Hardtail for up to £1200..

lexiekay

Hello,
I offered to help my friend get a new bike, turns out despite me trying to persuade him otherwise he is adamant that he wants a hardtail not a full sus, and he has up to £1200 to spend. Any ideas? With that amount of money, would it be better to wait till the new ranges are out? Thanks

Chaka Ping

If your mate wants a hardtail, then the only reason to wait until more 2009 bikes come out would be so he can get a 2008 bike on the cheap.

Hardtails aren't going to dramatically improve in the way that some manufacturers full-sus bikes still do from year to year.

Do you have any idea what sort of riding he wants to do? And whether he favours a particular frame material?

lexiekay

Well, he wants to do general off-road riding round where he lives, he recently went mtbing in the Cairngorms, proper cross country where you take your tent with you. But I think he'd like to try some of the trail centres too.
He currently has a (pretty old) Marin, and test rode a Genesis something in Scotland, which I think was a steel frame. Other than that I think he's open to suggestions!

ride_whenever

Build a 456! hardcore and really good fun to ride. Also worth a look are the merlin hardtails if he wants something a bit less hardcore. The Marin hardtails are really good, but you'll struggle to find one.

Chaka Ping

Well it sounds like he could do with something that has a little more than 100mm travel on the fork, so I was going to suggest the Genesis that sells for around £1,200 (ask for some money off the 2008 now).

Or if he's willing to build the bike himself, this is a great price on a good steel frame...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=15508

One way to get that spec on budget would be to go and buy this bike from Merlin (getting them to upgrade the fork to a Rev dual air U-Turn and the rims to 719s)...

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=38

...then swap the bits over to the Cove. Exactly what I did (though I got my Rock Lobster on the bike to work scheme).

Of course if he only wants a 100mm fork, the Rock Lobsters are pretty hard to beat for value.

Surf-Matt

My Stumpy Comp HT was £1200 and is brilliant

Definitely quite "racey" though - not a hardcore jump bike but a brilliant lightweight XC machine that climbs like a goat.

Bikerbaboon

ride_whenever wrote:

Build a 456! hardcore and really good fun to ride. Also worth a look are the merlin hardtails if he wants something a bit less hardcore. The Marin hardtails are really good, but you'll struggle to find one.

+1 for the 456 ace bike.

rwalworth

the new marin eldridge grade is proper nice. You can get one here http://www.stonehengecycles.com/product ... dge_grade_

Chaka Ping

If your mate is small or medium, this is a very good deal...

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/ProductDeta ... egoryID/81

Surf-Matt

Would rather have SRAM stuff personally at that price bracket.
But that's only an opinion!

Scott Scale is another XC loon machine worth looking at.

ride_whenever

For trail riding, the marin worth looking at is the rocky ridge, fox 32's up front, it's a proper hooligan like the 456.

dirtbiker100

I've got a 456 and its awesome although its been relegated to a pub bike. certainly got my recommendation

lexiekay

hmm well i just went to the local bike shop, and had a look there, they sell Cube bikes and so I was looking at the Cube Reaction (for £1099), the Ltd Race (£829) and the Ltd Team (£749), all of which looked fairly good. Anyone know anything about these? Because i think it might be worth suggesting he get something from a local shop so he can test ride it and in case there are any problems...

toasty

Surf-Matt wrote:

My Stumpy Comp HT was £1200 and is brilliant

Definitely quite "racey" though - not a hardcore jump bike but a brilliant lightweight XC machine that climbs like a goat.

Indeed, they're really not keen on going airborne. Mine will be 6 when the 2009 stuff comes out, I stick slicks on it occasionally for commuting and general road riding then back to Nics + Ralphs at the weekends and often take it to the trails. I still lap faster than on my Meta with it (with a slightly smaller smile at the end though ).

If I wanted something a bit more rugged I think I'd get a 456 built up, probably with u-turn Revelations/Pikes. I know it's just a fashion thing but I can't help but like them. All this whining about steel being real, lasting forever, being more comfy etc is amusing though, given 10 years ago budget bikes were cromoly tubed and the top end bikes aluminum.

ride_whenever

I like how similar it looks to my pompino, apart from the pikes and gears!

Surf-Matt

Toasty wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

My Stumpy Comp HT was £1200 and is brilliant

Definitely quite "racey" though - not a hardcore jump bike but a brilliant lightweight XC machine that climbs like a goat.

Indeed, they're really not keen on going airborne. Mine will be 6 when the 2009 stuff comes out, I stick slicks on it occasionally for commuting and general road riding then back to Nics + Ralphs at the weekends and often take it to the trails. I still lap faster than on my Meta with it (with a slightly smaller smile at the end though ).

If I wanted something a bit more rugged I think I'd get a 456 built up, probably with u-turn Revelations/Pikes. I know it's just a fashion thing but I can't help but like them. All this whining about steel being real, lasting forever, being more comfy etc is amusing though, given 10 years ago budget bikes were cromoly tubed and the top end bikes aluminum.

My other Stumpy is an old school 10 year old steely with no shocksand V brakes! Still going strong, albeit mostly with upgraded bits.

If I wanted a more rugged bike, I'd get a Pace I reckon but I don't jump much, don't do loon downhilling and love lightweight racey bikes so it's spot on.

Eranu

I've got a CUBE Reaction, I really like it. It's light, climbs realy well and is good on the decents too. I rode alot of bikes in this price bracket and for me it was the best value. I'd certainly go try one.

richprag

ride_whenever wrote:

For trail riding, the marin worth looking at is the rocky ridge, fox 32's up front, it's a proper hooligan like the 456.

If he can find a Rocky Ridge 08 i will cry, that was the bike i was after and cycle surgery said Marin have sold out, 09 model will be £1125 i think rather than a grand.

JumperSimon14

Giant XTC Alliance - great frame technology on these http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bik ... 410/29688/

rwalworth

richprag wrote:

ride_whenever wrote:

For trail riding, the marin worth looking at is the rocky ridge, fox 32's up front, it's a proper hooligan like the 456.

If he can find a Rocky Ridge 08 i will cry, that was the bike i was after and cycle surgery said Marin have sold out, 09 model will be £1125 i think rather than a grand.

I think you get the rocky ridge for a grand, and the eldridge grade is the 1125 model. There is the new eldridge built in my local bikeshop and it is absolutely beautiful.

grantway

Take a look at the Orange Hardtails they are guaranteed to do
the business
Take a look ate the web site has there bikes have a gauge on what
the bikes are ment to be riden.

lee170

The on-one scandal is a beast of a bike ultra light and a whippet up the hills also looks awesome. Build it up how you want it.

kegs

second the scandal, fab frame for the money. depends on the type of riding, for fast wheels on the ground xc or trail riding, and will take anything from an 80mm to 130mm fork.

If you want something for tougher gnarlier riding a 456 or a summer season would be spot on.

Sikora

I don't think you could go far wrong with a Rockhopper Pro. 09 model is £1000 - leaves £200 for some biking clothes or accessories.