Good hard tail for £1000

SuperSimon12

I am thinking of replacing my 2007 Specialized FSR XC Comp with a hard tail.

I reckon the old one will fetch £300ish on ebay (it needs a rear shock service and a few other bits that will cost a couple of hundred) and i have the bike to work scheme so a brand new £1000 bike should be cost £600ish.

Tha majority of the biking is in apsley woods, a bit of trail, alot of XC and at this timeof year a fair bit of mud. Hoping to travel a bit round the UK this year and get some longer distance rides in.

It will have to be a brand new bike as the scheme is through Halfords and they don't do and deals on last years models.

Bascially I am working on the assumption that dropping out the cost of a rear shock means I should get a slightly better frame and other components. Also dropping the shock out might mean a slightly lighter bike.

Any recommendations on a good one to go for? Or keep with the Specialized?

explosifpete

on-one inbred nice steel bike and good in the mud see www.on-one.co.uk

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec016015

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yrn_106168

these are really nice and i've seen 07 bike for £400! in a 14" tho


http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yrn_124466

These are amazing value, really good parts but it is very racey

ride_whenever

merlin malt 4 or a rock lobster team tig either the sl or the 853

Nodnol

Orange P7

Chris5.5

One to have a look at is the Carrera Titan I think, just under a grand and a carbon frame. Someone on here has just got one and it looked lovely.

passout

Regarding the last post - I still distrust the Carrera/Halford name if I'm honest; otherwise all the above suggestions are good.

In Bred will give you one of their new TI 456 frames on the scheme even though it's designed for complete bikes (I've heard). That would be my top choice.

Otherwise a steel 456 would be good. Another hardcore option would be the Saracen Zen. Charge make some good all rounders.

But the Genesis range (Altitude especially) would be my top choice for complete bikes.

SuperSimon12

I have to admit i like the Carrera carbon, i had no idea I could get a carbon for that price.

My old Carrera Kraken was used for 4 years without so much as a clean, let alone service and worked fine. I When i got the speccy I did look down on the Carrera make, but £1k for carbon is tempting.

I cannot find any reviews, anyone got any feedback on it?

johnsav

i have the carrera carbon

cant see how someone can doubt a bike just through a name. The frame is made by merida and components are what you see is what you get.

i tested a few other bikes and this was the nicest - hence ownership!
Anything specific youd like to know?

SuperSimon12

No real sense in me being snobby about the name.

Thanks for the reply and I have a few questions if you dont mind?

How long have you had the bike?
What kind of riding do you use it for most?
What is the best bit about the bike?
What is the worst bit about the bike?

Thanks. I am going to be down at Halford this weekend seeing if they have one in stock anywhere I can have a look at.

johnsav wrote:

i have the carrera carbon

cant see how someone can doubt a bike just through a name. The frame is made by merida and components are what you see is what you get.

i tested a few other bikes and this was the nicest - hence ownership!
Anything specific youd like to know?

johnsav

i got mine from bikehut - same thing though really. I think bikehut have a slightly better reputation that halfords for putting the bikes together. They did a good job on mine anyway.

Ermm, i got the bike about 8 weeks ago to replace my GT XC1, i use it mainly for riding to work with. I ditched the standard tyres and "hybridized" it with some semi slicks. Feels good on the road and isnt as slow as people would think.

Ive had it up on the south downs a few times when the weather permits! Albeit with off road tyres though.

I really cant complain about any aspect of the bike to be fair - i would if i could though!
The gears are a joy to use, so much better than shimano in my opinion. The forks took a few rides to smooth up but they are nice now. Brakes are great once bedded in, no complaints there either.

Some pictures here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12582854

Only thing i dont like is the bold branding of the truvative components - but thats being ultra picky.
Hope that helps anyway!

explosifpete

I would get the kona kula then with the change you could get some good lights (winter is comming) and go out for a nice meal to keep any wife/girlfiend/mum happy

its a good fun bike that you could ride most anywhere and there are some really good deal about

passout

The above advice is sound - you can get lights on the scheme and a good set do make a big difference.

Just to clarify what I said earlier, it's Halfords (the lack of expertise etc) that would be the main thing to put me off the Carerra. The bike itself may well be fine - I don't know. Nevertheless I've been MTBing a long time and have come to trust certain brands eg Easton,Specialised, Shimano, Endura, Lupine, Rock Shox etc. This isn't one of those brands - not so much a criticism, more a question mark.

Anyway I'd be careful about choosing Carbon. I wouldn't trust that particular frame material either - at least not if you are going to give it some proper off road hammer. It's nice on my road bike but I don't crash it very often! Depends what terrain you ride I guess.

An attractive bike though!

SMITHY D

If you want a decent hardtail, go to your local bike shop and talk to them, tell them how much you want to spend, what components you want etc etc. You will probably get a free service within six months - job done!! Do yourself a favour, don't got to Halfords, they talk crap and no sod all about MTBs!

Sorry to be so negative, but the local bike shop is the way to go

Smithy

johnsav

^ i agree about being careful...
To be fair i wouldnt have bought a carbon bike if i was only riding agressive off road. That said, im sure they all have to meet certain standards of strength and safety?

SuperSimon12

I do mainly XC biking on trails and in the woods and I fall off a bit but I don't do jumps or anything aggressive so hopefully if I get the carbon I can avoid anything that will break it. I am 30+ year old accountant so it will probably go nowhere near its limits

As for the advice about saving some money for lights I am lucky enough to have Lupine Nightmare pro and some CAT eye abs 10.

johnsav wrote:

^ i agree about being careful...
To be fair i wouldnt have bought a carbon bike if i was only riding agressive off road. That said, im sure they all have to meet certain standards of strength and safety?

soy_sauce

one of my workmate has a Boardman MTB PRO and it is really good value for the money. the 2009 model is out within a month time and from what the guys from Halfords said, the 09 model will be the same price and there would be no changes with the components.