Help needed for MTB newbie

andyhart21

Hi guys, I would really appreciate your expert advice on which bike to buy. I haven't been on a bike for 15 years so obviously technology has moved on considerably since then! I am looking for a fixed tail bike that costs no more than £450. It will mostly be used on trails and roads with very occaisional light off-road use. I have been into my local cycle shop today (J E James in Chesterfield) and looked at a few, but to be honest I am more confused now than before I went in. The bikes I looked at were an '07 Kona Cinder Cone, an '08 Felt Q720, an '08 Trek 6000 and finally an '08 GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc. All the bikes seemed to have their good points and bad points, but what are the general opinions on these? Should I just see which one feels nicest?

Cheers, Andy :?

kegs

The GT avalanche is very highly rated, but try them and pick the one you like riding the most, those are all good bikes.

Remember to budget for a few sundiries, like a decent helmet and pump,etc

Rich Hcp

I'd second that

andyhart21

Pretty much everywhere I have looked at on the net seems to favour the '08 GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc, but that was the only one that the guy in J E James didn't seem to favour - personal opinion I suppose.

Yukon Lad

just try it, see which one you think handles best. Don't know where you are but if you are near Rutland Cycling has trails near and lets you hire bikes to try it out, think other people may do this but more people tend to just let you ride it on the yard outside.

Just try it and see what you like best, also if you spend £485 or abouts you'll get the option of a kona blast which got 10/10 in mbr's dirty dozen test for starters bikes.

When you get to £500 you get dart 2's or 3's and spesh rockhoppers have rock shox tora which are better and what are the norm on £800+ but only has v-brakes.

For £500 you get better damped forks with lockout and hydraulic disc brakes

Hope that helps, Yukon Lad

P.S the Kona and the GT get rave reviews so have a look at them and see which one you like but also try the others cos its all a matter of opinion

ride_whenever

If you get a bike with v-brakes (which is fairly sensible as that leaves more budget for better forks and frame) then check that it is disc compatable, makes for easy future upgrading!

andyhart21

Thanks for the advice guys, I will let you know what I decide on