Newbie to forum, bike stolen...need to renew!!!

The Northern Monkey

First and foremost, Hey everyone!!
new to the forum, as you can guess but am a keen cyclist in need of some help from you guys...

Basically, my bike (Saracen Xess) got nicked by some thieving little bu**er about 3 weeks ago, it was locked twice on a proper bike stand thing, in the center of town, under a security camera.
I was gone less than an hour n they managed to get the thing unlocked and gone with no trace on the security camera or from the public.

Most annoying thing is that i'd had the bike for about 3 years, and had moved it down to my uni about a week before this happened!

However, on the bright side, when i got the bike, my Dad insured it for me under the
house insurance...old for new type thing.
But once again i've come across a problem. As the bike was bought at a halfords, the money i get back will be in the form of a "voucher" to redeem at the same shop. This has annoyed me quite a bit because i was starting to decide what bike i would be getting, that obviously, halfords dont sell/sell for twice as much.

The important bit:-
I've been offered £520 as a voucher for halfords (unable to change this to anywhere else because of the insurance) and have £150-£200 extra to spend.
So my choices for bike are a little limited.

Basically i want a bike thats gonna be versatile...ie, i enjoy almost every aspect of MTB.

My choices of bike are from the following, the only "premium bikes" as halfords call them, that they do..
Boardman
Kona
Voodoo
Saracen
GT
Carrera.

I had been looking at the saracen instinct 3 and the kona stuff, but am unsure what other models of bikes i could look into...any help would be brilliant! btw, i'm 6ft1" and pretty stocky lol.

Cheers for any help, and sorry its so long winded.
Ben

(Just realised i should have put this in the "MTB Buying Advice" section, if anybody can move this then feel free!! sorry guys!)

gk141054

I'm new to mtb'ing mate so no expert, but I wouldn't be too gutted with Halfords vouchers...

AFAIK they are the only place that sell Boardman which are top bikes, plus they sell GT and Carerra which are also quality bikes... I think you'll find a great bike for your budget, just make sure you check it over when you get it...

The Northern Monkey

aye, i'm not tooooo bothered...i mean, its better than nothing eh!!

its just i had my eyes set on a bike which i cant afford now unfortunatly

I've never really looked at the boardman bikes, haven't herd that much about them tbh....

abradsha

Ben

Halfords can actually supply most brands of bike. You need to see their "sold to order" catalogue, or ask and they can find out for you. They can get Specialized and Giant, as examples, although I have never seen either in their shops.

I suggest you tell them what you are looking for and see if they can supply it - chances are they can.

The Northern Monkey

abradsha - cheers for the heads up thats pretty kewl to know

deanvw

they sell good kona's

or ..

sell the voucher for cash and go anywhere,.

Thats what i did with my laptop when i spilt coffee. Only offered me PC world vouchers.
So that and bought a dell

browniebiker

i have a carrera banshee x which i can use on anything. i've had it for 1.5 years but now i want to upgrade to something more robust. i would reccommend one of them they are good and solid plus they have hydrualics and a decent fork.

the jap

Hi there i purchased the boardman comp mountain bike a few months back,for £599.and it is avery well specd for the price.The forks are rockshox recon that alone are £250 and rebound like an old citroen car very smooth.The brakes are Juicy 3s and Sram shifters i think are smoother shifting than the Shimano Deore ones on my Claud butler cape wrath.And the best bit is everybody wants a go on it when your out and about. It is also reasonably light and equipment wise should be more expensive test drive one at your nearest halfords that stock the boardman range and be suprised.