Attn noobs, it aint the kit its all about the confidence....

Northwind

dot1 wrote:

totally agree. my friend has just got into mtbing and bought a £500 spesh rockhopper

But that's a seriously capable bike! And not cheap either, for that matter. Something's gone a bit wrong if a Rockhopper's the example that comes to mind when people talk about basic or cheap kit I reckon. It's no £5000 superbike but it's also not a £100 supermarket bike. Someone else mentioned a GT Avalanche, not quite as good but still a fine machine.

Bit more perspective is required, I think, this is an enthusiast's forum but to most people, £500 is a huge sum to spend on a bicycle. And it gets you a machine which even a few years ago would have been like a hoverbike from the future.

supersonic

Still a large sum to me too! It has taken me a lot of saving and budget buys to get the bike I have now!

Anonymous

what a load of hippy crap.

buy the best bike you can afford. first time. everytime.

dont buy a deliberately cheap bike to "learn" on, buy the best bike you can afford and there is every chance you will enjoy riding more.

i love the replies to the effect " yeah i bought a cheap bike then spent loads on upgrading it with better brakes and forks"

you know what you get with a more xpensive bike? better brakes and forks for less than the cost of the upgrades.

im not saying everyone needs an uber expensive bike (its upto individuals to decide whats expensive, we all have different budgets) but we should all definately buy the best bike we can afford.

oh yeah and wear sunscrene. etc etc

supersonic

The OP did say to get the best you can afford! And I agree. Not to mean that 300 quid bikes are crap if that is all you can afford.

geordiefreerider

sheepsteeth wrote:

what a load of hippy crap.

buy the best bike you can afford. first time. everytime.

dont buy a deliberately cheap bike to "learn" on, buy the best bike you can afford and there is every chance you will enjoy riding more.

i love the replies to the effect " yeah i bought a cheap bike then spent loads on upgrading it with better brakes and forks"

you know what you get with a more xpensive bike? better brakes and forks for less than the cost of the upgrades.

im not saying everyone needs an uber expensive bike (its upto individuals to decide whats expensive, we all have different budgets) but we should all definately buy the best bike we can afford.

oh yeah and wear sunscrene. etc etc

Absolutely right, always buy the best you can afford, but at the same time, dont be put off from going out riding in the first place if you can only afford a cheap bike.

Like I say i've had some good rides on bikes in the past that (in retrospect) were terrible compared to some of the cheapest bikes around today !

Also for those who buy a cheap bike then upgrade it, why do you have a problem with that ?

Not everybody has bottomless resources so find it more manageable to start off with a cheap bike and upgrade spec as and when they can afford it, or they already have a bike then find themselves getting more into their riding so start upgrading to match or improve their skill level !

Dowse40

supersonic wrote:

The OP did say to get the best you can afford! And I agree. Not to mean that 300 quid bikes are crap if that is all you can afford.

Got to disagree with you there.I used to ride a £300 HT and it was crap. The frame was ok but hte rest was utter trash. Promax brakes that used to stick on and suntur forks that were fooked after one ride. To make the bike half descent i ended up spending another £500+ on it.

dot1

oh i know £500 isn't a cheap budget bike! my point was that instead of him plowing in head first and spending a couple of thousand on a bike, he bought a bike that was very capable and would last, but if he broke bits and bashed it up, he wouldnt really be that bothered, as opposed to if he spend 2k, then he would.

on the other hand if he had spent 300 quid on a bike i dont think it would still be in one piece by now and would probably have spent another 200 replacing broken bits.

i had a 300 HT when i started out. 2000 Saracen Xile. Frame was lovely, the rest of it wasnt. destroyed the rear hub and lost about 3, maybe 4 spokes from it, rounded the square taper hole on the crank, bent the front wheel to buggery. it came with "Zokes" forks, which i THINK were made by Marzocchi. In a shed, far far away from their main factory.

Anonymous

geordiefreerider wrote:

Also for those who buy a cheap bike then upgrade it, why do you have a problem with that ?

no, thats fair enough and i have done the very same. i got the impression from the replies to that effect that these upgrades had been done soon after the purchase.

my point was meant to be that by spending as much as poss (and by that i mean as much as you can afford/scrape together) you get a much better bike and those upgrades cost more the end.

as mentioned above : its all about getting out and riding on whatever rig you choose for whatever reason (now im the one who sounds all hippyish) its not about the bike*,but trust me, it helps.

*the man who famously wrote a book of the same title rides a 7 grand custom bike on road and another off road!

pte1643

sheepsteeth wrote:

dont buy a deliberately cheap bike to "learn" on, buy the best bike you can afford and there is every chance you will enjoy riding more.

i love the replies to the effect " yeah i bought a cheap bike then spent loads on upgrading it with better brakes and forks"

I didn't buy a "cheap" bike, I bought an Entry Level bike from (what I/some would say was) a reputable MTB maker, not from some company that's just playing in the field.

An yes... Over the course of a few months I've replaced the forks and brakes.
In the long run, you're most likely right, it has cost a little more going about it that way, but it's also spread the cost too.

Had it have been my only hobby/financial commitment (far, far from it) then, yes, I'd have been tempted to spend a bit more on the initial bike.
But my situation meant I had to buy 2 (for my Son aswell)... Two £1500 "Gucci" bikes just wasn't possible, but two £500 ones were.

We're having some great Father and Son Time, and we're both getting fitter as a result.

Have you never bought a cheap car and fitted Alloys to it? Same difference.

Anonymous

alright,

as i confessed in a post further up the page, i have bought bikes and upgraded over time. my message was generalisation and not a particular dig at anyone on this thread.

the whole buying a bike then upgrading straight away thing is often done by folk who would have been better off buying a better bike inthe first place, there are load of questions from folk who have takn receipt of their new bike and within a day or even hours in some cases they post questions about what to upgrade or whats a better fork or where can i get some cheap disc brakes to replace the rim brakes on my new bike etc etc etc

if this doesnt apply to you, fine. i dont remember saying anything about you.

pte1643

sheepsteeth wrote:

as i confessed in a post further up the page, i have bought bikes and upgraded over time. my message was generalisation and not a particular dig at anyone on this thread.

Yep, I see it. You posted as I was typing.
Besides... Upgrading can also be part of the "fun" of bike ownership.

sheepsteeth wrote:

.....if this doesnt apply to you, fine. i dont remember saying anything about you.

No bother... I was just explaining my personal situation.

It's all cool. 8) Crikey, now I'm sounding like a hippy.

geordiefreerider

Its similar in a way to "boy racers" modifying cars, these days I think the scenes a bit naff as it seems more about bling and ice than the engines, whereas when I started driving we would just modify the engine suspension and brakes as we couldnt afford fast cars so made what we had handle and go as good as we could afford, I mean yeah they were no ferarris but were more fun to drive than standard and we enjoyed it and doing it that way meant we could afford some performance

passout

I'm happy to pay for relaible kit when I'm alone in the Scottish highlands doing a 50 mile off road loop and haven't seen another human being or road for three hours - as I did a couple of weeks ago. I simply would not do that on an Apollo or any really cheap (sub 350 quid) bike. But I take you point concerning beginners - start cheap, build up to what you need. Like many MTB'ers I only upgrade/replace when the old kit has worn out.

MacAndCheese

NormalD wrote:
You have to start on an old clunker or you'll never appreciate the benefits of the £3K Titanium/carbon framed work of art that we're all trying to resist buying. Very Happy


I agree with that one.

+1[/quote]

supersonic

Dowse40 wrote:

supersonic wrote:

The OP did say to get the best you can afford! And I agree. Not to mean that 300 quid bikes are crap if that is all you can afford.

Got to disagree with you there.I used to ride a £300 HT and it was crap. The frame was ok but hte rest was utter trash. Promax brakes that used to stick on and suntur forks that were fooked after one ride. To make the bike half descent i ended up spending another £500+ on it.

You mean yours was crap! Maybe I over genearlised, just like you did, but many are very good if you do the research. I still have a £300 bike in my shed.

geordiefreerider

Definately!!

My old steel hardtail Gt karakoram was around the £300 mark with its judy xc's and upgraded with magura hydraulics and answer shock post I absolutely loved that bike and regretted selling it ever since, even if it did go towards my carrera LRS

Nick Dastardly

I started riding offroad in the local woods on a second hand racer when I was about 10 (try it sometime, great fun, just don't expect the wheels to stay circular for long!) then upgraded to a £99 Argos special fully rigid Townsend Volcanic. Look at what you can get for £99 these days, then imagine what you could get for that money 15 years ago. Not much. That thing took A LOT of abuse and my paper round money went on upgrading anything that broke.

Skip forward a few years and I bought a 2005 Diamondback M40 for £250. That has done Cannock, Dalby Red, Black and DH and Stainburn Boulder Trail. It's still in one piece, don't ever let anyone tell you you can't have fun on a cheap bike!

Anonymous

hows the new bike working out for you and which one is more fun?

Nick Dastardly

Ok ok, the shiny new Crush is waaaaaaaay better. It's lighter, smoother, geometry more suited to me, looks pimp, gives me the confidence to hit stuff harder and faster. It's more fun than the Diamondback, but that's not to say I didn't have fun on that too.

Anonymous

im only pulling your leg, your points are true, plenty of fun can be had on any bike.

Nick Dastardly

Exactly.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have more fun on the Crush, but it costs 4x what I paid for the DB and am I having 4x more fun? I'm lucky enough to be in a job that pays me enough that I can afford to spend over £1000 on a bike (which is a bit of a white lie because it's through Cyclescheme and isn't quite costing that!), but you can still go out and have fun on a £250 "beginners" bike.

Flenser

supersonic wrote:

Dowse40 wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Not to mean that 300 quid bikes are crap if that is all you can afford...

Got to disagree with you there.I used to ride a £300 HT and it was crap...

You mean yours was crap! Maybe I over genearlised, just like you did, but many are very good if you do the research. I still have a £300 bike in my shed.

Oi! My bike was £300 you whatnots!

JoeMontana

Thanks GFR for a great thread! As a Noob I find most of the comments reassuring, and confidence-building. Can I get some opinion on the chain-ring tattoos I keep getting on my right calf. I don't seem able to avoid them, and inexplicably return home from each ride with them. They aren't even a clear imprint of the chain or gear, but tend to be a sort of scale map of some volcanic archipelago emblazoned down my leg, sock and shoe. I'm sure cleaning my chain would help but want to know whether established mtb'rs really see this and think "idiot" or just think that this is normal.

Thanks for the advice.

Mickey Eye

geordiefreerider wrote:

Definately!!

My old steel hardtail Gt karakoram was around the £300 mark with its judy xc's

Converted my mid 90s rigid fork GT Karakoram to a single speed. It's a fun frame. Given that my main ride is a £1500 Stumpy I was suprised at the amount of fun I could get out of it.

naefearjustbeer

I bought a Sub £300 quid bike last year and now this year I have bought a slightly more expensive genesis core 20. Not the most expensive bike in the world but fantastic fun to ride. however had I not bought the cheap bike last year I wouldnt of realised how much fun it was to ride offroad and I probably would not of gone out and got the core 20. And I certainly wouldnt of made my way down the Golspie black run last week!
Cheap bikes have a place and I am keeping my old bike for spinning around with the kids and to tow the youngest on her tag along. She is 3 and loves going out cycling already so me buying a cheap bike last year has had a big dent in my wallet but it has been worth every penny.The entire family now have wheels and the oldest lassie is enjoying cycling off road as much as I do! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5twv1E7z3A She wants to go on a cycling holiday next summer!

Anonymous

JoeMontana wrote:

Thanks GFR for a great thread! As a Noob I find most of the comments reassuring, and confidence-building. Can I get some opinion on the chain-ring tattoos I keep getting on my right calf. I don't seem able to avoid them, and inexplicably return home from each ride with them. They aren't even a clear imprint of the chain or gear, but tend to be a sort of scale map of some volcanic archipelago emblazoned down my leg, sock and shoe. I'm sure cleaning my chain would help but want to know whether established mtb'rs really see this and think "idiot" or just think that this is normal.

Thanks for the advice.

very normal, just wait for the battered shins, then you will look like the rest of us!!

pte1643

sheepsteeth wrote:

very normal, just wait for the battered shins, then you will look like the rest of us!!

Yep... Had one just like it 2 weeks ago,

Perfect imprint of a pedal on my Right shin, along with the "Allen Screw Head" shaped dent in my Left Knee.

pte1643

sheepsteeth wrote:

very normal, just wait for the battered shins, then you will look like the rest of us!!

Yep... Had one just like it 2 weeks ago,

Perfect imprint of a pedal on my Right shin, along with the "Allen Screw Head" shaped dent in my Left Knee.

pte1643

sheepsteeth wrote:

very normal, just wait for the battered shins, then you will look like the rest of us!!

Yep... Had one just like it 2 weeks ago,

Perfect imprint of a pedal on my Right shin, along with the "Allen Screw Head" shaped dent in my Left Knee.

pte1643

Sorry...

Don't understand why the Multiple posts??? :?