hard-tail vs cheap full sus...??

ccarty85

Howdy everyone..Just a quickie...im looking to buy a hardtail for around £500-£600 (probably second hand) and im using ebay for all its greatness! However, I've come across a Trek Liquid 10 which may be within my budget. What do you think - is £5/600 too cheap to be spending on this full sus or is it a bargin that i should be grabbing?

My old man's a keen road cyclist and has been doing it for nearly 50 years. He's helping me out with this buy, but has 0% knowledge on full sus bikes and thinks that they may be too much trouble when it comes to servicing and maintaining. Is he right?

Thanks again for all your help people - making my life soo much easier!! Look forward to hearing from you...

Chris

The Northern Monkey

You can get a nice fairly new mid range HT for £600 depending on what you're looking for...

Servicing and maintaing a full sus shouldn't be any harder than a HT... just gotta make sure the linkages are kept serviced.

£1000 for a full sus is deemed to be quite budget, however there are the odd ones around such as the ones from decathlon and the boardmans.

Be wary of buying 2nd hand.... you never know the past life/extent of service.

Never buy a bike without having a test ride, and if buying 2nd hand give it a very good look over before hand.... some cracks can be hard to see


What sort of riding do you expect to do?

llamafarmer

Agreed, your best bet is a new hardtail, you'll get a really nice one on that budget and the safety of buying from your lbs with a free tune up thrown in.

ccarty85

Good advice already - Thanks guys! I did originally think that a decent HT would be a better starting point for my budget. Plus i can find better deals from Ebay and clearance/sales at my lbs's. definately good advice on checking bikes out before buying, too much money to be buying 'blind'! llamafarmer - what do you mean 'free tune up'?

Anyway, the hunt continues, but i'll let everyone know what i buy - Thanks again!

Chris

Wayne2k

When i got my bike from my lbs he said bring it back in 6weeks for a free tune up, not sure if this is what he means. 8)

ravey1981

when buying from an lbs they will re adgust gears, check brakes etc after a month or so as cables stretch slightly when used initially...

Its this customer service which sets a good lbs apart from online sellers...even if you sometimes have to pay a little more...

ccarty85

That makes sense - definately an added bonus worthy of keeping in mind as I trudge through the millions of ebay listings! Thanks

ravey1981

have a look at the malt 1 from merlin cycles, at around your budget and they are pretty well specced as youre not paying for a branded frame. They always get good reviews, seach "merlin malt 1" on bikeradar

ccarty85

I've been looking at Merlin Cycles quite a bit and love the stuff on there. Considering bang-for-buck, you really can get some fantastic deals. One question though - when your on their website and click on the bike your interested in, how do you find the spec list? when i'm on their website and click on a bike, it just comes up with a little general info plus a pic thats illustration use only??

Anyone else have this problem? Probably just me being a bit 'special'!

ravey1981

spec is below pic of bike...

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/custom-mountain-bikes/merlin-mountain-bikes/merlin-malt-1-09.html


.

ccarty85

Yeah, I was just being special! Thaks for that - love the custom build option as well, that should be available for all manufacturers!

janwal

Have a look at this Giant full suss at Pauls Cycles fo £560 (everywhere esle still sells them for full price)Bought it without a test ride but it felt just right from the outset just suites my build and wt, 5'7" and 10.5 stone
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p1748
Have had mine 3 months after having had a Cube Acid H/T for a year.Giant is a much better bike and it climbs so easily.I used to go up in lowest gear can do it on middle and middle now - brilliant.Did have a squeeky brake problem but Pauls have helped me sort it.Eventually they replaced the shimano ones with a new set of Giant ones and if anything they are a better feeling brake.Can't fault there aftercare even if it was by phone/email and post.And the price was a clincher and interest free finance too.Even at full price bikeradar gave it 4 stars and I can't tell it is a couple of ponds heavier than the CUbe as it rides so easy.

chuckbiker

you could try a carrarra banshee (full sus) i think thats about 600, my mate has one and he thinks its great, but, the hanger has broke within the first week he had it, dont know weather thats down to quality or just him being rough but he does know alot about bikes so i think it might be the first of my suggestions :?
anyway. good luck, hope i helped

supersonic

Mech hangers are designed to break - they break instead of the frame if you clang it!

Banshee is a capable bike, but probably overkill for the riding sugegsted.

ccarty85

Massive thanks to everyone for all their advice - this forum has been unbelievable and extremely rich in info - great stuff. I've finally taken the plunge and brought my bike! It was getting too long and i was dying to get out! I ended up buying a Cannondale F2000 SL (Optimo frame) with full XT group set except for an XTR rear mech, and the standard headshock fatty forks. It's in really good nick, so i think i got an OK bargin at £525, but let me know what you all think.

I'll be posting pics of my new pride and joy as soon as i can, mean while, let me know what you think of my HT purchase - always grateful to hear from you! I'll obviously be in touch (a lot) with various problems/advice over the comming months.

Thanks again!

Andy B

If it's this bike: http://velospec.ru/bikes/cannondale/f2000sl-2005

With that level of kit & the condition it's in, it sounds like you got a bargain.

gnarly-ass-rider

decent hard-tail all the way

VWsurfbum

welll done! i'd of bought it for that!