Hello,total newbie

M-B-K

Hi,looking to start mountain biking and looking to get my first bike. as a father of 2 i don't have major cash to spend and this bike had caught my eye. Could anyone recommend or point me in the right direction. http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... =ClickInfo[url][/url]

jayson

At this end of the scale i would forget about full suspension bikes completely, the frame and spec will be the most basic of the basic and it will weigh more than the moon.

The best option when starting out is to buy a hardtail to learn the skills on first and then later on if u find u like mtb'ing u can buy a full suspension bike once you know what you want and/or like riding.

How much is your budget for the bike??

supertwisted

HI there fellow newb.

I'm no expert myself, but bikes like the one you've posted are best avoided. They're usually made with cheap componants and materials and are very heavy.

But that's not to say you can't get a good bike on a budget (though you may have to double up to around £200ish), but steer clear of full suspension at this price level. Instead look at hardtails as you will get far more for your money.

Take a look at the What Hardtail thread as it has some good suggestions.

dodgyknees

Hi MBK and welcome to the wonderful world of mountain biking.

The kind of riding you plan to do is the main guide to the kind of bike you get. But I fully agree with the comments already posted that you want to steer well clear of cheap full suspension bikes.

Unfortunately you're probably looking at spending at least £250 - £300 for a good quality entry level bike. One such bike is the GT Avalanche 3.0 which you should be able to get for around the £250 mark if you shop around. Halfords do a version of this bike badged as the GT Aggressor XC3.

xtreem

This is the bike to get start with:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499
The seals doesn't look very good on the fork, but that's just a picture.

Forget £100 bikes, look from £200 and above.

Eranu

It's pretty tough to get a reasonable bike for £100. Don't waste your money on the FS from Halfords, it'll last about 5 minutes.

If you can only spend £100 now then if I were you I'd try and save another £100 to £200 and get something that will last, like the Vulcan linked above or one of the bikes in this thread http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12590132

If you can't do that then maybe there's a bike shop near you that sells second hand bikes or you could try ebay but that could be risky.

maximus69

as above stick to a hardtail. gt avalanche 2 can be had quite cheap £280 from chain reaction.check reviews but dont think you will find a bad review. but i would get from local bike shop (lbs) instead of online because you need to test ride it first of all, might be a little bit more expensive but they will probably throw some stuff in like a helmet etc, might not though if their tight!! and if anything goes wrong you just take it back. you get hydraulic brakes, better components, forks etc when you spend a little bit more money. just do your homework and all will be good!!

MarvintheAndroid

I agree. My brother in law bought a £100 bike and spent the next few weeks changing out kit for bits that worked - and that was just for fire roads. At this price point a "full susser" will be heavy and have the cheapest components, certainly don't expect smooth gear changing or predictable stopping. Vibration from tracks or fire roads will likely shake it to bits - literally.

If you take it off the beaten track at all I would even say it could be dangerous.

For something that you intend to actually get on and ride, your absolute lowest price (bought new) will probably be around £200, and that for a hardtail like the Aggressor. Of course you may come across a bargain second hand bike, which would certainly be better than one of these.

Sorry to poo-poo your choice, but I prefer to offer an honest opinion and not have to think of you wrapped round a tree. You really do get what you pay for.

Marv

Vivid

I agree with everyone above that you should stay well clear of any full suspension bike in that price range.

You will also find that they offer a very limited amount of travel which usually gives no benefits but only negatives, the forks and shocks will wear down extremely fast due to the poor seals, no or very little damping creates the feel of a pogy stick and so on.

Depending on your riding style you could even go for a rigid town and trail bike which would actually perform better than the full sus off road.

Ive heard of far to many problems arising from these bikes and alot of serious injuries have occurred, people automatically assume that these bikes are built for off road use and so do so.

FORM BEFORE FUNCTION

Northwind

Buying used can get some excellent bargains, especially at this time of year, I got my Kraken for about 60% of the new price, and it wasn't even run in- lots of people buy a new bike in may, ride it twice along the canal path, possibly fall off, then sell when it gets chilly But you do have to able to appraise the bike's condition, or you could end up with a complete duffer.

M-B-K

Wow,mountain bikers sure are a friendly bunch. Thanks for all the advice on the best bikes to get started with. So glad i came here to check before i wasted my money.

M-B-K

Sorry to bother everyone again but my local bike shop has this bike
http://www.swc.co.uk/product.asp?strPar ... &P_ID=1063
Thanks for you thoughts and opinions

handful

Hi M-B-K

You may want to re-post that link, it comes up as product unavailable when you click it. Welcome by the way

M-B-K

Hi Handful
thanks for the heads up.

http://www.swc.co.uk/product.asp?strPar ... &P_ID=1063
[url][/url]

xtreem

Better, but still poor spec.
I think the Carrera is your best buy, similar to the GT Avalanche 3.0 but
I don't understand why the GT has the same price in UK and in Macedonia (£250).
As a UK brand the GT should be under £200 there.

Eranu

I agree the Vulcan is a better buy and what £35 more? You may even get a helmet etc chucked in at Halfords. I'd wait and get that.

maximus69

i would be worried when they start listing all the steel components in the spec on that giant rock. never looked at a vulcan till now. for the money that is actually quite a nice bike. they get good reviews and the spec is much better than that other so called bike. have a test ride and see what you think.

MarvintheAndroid

Agree.

AndyBike

Does the company do a Cycle Scheme you can get 50% off the cost of a new bike and spread it over 12 or 18 months. You can also help them set a scheme up if they dont do one. see http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/. What about 0% finance and most MTB shops are willing to give 10% off some new bikes and look at 08 or 07 models.