Best entry-level hardtail

JohnH2

I've got up to £300 to spend on a new mountain bike (to be used to commute c.8 mile round trip to work - mainly through Richmond Park).

I think I've got it down to a short list of four:

Specialized Hardrock Sport 2009 (£293 from Evans)
Specialized Hardrock Sport 2008 (£250 from Evans)
Carrera Vulcan Limited Edition (£280 from Halfords)
GT Aggressor XC.3 (£290 from Halfords)

Which one is the best bet?

Thanks for your help.

John

supersonic

On paper, the Vulcan and GT. The former has a good damped fork, the latter (for 09) gets hydro brakes. The Hardrock gets neither.

I'd go and see them in the flesh, see what fits best.

littleandy0410

Another possibility:

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

JohnH2

Thanks for the advice.

Have been to Halfords and tried both the GT and Carrera out.

The GT is the 08 model (the 09 model is £100 more and my budget won't stretch). Even though the Carrera is the better bike on paper, the GT feels more comfortable so I'm leaning towards that at the moment - is this a mistake?

Before I make my final decision, I'm going to pay a visit to Smith's Cycles in Wimbledon this weekend to see what my money buys me for a reconditioned second hand bike (they offer a one year warrenty on all second hand bikes).

What sort of things should I be looking for in a £300 second hand bike?

Thanks for your advise - this is all new to me!

John

Daz555

Check out the Decathlon site.

jairaj

JohnH2 wrote:

Thanks for the advice.
the GT feels more comfortable so I'm leaning towards that at the moment - is this a mistake?

Not at all, my opinion is to always go for a bike that feels better in real life than whats better on paper. As "what it really feels like" is what counts! On paper is just a potential of how good it could be, but might not turn out that way.

grantway

Can you not use the cycle to work scheme
upto £ 1,000,00p pounds what you looking at the small stuff for???????