargain as there £900 in halfords

supersonic

The banshee would be better for DH. But is it DH you will be doing all the time? 10 ft drops and stuff?

canada16

I was going to get the Gt from CTW scheme but got a Focus super bud, but dont think they have your size, and also its just above 1000.00, I got it when it came out and it was 995.95 pre-order.

The other bikes I was looking at were:

Giant trance 3
spech comp xcr Ithink that was the make.

But you wont go wrong with the gt.

If weight is your think go for the Giant as its been highly highly recommended.

Steve_F

Halfords can get in most bikes so you're not limited to their range.

I chose the previous version of the Banshee X over the 07 I-drive. There were a few reviews that it wasn't as good for the UK trails as somewhere hot and dry. And I had noticed too that they downgraded the 08 model.

If I was buying a Halfords bike again it would be between the Banshee XXX and the Boardman full sus.

The 09 full sus Boardman ones are coming out very soon and the spec looks awesome for the cash - you may have to ask them about this, not sure the info is out yet. See what they say then wait a few weeks and get one of the first ones.

supersonic

The Banshee XXX and Boadman full susser are completely different types of bike though.

Steve_F

No argument there about the being completely different bikes.

The Banshee will beat the Boardman down every time and the Boardman will get up first.

For the OP the Boardman sounds like the better choice but I would be considering both if I had a £1k c2w voucher in my hand, that and the fact someone had mentioned the XXX was why I mentioned them both,

BlackSpur

I woukd say that the Boardman would thrash the Banshee on the ups, assuming that the suspension system is efficient.

Steve_F

BlackSpur wrote:

I woukd say that the Boardman would thrash the Banshee on the ups, assuming that the suspension system is efficient.

No doubt about it, the Banshee ain't a great climber by any means.