WHAT hardtail 2009?

Trojanic · January 2009

Looking to get back into biking once again by riding to work and hitting the hills at any time possible, but I haven't ridden for around 3 years now and that was a BMX.

I've managed to find a Specialized Hardrock Pro Disc 2009 for £450 with an option to pay £75 over 6 months. I think its a good offer but not sure I want to splashing out nearly £500 for my first bike in a few years.

Whytepeak · January 2009

Whyte's redesigned trail hardtais look worthy of admiration.

124g · February 2009

I have been rather fortunate to have been out for a days thrashing on the 09 Carrera Titan, I was absolutely smitten, prior to this I had decided following the demise of my dawes fs team, that I would buy another full sus bike.

The titan handles beautifully it's so quick off the mark and it climbs like a mountain goat, the carbon frame had a quality to it I was not expecting, it was certainly not a harsh ride and felt wonderful, and most importantly FUN, my son who rides a Kona Dawg 08 also loved it. at one point duirng the ride he muttered he would have to buy one!

The finishing kit has to be some of the best out there and performed faultlessly. The last hard tail I purchased and still own was the Carrera Zelos, it has served me well for the last 7-8 yrs and is still used at the mo until my new bike arrives. Comparing the two, the Titan was the better bike, its ride felt less jarring, it seemed to glide over the gnarly stuff with ease.

When I returned the Titan to its rightful owner I told him he'd created a major problem for me, as having ridden the bike I now faced the unenviable task of choosing between the boardman and the Titan, his only retort was to laugh at my dilemma, adding I should just buy the Titan...

The Boardman is due next week, the downside is I cannot thrash it where it belongs and have to judge it around the store...

The flip side to this, is of course whichever I plump for is going to be superb, and moreover will last for a few years to boot, I will post again once I part with my money.

On another point I noticed there seems to be a real downer with Halfords, I can only judge on my experience and to date it has been excellent. I have never felt the service I have been offered has been dependant on my spend, the bikes I have purchased from them have been and continue to be excellent value for money.

Prior to choosing to go for the aforementioned bikes I contacted the dealer my son recently purchased his Kona Dawg from ( a well known, local and large retailer of mountain bikes etc. ) I asked what price they could do for the remaining 08 Dawg, this was 5-7 wks ago and I am still waiting for his phone call!! The point I make is that even "proper" mtn bike shops can offer appalling service and complete lack of customer focus, my local Halfords will be the beneficiary of their indifference, they may in their defence feel that £900 + is too small a sum to bother about hence my lack of telephone contact, watch this space....

ro63rt · February 2009

Just got myself the 09 Rocky Ridge & love it!!!! They were coming through with Fox Float R QR15, but I really wanted the Vanillas on it as the spec said. When I spoke to the bike shop they kindly rang Marin to see what was happening & they said that the Decembers delivery was coming with Vanillas on. When I turned up at the shop to pick it up they was Vanilla RLC's on it. They said because I had waited so long that they didn't want to lose my custom so they changed the forks for free. I also wanted Shimano XT M775's rather than the stated Hayes Stroker Trail, as I've heard they're quite a weak brake & they up-graded them for free to. I love the bike, it jumps, descends & makes you just want to be a hooligan on it. I think tho I'm going to swap the wheel set next to Hope Pro II & Swiss DT 5.1 Rims. But thats about it till components start wearing out.

So if anyone is in the market for an aggressive hardtail take a look at this years Rocky Ridge, the spec is outstanding for the price of the bike. Just add up the cost of the Forks, Brakes, Crankset & R/Mech & thats nearly the price of the bike. Ok £1100 is a lot to pay for a hardtail but it's cheaper than a custom build like a Cove Stifee FR or Santa Cruz Chamelion.

HardrockRob · February 2009

Trojanic wrote:

I've managed to find a Specialized Hardrock Pro Disc 2009 for £450 with an option to pay £75 over 6 months. I think its a good offer but not sure I want to splashing out nearly £500 for my first bike in a few years.

Hi. This is my first post - thought I would just say that I recently got myself the Spesh Hardrock Pro Disc 2009 for a few quid less than that...like you I was unsure about spending that much, and talked myself into it. I wanted to get back into cycling but did not want to spend a massive amount on a bike until I knew what I really wanted it for and how much I would use it. It is IMHO a brilliant bike, and with the hydaulic brakes, quite good at stopping! Go for it!

The Spiderman · February 2009

Merlins not as good value now.Basic Malt 1 is £600 and has been down specced.
Malt 4 is £800 but only has Deore groupset and Tora forks.

brettwambach · February 2009

Hi there,

What you think of the GT Zaskar Expert Disk 2007, "old" new going for just under 700 quid. Worth it?

Regards
Brett

supersonic · February 2009

Great budget XC race bike. Nice frame, but is quite long and steep.

robbie7 · February 2009

I have just bought myself a 2009 Cube LTD Team, fantastic spec for the money, and a great ride.

neil2do · February 2009

hi
am new here and fairly new to upto date mtb,ing. use to do a fair bit years ago and have been riding around on an off but nothing regular.
now i am out of work thought i would make the most out of it and start mtb,ing
daily. so i bought a second hand cannondale f700 caad4 nice bike light and responsive,
but a bit harsh plus reliability was a bit hit an miss tis an old machine . so i decided to spend all my savings on a nice new shiny bike so i wouldnt have all those problems.
jeez theres lots of choice, anyway i had to be realistic and look for a bike that would be good for me.
rock lobster, on one or the genesis were my main choices. i wanted steel

i would of liked the rl but the frame sizes are abit odd and theres no geometry available on the website so i didnt realy know which frame size to choose, no doubt i would of got one if there were frame geom,s on the site. good spec looks cool excellent write ups.
on one 456 hmm maybe to hardcore for me an heavy, was my favorite bike though.
looks cool and local with rave reviews.
so in the end i went to test ride the genesis altitude 10 at big bear bikes pickering another
thing i wanted was to keep my sale local.
this is one realy good looking bike if you like the old school slim an slender look.
i had a test ride around the large car park in the back and was instantly hooked.
the bike just feels like a bike should feel :? actualy made me grinn an buzz which felt a bit weird, i feel like some kind of a bike perv. this bike for me just feels like a proper hard tail. anyway there was allso the altitude 20 in hmm 853 steel. unfortunatly in the large size so i never had a test ride, gave it a good grope though and i figured if the 20 rides as good as the 10 then i will be very happy and there suppose to be better so i orderd one in a 16 inch frame. dont like the colour much and there a bit under specked
compared to others, but i figure there must be a reason for that.
so i am sitting at home twidling my thumbs wondering if i have made the right decision
have i got the right sized frame the 17.5 i tested was spot on but i needed a bit more stand over clearence, should of got the rl maybe the 456 would be better.
should of got a full susser, should of test rode more.
the write ups on the genesis are all good and many thanks to bikeradar for your website
its been an excellent source of info and help.

John35 · February 2009

Need a bit of advice.

Was all set on a Specialized Hardrock Sport 2009 but picked up a magazine at the train station and they recommended a GT Outpost Disc 2009 for similar money.

Now in a dilemma... :roll:

Any help would be appreciated.....

supersonic · February 2009

The GT has gone up a bit in price lately - its ok, if basic parts and fork. Heavier than the Hardrock.

John35 · February 2009

thanks supersonic, will stick to my first choice. Pesky magazines...

boy on bike · February 2009

Hi, I've wandered over here from commuting... I do mainly road riding, but want to get a hardtail for a bit of hooning around

I'm looking around the 800-900 quid mark.

Having trawled my LBSs, I've got the following options:

Cube LTD Pro, £750, RockShox Tora SL
Gary Fisher HooKooEKoo, £800, RockShox Recon
Scott Scale 60, £850, RockShox Tora SL
Trek 6500, £850, RockShox Tora SL
Cube LTD Race, £900, RockShox Reba SL
Specialized Rockhopper Expert, £900, RockShox Recon SL
Trek 6700, £1100, RockShox Recon SL
Gary Fisher Big Sur, £1100, Fox F100RL

I've listed the fork as I understand they're fairly important! Also some of the options stretch my £800-ish budget a bit: I'd be interested in views at to whether me as a noob would notice the differences?

Cheers!

supersonic · February 2009

Many of these are Xc bikes. What sort of hooning are you doing?!

boy on bike · February 2009

Well, I wish I knew! I'm completely new to off-roading, so will be wanting something pretty general-purpose. I live near the New Forest, so a lot of stuff I'll get the opportunity to do will be playing around in woods/across heathland

JxL · March 2009

Cube LTD pro looks delicious!

EDIT

Im torn between the Cube Pro and Boardman Comp!! >.<

£200 cheaper for boardman, but appears to be very good for the money.

EDIT 2

Boardman (2008) version is sold out everywhere!.

Genesis Core 10 (2009) is at £500 in some places, also worth a look.

supersonic · March 2009

One thing I don't like about the cubes are the fairly heavy frames and old style xc geometry.

Stillers7631 · March 2009

Hi, i have the usual dilemma of what bike to go for, i am wanting a hardtail for no more than £900 to potentially race, do alot of off road stuff and then the odd road session. The bikes im looking at are

Genesis Core 40 (09) £900
Scott Scale 70 (09) £734
Cube Ltd Race (09) £900
Kona Kula (09) £900
Giant XTC Zero (08) £800

Would appreciate any suggestions even if they don't include my shortlisted ones.

Eranu · March 2009

One thing I don't like about the cubes are the fairly heavy frames and old style xc geometry.

I dispute the heavy frame thing. My Frame , 18" Reaction with the FSA HS, came in at 1529g which is comparible to the Scandal and lighter than the Alu Scale Frame which comes in at 1590 without a headset.

I would ike to see what the competition to the LTD series come in at, but I can't find frame weights for Specialized Rockhoppers and alike anywhere.

As for the geometry, it's horses for courses. I hated by old GT, it felt like I was too high up. I like the stretched out riding position and it's not caused me any issues on steep decents or control on singletrack. I do have a long body and short legs (I'm 6'4 with a 31 inside leg), which may account for that, other riders may have a diffent experience.

I really think the Cubes take alot of beating for value, I rode a wide range of bikes before I chose mine. Some were great the Scott Scale especially stood out but the spec of the Cube blew it away really.

I don't mean to sound like a Cube fan boy but they are great bikes, my mates who have riden mine love it, though my next bike is likely to be a Trek

supersonic · March 2009

Well the reaction does start at 1200 quid while the Scale and Hopper start considerably less. I meant the LTD Team and Race really, 1850g for a small frame, whilst not overly heavy is still pretty porky for such an XC derived bike. But great parts value like you say! Also I meant quite short geo ie 555mm for a medium (top tube length).

jordygordy · March 2009

Can somebody tell me about the specalized rockhopper. good bike ? :?

blablablacksheep · March 2009

^^ depends which one you looking at.

i recently got a rockhopper v break and just waiting for it to arrive:( but i must say it VERY light compared to the GT avalanche and feels much more compacted, less open bars i found.

i really liked it, found the fork to be good but mainly the frame just felt personally very good feel, even though it had v breaks they still seemed just as good as the GTs disc ones.

what rockhopper you looking at? sinse if it a 08 model you may be hard pressed to find one as i managed to get the last one in evans:)

though i sure the expert and cmp models still avalible. ebay selling a load of expert and comp/pro rockhoppers for around 450-550

jordygordy · March 2009

it is the rockhopper disc 2009 thanks for the help there

The Spiderman · March 2009

If anyone is looking to spend £600 on a 2009 bike,I`d be looking at this:http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/core-20-2009-mountain-bike-ec017150

robmosley · March 2009

The Spiderman wrote:

If anyone is looking to spend £600 on a 2009 bike,I`d be looking at this:http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/core-20-2009-mountain-bike-ec017150

This bike looks great, and I am very tempted. Is the fork a major weakness though?

May go with the Rockrider 8.1 with the Tora 302 instead what are peoples thoughts?

Cheers,
Rob

JxL · March 2009

robmosley wrote:

The Spiderman wrote:

If anyone is looking to spend £600 on a 2009 bike,I`d be looking at this:http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/core-20-2009-mountain-bike-ec017150

This bike looks great, and I am very tempted. Is the fork a major weakness though?

May go with the Rockhopper with the Tora 302 instead what are peoples thoughts?

Cheers,
Rob

You could also upgrade the forks for a small extra cost from the bike shop!

redrabbit · March 2009

I have a budget of £800 maximum (not a penny more). I'm paying for the bike through the cycle2work scheme and the shop in my town does Trek and Giant bikes.

I want the bike for commutting 4 miles to the train station and back everyday for work, and also eventually for taking on some hills/mountains and off road a bit.

I had my heart set on the Trek 6500 for £800, and I also saw the Giant XTC3 for £750.

This is wrong but I prefer the look for the Trek more. I don't know much about mountain bikes, haven't been on one for about a year and ahalf, and that one cost £100!

Any comments on this?

blablablacksheep · March 2009

jordygordy wrote:

Can somebody tell me about the specalized rockhopper. good bike ? :?

i got a rockhopper 08 and love it very light frame.

the 09 model was i feel to exspencive at 586 though even at its "reduced price" at 525 i still feel it over exspencive, as the 08 i got for 390 has better fork, so all you get with 09 is disc breaks. sinse the turkey dart 3 isnt that god i hear compared to tora 302 coil SL.

Ben221183 · March 2009

Hey,
complete novice looking for advice please.....
want to get a new bike as have been a couple of times recently and the old Muddy Fox (10years old) doesn't cut it now.
Budget is around £250-300 tops. Can get an ex hire bike through a mate, make is Cube but don't know what model (think hardtail with hydraulic disc brakes) but if I can would prefer to spend a bit less though if possible.
Been looking for a while and I would prefer hardtail with lockout suspension and disc brakes (understand prob only get cable discs for this).
Found a Mongoose Tyax Comp Disc 2008 for £260 which seems decent.
Any thoughts or alternatives greatly appreciated with lockout (for road riding)
Thanks for your time.

WHAT hardtail 2009?

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