Best Looking MTB for under £1000?

Abbizle

Hi All,

I'm a newbie to the biking scene and the last time I rode a bike was 15 years ago!!!

My company is doing the cycle to work scheme and have decided to ride to work, which is about 2 miles away. Get healthy and all that at the same time.

As mentioned 15 years ago I was heavily into biking and I had a pukka Carrera (£500) which got stolen unfortunately. Back then, you had a choice of a BMX, Racer, MTB.

Now I come back to the bike scene and find all manners of different bikes and am quite confused as to which one to go for.

Obviously I need the bike for commuting and some off roading fun. But here in lies my problem.

I don't like the looks of the Hard Tail Bikes and love the looks of these full suspension bikes. They look futuristic and there are some really nice designs out there.

Now I know I am approaching this from the completely wrong angle, but which is the best looking MTB out there. Just to give you an idea of what I think looks good, check these babies.

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/images/specialized_enduro.jpg

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/images/marin_east_peak.jpg[url]

Now I know you guys are gonna grill me for not taking into consideration all the components, bike companies etc. But some of the best bikes (sticky) look so simple.

If anything my question should generate a debate as to the best looking bike out there.

Please help by posting pics of your choice.

Thanks in advance for your input. [/url]

Stoo61

Which ever Cube is closest to the £1000....they are gloriously good looking!

softlad

Abbizle wrote:

My company is doing the cycle to work scheme and have decided to ride to work, which is about 2 miles away. Get healthy and all that at the same time.

Congrats on getting back into biking - but don't expect a 4 mile round trip to get you much fitter. Seriously, you would be better off walking briskly...

You also need to decide whether this is nothing more than a 'post your favourite bikes' thread, or something a bit more useful designed to help you choose something suited to the type of riding you are likely to be doing - which, incidentally, I don't think you mentioned...

Abbizle

I agree. But partly in design of the frame and more so in the decals and paint work.

I think the paintwork makes it stand out nicely.

My perfect bike would be the Specialized Enduro SL withe the black and red paintwork of the Cube Sting Super HPC.

Come on guys. This should be a healthy debate for you guys that have seen all manners of designs throughout the years.

supersonic

Well, your pics are of a £2500 bike, and a heavy, old Marin that isn't made any more ;-)

Simple works, and full suspesnion bikes under 1000 are often very heavy and would be the last thing I rode on the road bar a unicyle! There are some good deals out there however, but I have to say it, a hardtail sounds ideal for your riding.

So, what does look best?! Personally I think, at less than 1000 quid RRP, it is the GT Force 3.0



Though it has recently gone upto to 1174, it should come down. However it isnt light or particularly well specced.

Abbizle

softlad wrote:

Abbizle wrote:

My company is doing the cycle to work scheme and have decided to ride to work, which is about 2 miles away. Get healthy and all that at the same time.

Congrats on getting back into biking - but don't expect a 4 mile round trip to get you much fitter. Seriously, you would be better off walking briskly...

You also need to decide whether this is nothing more than a 'post your favourite bikes' thread, or something a bit more useful designed to help you choose something suited to the type of riding you are likely to be doing - which, incidentally, I don't think you mentioned...

Well I somewhat agree with you. But I'm using the work scheme and excuse to ride to work as a reason to get back into biking. I've got a very popular bike trail near where I live and would really love to get involved in downhill as well.

So to answer your question. An all rounder full suspension comes to mind. But I want something that looks like the dogs danglies

Abbizle

supersonic wrote:

Well, your pics are of a £2500 bike, and a heavy, old Marin that isn't made any more ;-)

Simple works, and full suspesnion bikes under 1000 are often very heavy and would be the last thing I rode on the road bar a unicyle! There are some good deals out there however, but I have to say it, a hardtail sounds ideal for your riding.

So, what does look best?! Personally I think, at less than 1000 quid RRP, it is the GT Force 3.0



Though it has recently gone upto to 1174, it should come down. However it isnt light or particularly well specced.

See what I mean. I was looking at an old Marin, thinking it was a new design.

Also with the cycle to work scheme, using my tax band, I get 45% off, and I've seen the Specialized Enduro Comp (08) for £1300, so can get it for pretty much £750, well under the £1000 mark

I want to expand from the commuting to trails and downhill as it looks well fun.

By the way that GT looks nice. But no paintwork like the Cube Sting.

keep the pics and suggestions coming.

Thanks.

Andy B

I think I recall reading somewhere that the bikes on the CTW scheme have to be at full RRP, not 'sale' bikes.

Just judging a bike by looks alone is a way to easily make an expensive mistake.

Abbizle

Andy_B wrote:

I think I recall reading somewhere that the bikes on the CTW scheme have to be at full RRP, not 'sale' bikes.

Just judging a bike by looks alone is a way to easily make an expensive mistake.

I'll have to look into the issue of sale price on the CTW. But did read there is a way around it but means your company will have to pay some admin charge.

Well, this is why I am here and asking you experienced people to recommend a bike that looks good and IS good (and the fact I'm lazy to research for the next 2 months)

I know it is way beyond my budget, but I do like the combination of paint and framework of the Trek Remedy. Give you guys an idea of what I think looks good. Plus £1000 budget, I thought most bikes would be pretty good.

The thing is there are so many good bikes out there for different reasons, but wanted to find a good bike that looks the biz as well.

or maybe I'm just a confused bunny in this new world of cycling. :oops:

supersonic

You need to find a biek that suits what you will be riding! Remedy is a big heavy bike!

For riding on the roads and general XC trails I'd be looking at a 100-120mm travel bike like an FSR XC.

Abbizle

supersonic wrote:

You need to find a biek that suits what you will be riding! Remedy is a big heavy bike!

For riding on the roads and general XC trails I'd be looking at a 100-120mm travel bike like an FSR XC.

Actually, I came across the Specialized FSR XC for £800 new, and it looks pretty much like the Enduro as well.

Very good suggestion. Will consider along with the GT Force.

Keep the suggestions and pics as well, coming guys.

The Northern Monkey

MMMMMMMM

Abbizle

What do guys reckon of the GT Force 3.0 for £880 here

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b1s1p1439

Or the Specialized FSR XC for £782 here:

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id40066.html

I think the GT looks better.

But still think something like the Enduro or the Marin Wolf Ridge if I'm gonna go up to around £1300.

I'm even more confused now. :roll:

supersonic

The GT has a superb frame considering the bike cost, a long travel XC frame, but parts are heavy.

Would help if you could fins a few and try them out.

Abbizle

bigbenj_08 wrote:

MMMMMMMM

I like your style BigBenJ

Abbizle

supersonic wrote:

The GT has a superb frame considering the bike cost, a long travel XC frame, but parts are heavy.

Would help if you could fins a few and try them out.

I will definetely try them before buying. But wanted to get a consensus view and wittle the choice down to 3 bikes.

The contenders so far are the GT Force 3.0 and the Specialized FSR XC.

But the ones I keep liking the looks off, turn out to be £1300+

Surely theres a bike that does what I need and looks as good as the above £1000k bikes.

supersonic

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ;-)

uk_mr_brownstone

My employer doesn’t do cycle-to-work yet so I don't know too much about it. But if you can get 'spares' within the £1000 maybe go for the FSR XC and see if you can get a cheap set of spare wheels, put slick tyres on it and use in the week, then just swap over the wheels when it's off-road time at the weekends.

Also, although a road bike is best for the road (unsurprisingly!) and a hardtail is better than full sus (generally), most commutes are busy, reasonably dangerous (most road cycling in rush hour is in my experience) and can involve a bit of stopping and starting, so in your 2 miles commute the benefit of having a more specific 'commuter' bike will be small- so going for something that'll be good off-road also isn't such a bad compromise.

For the price I don't think there's a better looking Full sus bike than the FSR XC

Abbizle

supersonic wrote:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ;-)

And I want those eyes! Give me those eyes! lol

Abbizle

Some of those Konas look like fine machines.

Any particular one you guys would suggest? Are they as good as the GT and Specialized models I've mentioned above?

supersonic

Different. Not as good value usually.

Abbizle

uk_mr_brownstone wrote:

My employer doesn’t do cycle-to-work yet so I don't know too much about it. But if you can get 'spares' within the £1000 maybe go for the FSR XC and see if you can get a cheap set of spare wheels, put slick tyres on it and use in the week, then just swap over the wheels when it's off-road time at the weekends.

Also, although a road bike is best for the road (unsurprisingly!) and a hardtail is better than full sus (generally), most commutes are busy, reasonably dangerous (most road cycling in rush hour is in my experience) and can involve a bit of stopping and starting, so in your 2 miles commute the benefit of having a more specific 'commuter' bike will be small- so going for something that'll be good off-road also isn't such a bad compromise.

For the price I don't think there's a better looking Full sus bike than the FSR XC

Thankyou for your excellent response. This was my logic behind a full suspension. The 4 mile round trip won't make a difference across all bike types, so hence an all rounder can be used for other activities.

I really dig the idea of slicks to accompany my purchase.

If I don't use the road the whole way, then my commute to work (short cuts) can also consist of roads, some little off road, a place where I can go downhill as a short cut (again minimal) and pavements and stairs.

Abbizle

supersonic wrote:

Different. Not as good value usually.

Thanks for the opinion Supersonic.

I need a third bike guys.

1. GT Force 3.0
2. Specialized FSR XC
3. ?????

I will then go check these bikes out for fit and in the flesh assesment.

Also which of the two has a better frame and which has better components.

supersonic

The frames are both very good for the money and purpose. You can't get many 6 inch travel frames for 1k let alone a full bike, making the GT great value for the frame, but the parts take a hit with lower quality forks and shock.

The FSR has a nice light frame, and some good quality components.

I would also look at the Boardman FS comp which we recently gave 9/10.

Abbizle

Does the Specialized have a 6 inch travel?

supersonic

The FSR is 120mm. The GT is designed as a long travel XC bike - it still has XC inspired geometry. More is not always better though.

Abbizle

Any decent designs from th Trek or Cannondale Range?

Also, Giant is touted as the biggest producer of MTBs, bit surprised not to hear them being mentioned.

supersonic

Giant Trance, Trek Fuel and Cannodale prophet again all decent machines in their own right.

Abbizle

Giant Trance:

http://www.jacksbikes.com/contents/medi ... 202008.jpg

Trek Fuel:

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/images2/ ... 39441L.jpg

Cannondale Prophet:

http://www.cyclesport.com.au/uploaded/d ... t_2008.jpg

I like the look of the Trek Fuel out of the three.

Which one would you go for out of these three?

supersonic

I would test them and see what felt best ;-) They all have subtley different suspension systems.

There are different models of each too.

the article don

Are the Boardman bikes available yet? The website has prices ( although the basic one was reviewed by Bikeradar at £799.99 and the website says £849.99) but when you click the links there's no 09 models on the Halfords website. i was considering the Comp as a chuckabout second bike, for that price you can't go wrong ( or can you??!!) with a Recon fork and Juicy 3s, although I don't know anything about the rear shock.