£400 Budget first bike advice?

DanHall

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum but have been reading a fair few posts over the past weeks mainly to gain a bit of experience when it comes to purchasing a half decent bike (man theres alot to know!). My budget is not more than £400 and for that I want a decent entry level full susser.

I know your going to say, "spend it on a hardtail, you'll get more for your money", but my mind is made up on the full susser!!

The dilemma is this:

Do I get a 2nd hand Kona Dawg Matic (2004 hardly ridden)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KONA-DAWG-MATIC-m ... 7C294%3A50

Or a Giant Yukon FX2 (new, good price, shame about colours)
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p1747

Or, and you going to hate me for even suggesting this but its had some excellent reviews, Decathlon Rockrider 6.3!
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... 3-07-20096


Is the Dawg matic still a good bike being 5 year old technology? Has the tech moved on much in my price range in that time?

Does anyone else have a bike i've overlooked or one there selling off cheaply in the South to a keen newbee

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Dan.

riderjam

The Decathlon seems excellent value for money, although spending that bit more on the Giant Yukon will get you a much better bike (spec wise etc), and its only £25 over your budget, and you get the big discount

DanHall

Yeah, I would prefer to go for a decent brand but the Decathlon comes with a 2 year parts, 5 year frame warranty!

Still tempted by the Kona though, am i stupid?

bomberesque

First I will fulfill your prediction and tell you; Get a hardtail.

Decathlon bikes are excellent value IMO.

Kona Dawg is a decent bike, however "hardly ridden" 5 year old bike, will almost certainly also mean "hardly maintained" and should still get a full service of shock and fork straight away. This may turn out to be 20-30 quid but could be a lot more. Plus the rubber is original so may well need new tyres aswell

looking at the pics, all three are effectively single pivot designs.

Personally I'd probably go with the Kona but then I have a soft spot for Konas and I don't mind some fettling. If you do go for that one, make friends with a bike mechanic so you can get the thing checked over properly.

DanHall

Hadn't thought about the service and tires, good point.

This also looks good if I can get it for a good price.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2006-Marin-Rock-S ... 7C294%3A50

bomberesque

I am a cynical Barsteward and would assume that any bike I bought off ebay needed all moving parts looked at, particularly shocks and forks.

People often choose to sell rather than overhaul and really, it's buyer beware

llamafarmer

Ebay is risky unless you know what you're doing and that guy has even been bothered to clean that Marin before posting pictures. It looks like a heavy beast too!

Can I ask why is it you're so set on a full sus?

supersonic

Avoid ebay unless you REALLY know what you are doing.

DanHall

I mainly want it for fairly heavy-rutted bridal tracks and to hack through the local woods with the odd bomb hole jump. Also, if I get the bug tackle something more challenging.

I'm getting more swayed towards the rockrider purely for peace-of-mind-buying with the warranty and it being new.

Can anyone else suggest any other bikes?

bomberesque

HT will do all of that and some. That said I do understand the appeal of FS

get thee to decathlon and test ride the 6.3 ... and a couple of their hard tails while you're at it

llamafarmer

DanHall wrote:

I mainly want it for fairly heavy-rutted bridal tracks and to hack through the local woods with the odd bomb hole jump. Also, if I get the bug tackle something more challenging.

Sounds like my local trails, which my hardtail is more than capable of dealing with. The big difference over my old bike is having a really good fork and on the rutted stuff I reckon a hardtail with a quality fork will see you through better than a full sus with a basic fork and basic shock, because the front end will be much more controlled.