Scared of the "Sweet Shop" feeling!

big_southern_jesse

After braking the frame of my 10 yr old Giant a few weeks ago, I've been pondering how I could finance the next bike. I have too many hobbies, so I was looking at a budget, or second hand buy in a while.

But, I have just found out that my workplace will agree to start the Cycle to Work Scheme. Woohoo, discounts and 0% finance! Fantastic news.

So I started looking, and now I've realised that there is soooo much out there. My budget now stretches from £500 to £1000, so now there are far too many questions!

I'm 6'5" and 15 - 16 stone, so definitely interested in a 29er. And now that the budget stretches, I can see that there are full sussers out there that would be worth getting...

So now there is a huge string of possibilities. And seeing as I'm stepping up from a £400, 10 yr old bike, everything is going to feel very different.

So Lapierre? GT Zaskar Elite, Trek 6500, Giant XTC, Gary Fisher? Kona.... Aaaahhhh to be honest, I'm a little scared. I don't know the range of Rock Shox from basic to top of range, or Manitou, or Shimano etc...

Can anyone recommend a good test centre in the south. I'm near Portsmouth,. I think the only way forward is to actually get on some bikes to feel the difference between hard tails and full sussers, 26 or 29s... Any help?

albo

First you need to decide what sort of riding you will be using it for?

Pure Cross Country?
A little bit of jumping?
Hitting big drops?

But yes, you are right, you need to hop on a bike and see how you feel! :P

big_southern_jesse

albo wrote:

First you need to decide what sort of riding you will be using it for?

Pure Cross Country?
A little bit of jumping?
Hitting big drops?

But yes, you are right, you need to hop on a bike and see how you feel! :P

Aahhh, true, good point, well made. :oops:

I tend to ride in the South Downs, XC, No big drops, no major downhilling. But biggish chap and not the sweetest rider, so needs to be quite strong. Would hope to head a bit further away to try a few of the Welsh centres etc from time to time.

The Big Cheese

BSJ - welcome back - long time no see!

Are you looking at something a bit burly/hardcore hardtail type with 120mm + travel, or do you want a nose-down 100mm xc rig....

Where do you have to get the rig from?

big_southern_jesse

Hey Cheesey / Big Cheese, How's things?

Yep, well the bike was going fine, I only really have the attention span for one or two forums, and my windsurfing needed *lots* of work, so I kinda dropped off this place for a while. Nice to see the off topic stuff as good as ever, but why isn't the red heads thread a "vote for your top 10"?

Anyway, Probably looking for medium weight XC, I've got some fairly swift riding buddies to try to keep up with. So it's trail / XC / entry-level race. I think!

As for where, well, it's a small place at work, and if they can set the scheme up, it's being set up solely for me, so I can probably persuade them to go to the LBS that stocks the brand I want. And I think virtually everything is available nearby.

Rich9

Orange Crush, Marin Wolf Ridge?

big_southern_jesse

Yep, Orange Crush or P7 are possible, but I'd probably be looking at the Eldridge Grade from Marin instead of the Wolf Ridge.

The Big Cheese

The Eldridge grade is a great bike...... you may get a deal on an 09 now, Ill compare the 09 2010 now!

09
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2009
good spec, and under a grand!

2010
http://www.bikedock.com/posit/shop/sear ... 0&format=1
Crappy spec, a grand.

i would go for the proven 09 if you fancy a Marin

the Crush is an awesome bike, but a bit burlier than the Eldridge grade, the P7 is a good choice too, but totally different to the marin, which is a racier geometry, but if you do get the Marin, try it first if you can and DEFO get the 09 version

Anonymous

Rich9 wrote:

Orange Crush, Marin Wolf Ridge?

Sounds like a hell of a lot of bike for what he's after.

The Big Cheese

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Rich9 wrote:

Orange Crush, Marin Wolf Ridge?

Sounds like a hell of a lot of bike for what he's after.

+1

big_southern_jesse

As I mentioned above, if you look at the tag on the bottom of my posts, you'll see what I was riding... So everything is going to feel so different. So not sure how much difference small geometry changes will effect me. The Giant was picked because it came with a 23.5" frame, and fit the price band.

Now I want to go down to a 20-22" frame for a bit more maneouvrability. So again, lots of options!

Everything so far has been hard tail. Is it worth going full suss at £1000?

And any thoughts on 29ers? I've been looking at the specs from Haro, Gary Fisher etc, but again, something I want to try first.

The Big Cheese

Any full susser for a grand or under is not going to be the best (don't flame me - just telling it how it is) so I would *personally* go with a hardtail. You'll get a lot more for your money.

29ers are OK (I had a Gary Fisher Rig for a while), they are fun but the novelty soon wore off. I think they are a gimmick TBH (again, don't shoot me)

For me, it would be a good quality, 26" wheeled hardtail if I had a grand to spend.

big_southern_jesse

What size are you BC? Just wondered if the 29er became more relevant over 6' plus?

And yes, I know I can get a great hardtail or a mediocre susser, and I've been living with 25 mm of travel for years, so just a new pair of forks is going to be great!

The Big Cheese

I am 6' matey, ran a 17" frame as I normally do, acceleration is good, but for me it soon wore off and I sold it after 3 weeks!!!! :oops:

big_southern_jesse

Well, thanks for the ideas so far, I'll get the paperwork in at the office, pick a shop, preferably the local one, then be back with a more specific list...

In the mean time, any more ideas?

albo

hmm...
Not sure on everyone's feelings on this bike:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=129

But my brother has been riding it for 2 years now and LOVES it..
IMO it's a decent spec. for the purpose, and a bloody good price...Thoughts?

bomberesque

The Big Cheese wrote:

Any full susser for a grand or under is not going to be the best (don't flame me - just telling it how it is) so I would *personally* go with a hardtail. You'll get a lot more for your money.

29ers are OK (I had a Gary Fisher Rig for a while), they are fun but the novelty soon wore off. I think they are a gimmick TBH (again, don't shoot me)

For me, it would be a good quality, 26" wheeled hardtail if I had a grand to spend.

aside from the 29er stuff (dunno, haven't ridden one) I wholeheartedly approve of this message.

The Rookie

Heh BSJ, for the cheap option I am just breaking a Giant Rincon, XL frame (22") you can have cheap and you can put all your bits on that!

Take note, the C2W scheme is meant to be a lease scheme, I have it on good authority that HMRC are going to start looking more closely at the sell on prices at the end of the leasing as many people are getting a 'benefit in kind' by getting them at well below market prices and therefore are strictly liable to the tax on the difference between what the bike is worth and what they were sold it at (5% of new price seems typical)

Simon

mac_man

Latest 'What MB' has a review on £1k hardtails.

The Orange Crush came out 2nd to a Whyte model (can't remember which), but that was a few hundred quid more.

Others they considered were the Marin Attack Trail (I think), the New Saracen Zen and the new Commencal Ramones.

From what I recall the Ramones was considered a bit heavy and more of a DH bike. The Zen was good apart from a poorer spec fork than the others, but then it was the cheapest at £1000. The Marin was pipped by the Orange which, for the money seemed to be bloody good.

HandjobDan

Probably a whyte 19 Trail, they do a Ti version which is gorgeous, but for the grand you have you'll only get a frame! The allloy ones seem good too.

the article don

Take note, the C2W scheme is meant to be a lease scheme, I have it on good authority that HMRC are going to start looking more closely at the sell on prices at the end of the leasing as many people are getting a 'benefit in kind' by getting them at well below market prices and therefore are strictly liable to the tax on the difference between what the bike is worth and what they were sold it at (5% of new price seems typical)



I'm sorry but that's nonsense. The whole point of C2W is that it's a tax break. It can't be both a tax break and a benefit in kind.

It's not supposed to be a lease scheme either. Your employer is effectively lending you the money to buy the bike net of tax ( hence the £1000 limit in a lot of companies who don't have a Consumer Credit Licence). At the end of the loan period, all you are doing is paying a peppercorn to transfer legal ownership. (Generally 2 - 5% of the value of the bike).If employers are charging more than this then they're chancing their arm. HMRC are fully aware of all of this and there's nothing dodgy about sell on values. In fact, in accounting terms the assumption is that a bicycle is fully depreciated after one year.


It may be the case that the government are looking at salary sacrifice schemes in general ( e.g. tax relief on childcare vouchers is to be withdrawn) but it won't affect anyone in a current C2W agreement or for tax year 2010-11 either. After that, who knows?

wardy235

what about the Chris Boardman Limited Edition from halfords http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_746501_langId_-1_categoryId_165499
here's the spec's for it look mint to me.
* Limited Edition frame design with unique Boardman signature decal featuring Ultralight super butted race spec aluminium frame with an exceptional strength to weight ratio
* RockShox Reba Race suspension fork with colour coded decals and 100mm travel, Motion Control damping, external floodgate and lockout
* SRAM X0/X9 27 speed gearing featuring Limited Edition SRAM XO rear mech with green anodised parts, lightweight carbon fibre jockey cage and gold anodised alloy bolt
* Powerful Avid Elixir R carbon hydraulic disc brakes with colour coded green anodised fittings are ultralight and provide reliable braking performance in wet conditions
* Truvativ Stylo GXP chainset
* Ritchey WCS rims with cartridge bearing hubs for longer bearing life
* Continental Speed King 2.1" tyres
* Matching white saddle and lock on grips with green anodised ends to add extra style to the limited edition models
* Ritchey Pro finishing kit
* The Chris Boardman Limited Edition Mountain Bike offers Performance and limited edition styling to make the bike stand out from the pack

The Big Cheese

or the carbon 'Titan'......... forgot about that!

big_southern_jesse

Thanks to The Beginner for the offer, but to be honest, the chainset is pretty shot, the forks were pretty awful to start with, and the derailleurs are tired.

The saddle's quite comfy...

Nope, new bike is the way to go! Anyway, I've waited for years for a justifiable reason!

big_southern_jesse

Okay, the Ltd Edition Boardman looks nice, nice bits on board, and that Titan looks superb.

Are there any risks with a carbon frame? Is it easier to damage?

The Big Cheese

Big Southern Jesse wrote:

Okay, the Ltd Edition Boardman looks nice, nice bits on board, and that Titan looks superb.

Are there any risks with a carbon frame? Is it easier to damage?

Not really, It's no DH monster, and should be a great ride, Great bike with loads of potential upgrade when things wear out, could be a close contender for the Marin....