Buying a hardtail

bonyjoe

I have been thinking of getting into biking and thoght for my money a hardtail would be best to go for.

I work at my local halfords store so can get any bike they can order in at 15% off so it would be preferable for me to do that.

My budget is £500 and the bike will be used for biking to sixth form/work and also to do some good trails in my area (lake district). I would prefer a bike with hydraulic disc brakes and lock out suspension.

So far these are the bikes I have been considering:

Carrera Fury - £500 - Working at halfords though I have learned that a lot of the exclusive to halfords things and halfords own products are usually bad. So I am a little bit anxious about buying a carrera :roll:

Claud Butler Cape Wrath D27 - £499 - Looks good and have read good reviews, I've been told that the forks aren't amazing though.

Kona Blast Deluxe - £565 - Looks good and also has good reviews plus can be ordered in at halfords so would be able to get discount.

What do you think is the best? Any suggestions on other bikes? Also any common problems with any of these bikes?

Take pity on me the only other bike I've had was a crappy mongoose motivator bmx so I don't know much.

I have read through the what bike thread, before anyone tells me to read it lol.

Thanks in advance

supersonic

Some more options in the What Bike thead.

Nothing wrong at all with the Carreras, Merida make the frames, top components - Halfords simply design it, not make it. Be best to try a few out if you can.

BlackSpur

The Fury will give you best value for money. I would also consider a GT Avalanche 1.0 or the Aggressor XC1.

bonyjoe

I have been thinking about the GT Aggressor XC1 as they have one on the shop floor and one of the employees that I know has a lot of knowledge in mtbs recommended it when I told him how much I'm willing to spend. It also has the little trigger to lockout the suspension without having to lean down which seems like a good feature.

I will try out the fury and the aggressor when I get the money.

When do the new models tend to come out?

BlackSpur

Depends on the manufacturer, but September seems to be the general time. Beware that 2009 bikes are going to be more expensive than 2008 equivalents.

bonyjoe

I was just thinking that once the 2009 models come out the 2008 are going to be getting discounted. I'll see when it comes to that time because it will be around that time that i will have enough money for the bike.

I think I might stop considering the carrera fury now, after reading reviews it seems they have bad workmanship and tend to need repairing on a lot of components. I will ask in halfords how many they have gotten back for repair before and how much needed repairing though.

I will have a reread of the what bike thread and rethink my options.

I have also been told by a friend that works at my local bike shop that it would be a good idea to buy parts seperately and get someone to put them together and I could get better components for my money. Would that be a good idea?

BlackSpur

The 2008 models are apparently not going to be discounted very much, if at all, as they will already be cheaper than the 2009 models. I would not discount the Fury - it really is a great bike. The components are going to be similar to those used on all the other bikes on the market - the only thing individual to the Fury is the frame and that is meant to be very good.

It is almost certainly a lot more expensive to build your own bike than buy one off the shelf.

bonyjoe

Well I get 15% discount anyway so it won't matter that much whether they get discounted or not I suppose.

Well I will have a test of the fury one day and see how it is. It is mostly the buyer reviews on this site that say things tend to break rather quickly. I will make sure it is thoroughly checked over before I buy it.

Well if thats correct then I'm going to have to slap my mate next time I see him

Thanks for yor help

batch78

Slap your mate, test all of them, buy whichever feels best. In that order.

He's right in saying a bike specced by yourself will be better, but not on a like for like budget, I can't see the components on the Carrera being any worse than on the others, unless oem parts for Halfords are made to a much tighter budget, personally I'd waiver towards the GT though but thats just personal preferance.