Votes please for best hardtail under £1000?

DjSki

Hi,

I am looking to replace my aging Cannondale to ignite my love of the sport again for summer.

Looking for the best quality hardtail I can get for the money, so far tempted by the Merlin Malt 4 and Rock Lobster Tig which can both be had with a good fork and full XT for under the £1k. Would like something thats not too harsh.

Can anyone recommend anything else, I want something light , comfortableish and reliable that climbs easily. I will be doing mostly single track with no 6 foot drop offs! I am 11.5 stone.

All recommendations welcome. Not interested in Cannondale they seem overpriced. Like Orange but spec on them isn't great for the money.

Cheers!

ride_whenever

Rock lobster tig 853, with hope brakes, hubs and black wheels.

Top steel bike and really comfy.

The Spiderman

How about this for a suggestion? :idea:

On One Scandal frame £250
Full XT groupset from On One £325
Reba SL forks £200 from Merlin
Pair of Crossride wheels £110 from Merlin or Chain reaction
On One stem £20
FSA Carbon bars £40 from Merlin
seatpost £30
Charge Spoon saddle £20
Headset £25 CRC or On One
Panaracer tyres 2 for£40 Merlin

Total £1060


So you get a nice light scandium frame,(Best sub 1k hardtail according to WMB)full XT chainset,brakes,mechs,etc,lightish wheels and finishing kit,with a decent fork,and all the satisfaction that comes with building it up yourself.Would probably be sub 24lb,fully built too.

From what I have read,the Scandal is fairly compliant too,and has plenty of room for larger volume tryres if you want to tame it further.

You might even be able to reuse some bits from your current steed,if you want to keep within budget.

With some tweaking of my suggestions,you could end up with something unique,and with a spec to suit you.

Probably not as cheap this way,but a lot more fun!

ride_whenever

That's good spider, but i'd try and squeeze in hand built merlin wheels, maybe through the merlin xt groupset with 717 on xt hubs.

The Spiderman

ride_whenever wrote:

That's good spider, but i'd try and squeeze in hand built merlin wheels, maybe through the merlin xt groupset with 717 on xt hubs.

Good point. £490 for the new full XT groupset with the new xt m770 hubs on 717s,from Merlin at present.I have the older XT hubs on 717s myself.

Or you could get an LX groupset,with handbuilt LX hubs and 717s all in for £325.
The LX isn`t going to be much heavier,you still get the hollowtech chainset,too which is very similar to the previous M760 XT,even if the shifters and mechs aren`t quite as good.

Using LX would make it doable for around £900 or so.Plenty of food for thought there.

(I`m currently contemplating swapping all my kit over to a Scandal.)

ride_whenever

It's less than that i think because they have 5% off at the moment!

mugwuffin

Help !!!!

On a similar subject....

I have just been to Merlin and ordered a Tig Team Sl 19" for £910.00 (went for the black spokes and rims of course) 10 - 14 days build time... so got home very excited and logged onto their website for another look at my new steed when i noticed this ..........

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=100

I'm a bit miffed now.... they did'nt have this bike on display in the shop, and did'nt mention it was available (i think its only just been released today) - What do i do now??? - For an extra £65 do i ring them tomorrow and upgrade the order to include the Fox Forks and Race Face Evolve Chainset?? - Is it worth the extra? - I understand Fox forks RRP is around £500???

Also im confused with the "08 Fox 32 F100 RC" Does this fork exist or is it a typo? - The fox website only lists "RLC" - "RL" or "R" models.. is there such thing as an RC??

The Spiderman

I`d upgrade.£65 is a small price for Fox forks which normally cost £500 alone.They come out top in this month`s WMB fork test too.

Forget my Scandal self build,buy that!

mugwuffin

Cheers... i'll be on the phone to them first thing tomorrow....

Sorry about 2 posts with the smae questions as well everyone....

DjSki

Thanks ,

Think I will go for the special edition Rock Lobster then, will pop up to Merlin tomoorow to try it for size.

Cheers

mugwuffin

they are on 10>14 day lead time for orders DJ Ski.... i went for the same one on a 19" frame.. just counting dow the days now....

They didnt have any Special ed Tig Teams on display, but have a good range of frame sizes in standard Tig Team to try.. it took me a while to setlte on the 19" but its the right size for me (im 5' 11" with 33" inside leg)

I have been well pleased with the service from Merlin so far.

scottalej

Mugwuffin, did you try the 21" frame as well? I'm the same height as you and have just built up my 19" Tig Team SL but find the top tube a little shorter than I'm used to. What length of stem are you using?
Very nice bike though. I've been riding up the hills in higher gears than usual and it can take the hits on the way down better than any aluminium bike I've ridden. So much better than my previous M4 Stumpy.

curlyrobert

Try a focus from wiggle. much better than the own brand merlin, I don't know why everyone is s o positive about them, there is only one merlin brand and they have been a leading Ti specialist for years, I would be embarrassed to own one!

The focus is German made, strong, climbs well and is heavily overspecced as they do not yet have years on the market, they are awesome bikes. For £900 the Killer Bee has full XT.
But extend your budget to 1200 and the raven is a mean bit of kit.

but its your choice!

whatever you buy - use as much as you can and enjoy

supersonic

Merlin frames are made by Kinesis! They are fantastic frames, and the MALT 4 is very light - just look at the reviews of this bike. They also outspec the Focus for the money.

donnie murdo

Curlyrobert wrote:
"The focus is German made"
I dont think they are made in Germany at all to be honest but I could be wrong possibly assembled but not built.
Still, Focus do make very nice bikes and at a very competitive price.

"there is only one merlin brand and they have been a leading Ti specialist for years"

Not true! and this statement unfortunately says more about what you know about Mountain Biking than the credibility of Merlin Cycles.

Merlin Cycles of Lancashire make excedingly good bikes. The Merlin Malt4 which is has a Kenisium frame built by Kinesis has been heaped with good reviews and praise and is a very good bike for the money. Merlin also build the equally good Rock Lobster bikes under license. Merlin are also noted for being one of the best wheel builders in the UK. As they are a registered bike manufacturer they are able to offer great deals on all sorts of bike parts too.

A hardtail under £1K

My Vote:

Merlin Malt4
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=39

On-One Scandal or Inbred
http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/M ... bikes.html

Charge Duster Hi
http://www.chargebikes.com/home/

BlackSpur

Perhaps he was talking about this Merlin bikes?

http://www.merlinbike.com/

mugwuffin

SCOTTALEJ,

Yeah apparently the effective top tube length does come up quite short compared to some bikes, Supersonic also commented on the short reach on another thread when the measurements were on display... i have a 100mm stem fitted BTW

The short reach was the first thing i noticed when i tested, hence why it took me 2 visits and weeks of indecision to settle on the 19", but i'm glad i did now... felt a bit funny at first, but now im used to the bike its awesome.... just got back from an after work blast and got my first battle scars, 2x bent spokes and the lovely powder coated finish scratched off my left hand chainstay

Ride_whenever …. As requested… photos.. (when it was still a virgin - minus pedals)

http://mugwuffin.pinkbike.com/album/Roc ... d-Edition/

ride_whenever

Nice, but I'd get the forks re-sprayed, uber-stealth look!

scottalej

Mugwuffin
Re 'i have a 100mm stem fitted BTW '
Thanks for that. I've fitted a Bonty x-lite 105mm I had lying around and that feels about right. I have 2006 Float Rl forks on it at the moment, they're light but after riding some of Rockshox latest offerings on other bikes these are grim. Even a Recon feels better.

dunker

nice bike mugwuffin hey no fair you got a merlin chainstay protecter i wont one! heh. came off mine the other day too, on first inspection looked like i got away without any bike scars. but alas once home i noticed two chips in my front rim and scratches on my new xt crank pah! oh well it is a mountain bike

hoathy

curlyrobert wrote:

Try a focus from wiggle. much better than the own brand merlin, I don't know why everyone is s o positive about them, there is only one merlin brand and they have been a leading Ti specialist for years, I would be embarrassed to own one!

The focus is German made, strong, climbs well and is heavily overspecced as they do not yet have years on the market, they are awesome bikes. For £900 the Killer Bee has full XT.
But extend your budget to 1200 and the raven is a mean bit of kit.

but its your choice!

whatever you buy - use as much as you can and enjoy

Focus frames look cheap!
Also, i think all the suggestions were about Rock Lobsters, not merlins!

dunker

in that case i'll suggest a Merlin then, Malt4 with full 08 xt kit running xm719 rims.

ar'nt all these frames bar a few very pricey homegrowns all welded up in some massive taiwanese industrial estate anyway just with different tubes?