Cube or Giant

MyTommyc

I am looking at a hardtail mtb. I am mainly a road bike rider but enjoy 3-4 hour tonks around the countryside and going fast. Hills are fun (up and down)!

I have (kind of) narrowed it down to the Cube LTD Pro 2010 or Giant Talon 0 2010.

However.....
To throw something else in to the mix, I don't really want to, but I am tempted to go for the models up from them (Cube LTD Team 2010 or Giant XCT 2 2010).

Is it worth the extra £100 odd quid for the upgraded versions or should I buy the cheaper one for the type of riding I do
:?

supersonic

Can you try them out? The Talon is less racy than the XCT and Cube LTD.

MyTommyc

not sure I can try them all out. it is from a LBS and doesn't seem like they have the funds to buy in 4 bikes for trial to only sell one of them (probably short sighted but hey ho)

I am drawn to the Cube because its a bit different. The Giant bikes are failry common, but thats probably because they offer good value for money at all levels (my 1st road bike was a giant, and I loved it).

I guess the real question is would I notice a big difference between any of these bikes bearing in mind I don't do 'technical riding' and just like to play around on something a bit stronger than my road bike. To contradict that, I don't want to spend a grand on something I regret when I start getting in to MTBing and it doesn't do what I want it to!

Rich9

Without looking into it i'd say the Cube has got slightly better components.

Dunk_911

I have had an 2008 XTC A0 for about 16 months and its a really good bike, the frame is forgiving and it brings on confidence well. I have never seen another XTC A0 (plenty of normal XTCs though) I dont know about cube but Giant is the biggest supplier of bike in the world (I think) so you might get a slightly better value bike with them.

Good luck

Eranu

It's close spec wise, don't know about the fork on the Cube but I'm sure someone on here will. The one thing that does stand out to me is the brakes, the Giant Root brakes got a bad review in WMB recently.

Both bikes have had good reviews in the last year, the Cube was a higher spec version but it's the same frame.

It is worth trying the bikes out, I did quite few longish journeys when I was buying my current bike just to get some test rides. I'm sure a shop near you will have both of these in stock as they are popular models.

grinham110

After look at several bikes I came to a similar choice as yourself. I ended up going with the Ltd Team and I can vouch for the extra £100 on the forks. The Recons are great and have the ability to tackle all sorts of terrain in their stride.

The build quality of the Cube is also something to be marveled at! It gives off the impression of being rock solid yet forgiving and light enough for an up hill section!

I love my cube and I know that everyone I have spoken to or heard from loves theirs just as much as me.