New Girl in Peterborough- help needed to choose a bike

Lauren79

Hi there

I have decided to make a proper effort to become better at mountain biking.

So, therefore would like to buy a proper bike and would be really grateful for some advice.

I got the following offer today and really don't know if it's any good:
Ex hire bike
10 month old
Scott Scale 70
Lockout Dart 2 Forks
XT Rear Shifter
Super light frame
for £330

Apart from that it would be great to meet other beginners in the Peterborough area - or even someone experienced who would like some company.

Many thanks

Lauren

Mattmanic

That's not bad but you'll need to find if it's the right size for you.

If you are tall enough theres a 19" orange evo 8 on sale in the mtb classifieds here for £325 which would probably be a better buy.

Lauren79

I tried it today, I think it was fine. It's a 16", the 19" will be too large.
But I will have a look at the other one anyhow for comparison.

Thank you very much!

littleandy0410

Hi Lauren, welcome to the forum!

Where is offering you the bike? If it's from a local bike shop (LBS for future reference!) then it could be a good idea, as there should be good aftersales service/care with that.

It's a really nice looking bike, (always the top priority! ) and the spec is OK for the money. Scale bikes are quite a racey geometry - they have a long top tube, so you're leaning quite far forward on it - but if you've had a ride on it and it feels comfortable, then it's worth considering.

A lockout fork is useful for riding on road or climbing, and XT rear mech is good. The wheels, fork and frame are all disc compatible, (I think) so you could easily upgrade in the future if you wanted to.

As you can see, I'm local-ish, whereabouts do you ride at the mo? What sort of riding do you do? I don't know of any trails near Peterboro, I mostly go across to Thetford.

milkywhite

littleandy0410 wrote:

Hi Lauren, welcome to the forum!

Where is offering you the bike? If it's from a local bike shop (LBS for future reference!) then it could be a good idea, as there should be good aftersales service/care with that.

It's a really nice looking bike, (always the top priority! ) and the spec is OK for the money. Scale bikes are quite a racey geometry - they have a long top tube, so you're leaning quite far forward on it - but if you've had a ride on it and it feels comfortable, then it's worth considering.

A lockout fork is useful for riding on road or climbing, and XT rear mech is good. The wheels, fork and frame are all disc compatible, (I think) so you could easily upgrade in the future if you wanted to.

As you can see, I'm local-ish, whereabouts do you ride at the mo? What sort of riding do you do? I don't know of any trails near Peterboro, I mostly go across to Thetford.

^^^^^^^

stalker.

Watch him. He's what's known as a wrong un.

supersonic

That is a good bike for that money. Light frame, decent forks, good equipment.

But... a new bike will give you a warranty, a free service and hopefully a test of the machine,

Shortlist a few bikes and go and see them at a dealer.

stumpyjon

Seems an OK deal, they were retailing at £500 last year. My main concerns would be the forks, Dart 2's aren't great and they are coil sprung. If you don't weigh alot you may have to change the spring to get them to work properly.

Other thing would be the fact it had been a hire bike. May have been thrashed.

dave_hill

As Jon says, because it's been a hire bike there is a risk that it's been thrashed, so make sure that it's been properly refurbished and is in good working order before you part with your sponduliks. Not Rutland Cycling by any chance is it?

The forks will be the fly in the ointment at that price. Offer them another £50 and ask them to upgrade to a Rockshox Tora. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and in the current economic climate it pays to be cheeky.

Welcome to the forum BTW - prepare to have all your money spent for you very quickly... :shock:

tv

i rode a trek 4300 ex hire the other day and because its hire people who dont normally ride use them the gear kept jumping whilst pedaling hard because of the way it had been riden so just be carful and try it out. i managed to almost break my shin on that bike!!!! but if you can try it out that would be best! great price tho

Carlos13

Hi Lauren

There is a thread in the MTB Rides forum for riding around Peterborough:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1588880

It's been a bit quiet lately.

There are a few of us who ride regularly on the western side - Elton, Fotheringhay etc.

dave_hill

And of course you aren't a million miles from Thetford Forest, plenty there to keep you occupied!

MinhDinh

tv wrote:

i rode a trek 4300 ex hire the other day and because its hire people who dont normally ride use them the gear kept jumping whilst pedaling hard because of the way it had been riden so just be carful and try it out. i managed to almost break my shin on that bike!!!! but if you can try it out that would be best! great price tho

what do you mean by the gear? is there a technique to changing gears then?

Sir HC

Is the bike from Rutland cycles (Rutland water, near stamford) ?

If not, its worth a visit, as there is a huge selection of bikes and other gear.

Lauren79

Thank you all very much. That sounds promising.

Will take the bike on a ride next weekend and see how I get on.

Elton and Fotheringhay are just around the corner, but I think I should get a bit more practice before I attempt to go out with a whole group!?

I will definitely try out Chicksand and Thetford Forest, had a look at the homepages and it looks quite exciting.

Larok

Hi Lauren,

I ride around Peterborough and I'd be happy for some company. I'v just started coms with www.brightideas.com who have some female as well male riders which might be a nice link for you for riding Thetford way.

The Scott you mentioned sounds nice, although as everyone has said the dart 2 suspension forks up front arn't meant to be that hot and might mean you'll want to spend another couple of hundred later on. The Rockshock Tora forks or Marzocchi MX Pro's as seen on the below bikes are often recommended as entry level standard. The first bike below is really good value for money. The recon forks are one up from the Tora's.

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=129
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=100
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002909

Carlos13

Larok wrote:

I ride around Peterborough and I'd be happy for some company. I'v just started coms with www.brightideas.com who have some female as well male riders which might be a nice link for you for riding Thetford way.

Hey Scott, that website appears to be about cakes!

Lauren79

Laugh, I'll second that! I searched the whole homepage to find a hint of mountain biking.
Nice cakes though!

Thank you guys. Will try to appear like a complete expert next weekend when I have another look at the bike, perhaps they will be able to offer me better forks.

topsey_turvey

Might be worth looking at


http://www.shecycles.com

for some female specific advice.