Specialized or GT or Other

big25g

Hi,
I'm Gary, and this is my first post, I have been riding about on a cheap bike bought of ebay for last couple of months which i bought to see if i would like it. It so happens that im loving going out on the trails, and would like to start pursuing MTB'ing.

But i have come to a dilemma I have found 3 bikes that come into my price range. Specialized Hardrock Sport 08, GT Avalanche 3.0 08 and GT Aggressor XC3, and am not sure what to go for, any one able to point me in the right direction.

Or if there is a different bike you can suggest. Ideally i'm looking at a hard tail, it must be a strong frame, i'm a big guy. It must be upgradable and must be within my small budget of £280

Many Thanks

Gary

akcc05

have a look at the 08 Felt Q series. i'd say no to the spesh with v-brakes, try and look for 07 or 08 bikes with mechanical discs.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Felt_Q220_2008/5360032858/

supersonic

Why not try out the the three you list? On the value and spec front, the Aggressor shades it: look at the Carrera Vulcan too.

Have to say I am not particularly fond of Felt bikes at this price range. 7 speed screw on freewheels, steel lower legged forks and bars are poor.

littleandy0410

As Supersonic says, nothing wrong with the 3 you're looking at. You could also look at this:

http://merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=1584&categoryId=129

big25g

Cheers guys, I was told to be weary of Mechanical brakes, I know evans is doing the averlance 3.0 disc for only £20 extra. Are mecahnical disc's easy enough to conver to hydrolics if i decieded too at a later date

Papa Smurf

big25g wrote:

Cheers guys, I was told to be weary of Mechanical brakes, I know evans is doing the averlance 3.0 disc for only £20 extra. Are mecahnical disc's easy enough to conver to hydrolics if i decieded too at a later date

Any disks are easy to convert as long as you have the correct mounts on the frame. You simply whip the old disks and calipers off, screw the new ones on and set up.

ride_whenever

as above with converting mechs to hydros, however if the spesh is disc ready (on the wheels) then converting is easy too, and the v's will give you more room in your budget for forks etc.

Even if they're not, if you really like the sport the look at getting the best frame/forks package you can as upgrading to discs can be done pretty cheaply, even including new wheels, which generally are poor on low end proper bikes so make a good place to upgrade.

big25g

Thanks everyone. Im swaying towards the specialized, but have something in the back of my head that is interested in the Avalanche 3.0 disc, so im going to try these 2 out at the weekend and hopefully buy one of them.

supersonic

Have you tried them out? The GTs are better value than the Speshes, but may not suit you if the frame is to small or short.

big25g

I havent tried them yet, but am off to Evans in Woking on Sat, and a couple of other cycle shops, and hopefully give them a whirl, and also check what size I need. I also noticed while researching that specailized dont do a 20" frame so I need to check whether a 21" will be ok. im 6ft2.

supersonic

The beauty of trying them out: don't go on what the numbers say, go on what feels best

big25g

I went shopping on Sat and after a couple of trials i came home with a lovely GT Averlanche 3.0 disc. I took it for a ride on sat afternoon round Farnham Park, which was incredible muddy, but loved it, so much easier than my Crappy ebay bike i was using before, so now i need to think of upgrade which i can do..

supersonic

Why upgrade so quickly?! Might have well spent the extra on a better bike ;-)

Saying that, new tyres can make a difference.

Muddy.Bail

go with the specialized they are great bikes the gt's arent bad but they cant be pushed as far as the hardrock

supersonic

Bit late now, he has one ;-)

Both have tough frames.

big25g

haha yeah already have the bike, the upgrades will only happen, as and when needed (when something breaks) I just like to think ahead, and look at all the cool things in bike catalogs.

Muddy.Bail

sow didnt read that bit