New here, looking for a hardtail!

podgeorge

Hi,
I'm 15 and got into MTB about year and a half ago and currently have a Land Rover Tahora '07 which has been a great bike and i have really liked it, although its just too small now and i can't get the full power of my legs anymore. I am looking to buy a new bike, especially as i am considering starting to do some racing for my school. Now i am currently looking at spending around £400, at the most really (poor student)! Although i am perfectly happy to get last years model, in order to get a better bike.

Now because i have been really pleased with my Tahora, i was thinking of getting another Land Rover, maybe a Kaikas or Khartoum, do you think i could get a better bike for the same money than those, consider that i could get the Khartoum '08 for £300 and the Kaikas '08 for £430, or a better specd or built bike?

Land Rover Catalogue: http://landrover.tagworldwide.com/LR_bi ... extSteps_2

Any help would be appreaciated!
Thanks

The Northern Monkey

carrera kracken? very well spec'd, only £319 atm IIRC. (halfords).

podgeorge

From what i have heard the Halfords Brand's (Carrera) are meant to be poorly made, compared to other MTB manufacteurs! Is this true?

Ellio

The other half has a kraken Ltd and is a very nice bike

prawny

podgeorge wrote:

From what i have heard the Halfords Brand's (Carrera) are meant to be poorly made, compared to other MTB manufacteurs! Is this true?

Nah carreras are fine they're made by merida who make thousands of frames. It's generally just the service thats junk at halfords the bike's and specs are good and top value.

podgeorge

Ok, thanks but the Land Rover Bikes which i am looking at are better spec'd for the same price! Also i really like the feel of my bike, compared to other peoples, when i ride my mates bikes!

blablablacksheep

look at this link and ul see land rover dont seem to have much of a rep at bike making and seems the bikes in their stock are out your price range.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... ge=&_brc=0

podgeorge

They do far more bikes than that, just look at the link to the catalogue link i posted on the top link!

greenphotos

You can currently get the Fury for only £399
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#dtab


Superb value - RockShox Toras, X5 and X7... very nice

ShortRef

The fury will be much better for racing. Cant see any geometry specs but it looks like the wheelbase is shorter and the top tube is smaller = more control. The fury looks alot more throw-around-able than the Kiakis. It also has a better fork. If you go to halfords and sit on one, im sure you will like it as much as any other landrover (I was going to buy a fury because I liked the geometry).

The kiakis doesnt look bad though.

Also if you look at the fury its 20% off....20% of 500 = 400

The 08 kiakis has a tora 289.....the fury has a 318.....

Northwind

podgeorge wrote:

Ok, thanks but the Land Rover Bikes which i am looking at are better spec'd for the same price!

Not being funny, but there's little if anything better specced than the Fury at £400, it's a ridiculously good build- the Kaikas is more expensive and not as well specced, if that's the comparison you're making. And as's been mentioned, the parts on the Fury are great- merida designed and built frame, X7 and Truvativ drivetrain, nice finishing kit, Sun rims... And best of all a Tora 318 u-turn fork, which is absolutely blinding, you get less good forks on bikes costing twice as much sometimes. And it's a nice frame too.

But, it's not a race bike to be fair, it's a burlier, beefier affair... The quality of parts means it's not terribly heavy but it's no lightweight, it's more of a trail bike than a race bike. It's a brilliant allrounder but racing doesn't really call for an allrounder, it calls for a specialist. Having said that, at this price 100mm racier bikes tend to be heavy too.

Still, as an allround package at this money there's no competition at all really. It was a good contender at £500. The Landrover also looks a good price for what you get, that's a big discount. (looking at the 09 model, it's far too expensive for what you get but with this much off, it's decent) But, fit is a personal thing, there's more to bikes than the spec. Remember though that there's no guarantee that the current landrovers ride anything like your old one.

greenphotos

289 318? What's the difference between the two? Is it travel etc? I know the Fury Toras are adjustable 85mm to 130mm.

ShortRef

greenphotos wrote:

289 318? What's the difference between the two? Is it travel etc? I know the Fury Toras are adjustable 85mm to 130mm.

318 has motion control, dont exactly know what this does because I havent ridden one.

supersonic

Motion Control is a low speed compression damper, adjustable all the way to lockout, with a blow off valve.

Land Rover Kaikais o8

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2008

Seems good spec for the money, but can you try it out? I think the Fury is better.

toasty

If you get on with the Land Rover and don't like the idea of the Carrera I'd go ahead and get it. The spec is very similar to that of the Fury with a good chunk of cash saved. You might even find you prefer the suspension with the low speed compression turned completely off, in which case the forks difference is very trivial.

The forum seems to have default answers to certain questions, which £500 bike is almost always answered by "Carrera Fury" and it's hard to argue otherwise :P It's not always as simple as comparing specs on the internet and going with the highest, everyone would be riding Decathlons or something if they did.

Which pedals? Wellgo MG1
Which forks? Rebas

Boring! :twisted: Get the one you like the look of most, a bit of passion and enthusiasm will speed you up a lot more than 5 grams saved on a higher spec mech.

If I were buying now I'd hunt down a 2008 Rockhopper, still love my old M4 frame to bits. Truth be known it's probably my most ridden bike as I commute on it and use it on epic rides around here.

ShortRef

Toasty wrote:

If you get on with the Land Rover and don't like the idea of the Carrera I'd go ahead and get it. The spec is very similar to that of the Fury with a good chunk of cash saved.

The fury is £400 while the Kiakis is £430. Unless you mean the other land rover, but that spec really isnt that great. Suntour fork with preload.....and alivio gears compared to Tora 318 with lockout, rebound and that other thing ^^ with an X-7 rear deraileur. Makes me wonder why I didnt buy a Fury hmm.

toasty

Sorry, I meant cash saved over the RRP

The model supersonic linked for £430 had Toras with a deore groupst and an XT rear mech.

Fury

# Ultra light 7005 20" aluminium frame with double butted main tubes
# Rock Shox Tora 318 U-Turn fork, travel adjusts from 85 to 130mm
# Motion Control adjustable rebound damping and lockout
# 27 speed SRAM X5 front mech, X7 rear mech, and X5 trigger shifters
# Powerful Tektro Auriga hydraulic disc brakes, wavy rotors, 180mm front, 160mm rear
# Truvativ Blaze chainset with Powerspline bottom bracket and cartridge bottom bracket
# Sun XC DS2 double wall disc specific eyletted rims on Shimano M475 QR hubs
# Continental Gravity 2.3" tyres

Kaikias

# Frame: 7005 Series Alloy
# Fork: Rock Shox Tora Coil
# Rear Gear: Shimano Shadow XT
# Rear Freewheel: 9sp Shimano
# Shift Controls: Shimano Deore Pods 27sp
# Brakes: Shimano Hydraulic
# Wheels: Disc Hub With WTB SX24 Rims
# Chainset: Truvativ 5D

The other one is much worse but then it's much cheaper too

The Northern Monkey

Toasty wrote:

Sorry, I meant cash saved over the RRP

The model supersonic linked for £430 had Toras with a deore groupst and an XT rear mech.

But it was from winstanleys... probably a month wait before their "in stock" bike is dispatched :roll:

connor123b

I quite like the bolinas ridge 08 from marin just helping. :P

toasty

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Toasty wrote:

Sorry, I meant cash saved over the RRP

The model supersonic linked for £430 had Toras with a deore groupst and an XT rear mech.

But it was from winstanleys... probably a month wait before their "in stock" bike is dispatched :roll:

hehe, very true. Rather him than me :?