Best sub-£750 hardtail for a fat bloke?

herbivore123

This is a very helpful forum, so I would appreciate some specific advice from all you knowledgeable people please.

I'm 6'3", 18st and am looking for new hardtail for general commuting and weekend pleasures. Maximum budget is £750 all in, which should give you an idea of the level I ride at, and it's probably not going to rise above that level in future, so upgradeability isn't really an issue.

What I do want, however, is something that is going to last the distance. This doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the best on offer, but I'm fed up with bits breaking on my current (Carerra) bike. My point is, the “best” for an “average” person is not necessarily the best for a big bloke like me and a super lightweight frame is no good to me if it’s going to break after a couple of months.

So, I've been through the forum, read the reviews and magazines and come up with a shortlist consisting of:

GT Avalanche 1.0 £500
Merlin Malt 1-08 £585
Specialized Rockhopper £600
Trek 6700 £700
Merlin Malt 4-08 £750

What do you all think? I appreciate the Malt4 is probably the better bike on paper, but is it still up to carrying my fat @rse around town and is the premium in price (i.e. 50% premium over the GT Avalanche) really worth it? I’m not opposed to paying £250 quid extra, but if both bikes are going to need a major overhaul with replacements every two years, I might as well go for the GT.

That said, I particularly like the idea of the remote lockout on the Merlin bikes given the nature of my commute. Is there something similar available for the Suntour forks do you know? I haven’t been able to find anything…

Many thanks is advance.

Herby

BlackSpur

The Malt 4 is well worth the extra cash, provided you like it when you sit on it (the most important thing!) I don't think there is a remote lockout available for Suntours, but is it really that hard just to reach down and flick the switch?

papasmurf.

so what type of riding do you do at the weekends?

kit still wears out and breaks if you're light. The Malts are always good on paper and recommended by owners. Sos the GT but you may have difficulty finding any at the mo

supersonic

May also want to look at the GT Aggressor XCR from Halfords at 750. Uses the same Avalanche frame (which is tough), but with much better components.

If you have the budget, spend it - better than upgrading later.

BlackSpur

Could also look at the Avalanche Expert
https://sslrelay.com/s96379727.oneandoneshop.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessionid=154831ac4f4117d/shopdata/?main_url=go.shopscript%3Fa%3Daval.exp.07

herbivore123

Thanks for the advice received so far. I’ve narrowed it down to the final two then:

1. GT Avalanche 1.0 2008 £500, incl delivery. General opinion seems to be: good frame, okay fork and okay components?
OR
2. Merlin Malt 1 2008 £615, incl delivery (Stretching the budget to its absolute maximum and foregoing Friday lunchtime beers for a few weeks). Good fork, good components, but only an okay frame?

Over the long term, I wouldn’t be able to upgrade the components on the GT for anything like what it would cost to buy the Malt now, so the Malt should be the better value for money option. But if the frame is not up to the job, buying the Malt now is a false economy.

How bad are the GT components versus how bad is the Malt frame?

Sorry if I’m being pedantic and hyper critical, but don’t want to make the same mistake as I did last time and my LBS (Halfords or equivalent) don’t seem particularly keen to discuss anything other than their sale options.

So what would you choose? Appreciate your help.
Herby.

jeffers696

i would strech for the merlin, as every body raves about them on here, so it must be a sweet ride

zeropoint

You do really need to test ride bikes.

The GT Aggressor XR1 or whatever it is, is the Halfords version of the 1.0, and it has a very good spec (better than standard Ava 1.0).

You may want to consider the Specialised Rockhopper Disk, that's £600, good set of bits and an excellent M4 frame.

supersonic

As above, trying them out is worth doing.

Merlin is good value, but the MALT one is the most basic frame of the lot. The 4 is very light, not sure the best option at your weight.

rossarran

I run an outward bound centre and we have afleet of Merlin Malt 1s generally pretty tough, however, i think they are 7005 allu and at my 14 stone ive find it flex's at wee bit. If the GT is 6061 allu, I beleive this is a more rigid compund.
should b a bit more responsive.

supersonic

All aluminium is the same stiffness - its the tubing profile and size that makes the difference. But you are right that the GT is stiffer, as is a burlier frame. 7005 actually also has a slightly higher tensile strength.

The MALT1 I had, or my ex did, was a 2004 model. It was a bit rough around the edges, with a pretty weak looking join from the chainstays to the bottom bracket. No gussetts either, and not even butted. I think the newer one is improved.

meanwhile

If you have to buy a bike without test riding it, then at 18st your priority should be a tough frame - assuming you are going to ride offroad. Don't buy one that's been aggressively lightened for racing; do buy one from a company with a good record on durability. In your shoes the last thing I'd do is compare bikes on equipment level - the bike with the best equipment at fixed price level will often be the one where the frame was the lowest priority.

I'm told that Cotic make exceptionally tough frames; you might want to price a BFE or Soul. I'd also look hard at the Specialized, because as a brand they have a good reputation for toughness, and Americans are huge and S'd sell in big numbers - so it's likely that the frame has been designed and ridden by some of your fellow giants. The more boutique and esoteric a bike is, the more I'd want to know about it in your shoes, because the more likely it will be to have been designed for speed at the expense of lifespan and friendliness to your sort of weight - Kona are very frank about this in a discussion of their cross frames here:

http://www.konaworld.com/owners%5Farea/ ... major+jake

meanwhile

Oh - and you might want to look at a Surly Karate Monkey, too. It's a 29 incher MTB, which might suit your height much better. Surly have an excellent reputation for building tough frames, the bike is designed for toughness and versatility - offroad, commute, fixed, touring - and again it's American, so your height/weight combo is much likely to have been considered.

http://www.surlybikes.com/karatemonkey.html

I noticed the fanatic who runs Hubjub (the cult fixed gear offroad supplier) has built himself a KM recently, which is probably as good a recommendation as you can get. You'd also score maximum Cool Points for having a rare frame (on this side of the Water) while possibly the bike would be a bit less attractive to bike thieves. You won't be able to test ride a KM, but if you are going offroad, a bike that can hang together under your weight should be your first priority, and this can't be test ridden for. Unless they let you have the bike for 10,000 mile of offroad testing.

Finally, if the bike is for a commute then don't forget the Bike To Work scheme - you should be able to get 50% of your cash back on the bike and riding gear (lights, helmet, waterproofs, etc.) Bicycle Doctor in Manchester build Surlys and help out with the paperwork, I believe.

Splasher

No offense, herbivore123, but your post seems really defeatest to me. Indulge me a minute, but it reads like you think you need a special bike because of your weight, and that because of your weight your riding is only at a certain level and will never go any further.

Any mountain bike frame will cope with 18 stone for commuting and light XC. But you need to go to a shop and try some and you'll know which one is the right one because it'll make you want to go riding. Then get out and get some miles in.

herbivore123

I'm not being defeatest at all. I have however spent most of my life struggling to get anything to fit me, from socks to cars, and am perfectly happy to acknowledge this, but I just want the benefit of other peoples experiences before committing. The whole point is that I don't know if I do need a special bike or not, and lbs is rubbish, so responses from the likes of supersonic, meanwhile, blackspur and rossarran are exactly what I was after.

Living down south means a trip to Merlin is out of the question I'm afraid,but I will certainly tbe testing those that I can get access to.

Thanks for all your helpful responses, shan't bother you any more.
Cheers
Herby

Ryan Jones

If it were i'd look at a hardcore hardtail such as the Saracen Zen series or the Marin B-17 or even Mongoose Amasa's. These bikes all have beefier frames and longer travel forks than those and the components are toughened too. They all have larger sizes and the frames are meant for extreme playtime, just get the forks resprung to your weight as they won't be sprung for 18 stone. Trust me the difference between one of those and a Malt or Avalanche will be immense, but as before try before you buy.

Splasher

herbivore123 wrote:

I'm not being defeatest at all. I have however spent most of my life struggling to get anything to fit me, from socks to cars, and am perfectly happy to acknowledge this, but I just want the benefit of other peoples experiences before committing. The whole point is that I don't know if I do need a special bike or not, and lbs is rubbish, so responses from the likes of supersonic, meanwhile, blackspur and rossarran are exactly what I was after.

Living down south means a trip to Merlin is out of the question I'm afraid,but I will certainly tbe testing those that I can get access to.

Thanks for all your helpful responses, shan't bother you any more.
Cheers
Herby

Herby,

You talk as if you're huge. I'm 6'3" and have been as heavy as 19 stone 2 when I was power-lifting. I have size 13/48 feet. You are not that big. I ride a large frame, not even an XL. Go out, get a bike, relax and enjoy. This time next year you'll be asking what full suss you need for the Alps

meanwhile

Well, that sounds like reassuring info from Splasher! I'd still say that a 29er makes a lot of sense for larger rider - they may actually be better for even average size riders offroad, but for a tall rider who needs a dual purpose bike that's going to be ridden mostly on the road I'd say they should go to the top of the shopping list.

BlackSpur

If and when On-One get them back in stock, you could try getting one of these frames and building it up.

http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Slot_Dropout_Inbred_29er_29.html

It should be plenty strong enough, and the website says you can run SS or gears (I am assuming you want gears). They also do complete bikes, but on the 29 frame only SS builds are available. If you want gears you could try e-mailing the guys at On-One and seeing what they can do - I have heard that they are quite accomodating.

The frame could be built up with this groupset

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=293&categoryId=83

and this fork

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=1070&categoryId=18

with a few quid left for the other parts. I reckon it would come in at a smidge over your budget, or bang on if you got your finishing kit parts on eBay 2nd hand. This groupset could be used to lower the cost.

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=14&categoryId=83

This way you'd get a great bike and you'd learn a lot from putting it all together. This may not be the best option for you, I'm just showing how you could do it.

900R

herbivore123

Hi If it's of any help to you i'm 17 Stone 6'1" and will be buying a GT Avalanche 1.0 2008 next week (Payday ! ) the only thing i would stress is try for size before you buy. Evans have these bikes in stock.

nathanst170

hi herbivore im 18/19 stone + cammel back
try to find a local inderpendant bike store as they will generalley(?)
be more helpfull than the saturday brain dead halfords staff
and also take it from me no componets will last for ever
i spent £1100 on a hardtail and bar for the forks basically everythink has had to be upgraded and this includes the frame(under warrenty)
if buget will allow try to get a frame with a lifetime warrenty for peace of mind