ive made my list - help

bigboned

Following on from previous threads i wanted to discusse this in buying advice now as i have devised my first list:

the backround - im 22 stone only back to biking, will be used for small commute and XC, nothing hefty to begin with except carrying me, im decided on Hardtail but im limited to buying from Halfords due to cycle scheme - im in ROI so limited to stock brands but the range of those brands can be ordered if not carried so i have Boardman, Kona, Gt, Saracen, Carerra

im looking for good value obviously but more importantly i want the bike to last rather than be upgraded in a year etc altho i dont mind swapping bits as i go ( but would rather get the fork right at the beginning) - ive had good advice so far and i cant thankyou all enough and so to finish, here is the list

GT Agressor XC 1
Carerra Fury
Kona Cindercone
Kona Hoss ( looks underspec for price here in ROI)
Boardman Comp

i dont mind spending full voucher value but would prefer to keep to similar levels to this unless it is really a better bet going up to say boardman pro from comp etc

is there really much difference other than weight between x5,x7,x9,x0 ? is it worth the money?

anyhoo thanks for looking
cheers

Northwind

There's some big brawlers (Fury and Aggressor) and some more XC bikes (Boardman and Cindercone) in there, you should probably try and narrow your focus a little. I'd just bin the Konas from your list entirely tbh, not to say they're bad but the spec comes up short with Kona at this price, always. I really like the Fury, I take my mate's for a spin from time to time and it's really stupidly good, but it carries some extra pies because of its stronger build, longer fork etc. very versatile but if I had to ride 30 miles I'd sooner have the Boardman but if I had to do a lap of Innerleithen, I'd take the Fury every time.

There's definately a difference between X5 and X9, I have the former on my spare and the latter on my Soul and the X9 shifts much faster. But X5 is still perfectly solid, workmanlike kit, it'll do you fine.

Airienteer

When I was first getting into biking I bought the 2008 Cinder Cone and have sinced transferred it to single speed. It's an outstanding frame, but the spec is definately lagging by others, especially the Boardman. You only have to look at the forks. Despite this, if I were making the decision again I would still choose the Kona, but I don't really have an argument to back up this choice! The Boardman would probably be the best value buy.

jmillen

Fury or Boardman for me (but I'm biased, see signature)

Both excellent value for money

Da Mighty Chicken

The Fury is certainly a good strong bike, bought one the other week and it carries my 18.5 stone about ok but the only thing I would say is you'll need to change the spring in the forks as the supplied spring is for lighter riders, but I believe any decent bike shop (I wouldn't suggest Halfords) can do this relatively cheaply.

bigboned

hmmm fury or boardman getting the vote so far, dont know if this makes a difference but here in ROI you can only avail of the bike scheme once every 5 years unlike UK so im wanting to make this bike last. my thoughts were hopefully i wont remain at 22 stone too much longer and so wont necessarily need as burly a bike within a year or so?