What £1000 hardtail?

badu

Hello,
In need of updating my 10 year old and fairly battered bike, i've been heading out more on it recently and am ready for the great new year resolution time and thought i'd start doing a few events later this year (spring series, possibly enduro). Got a rough budget of £1000 but would be happy to spend less to get more goodies or more if i fell in love with something! Any tried and tested recommendations for a hard tail in this budget? Our lbs is very enthusiastic about the Cannondale Trail sl2 but can't find much about them online, they reckoned the forks were great. Any thoughts? I'd like something that would go up, down and over most things that are found in Wales (courage permitting!). Am not deadset on a womens bike as when i've tried any I tend to feel a bit cramped so will consider anything! thank you!

ChrisMidsUK

Providing they actually have the 3 frame sizes (17,18,19) advertised in stock, I'd be tempted to put another £200 in and get this.

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... rtno=36706

joshtp

GT aggressor elite, 140mm travel, great spec, fairly light. perfect.

loltoride

That Stumpy deal looks good for the extra £200 and the Scale 30.

jmillen

Hiya, what type of riding do you generally do ? This will help to narrow down a few of the un-necessary HT's which don't really match your riding "type"...

badu

Thanks for your thoughts so far! - at the mo i'm mainly just doing local trails, very occasional road (getting to local woods) - and also go up to NantyArian built trails when up in that area so need a bike that can do anything - i've got to a reasonable level and want a bike that is able to do a bit more as i'm in danger of losing all my teeth at the moment - i've been obsessed with work the last few years and now i've got a bit more time am hoping to start doing some events like the End2End as an example - am totally stumped as to which way to go on bike choice - like i said budget can be flexed so any suggestions are gratefully received - stumpy mentioned sounds good if you think it would suit....apologies for rambling!

BenChaffer

Boardman Pro HT.

pdid

Having recently started using my hardtail again I`ve fallen back in love with my Rock Lobster.

It is just so superbly balanced which makes it a joy to ride. Get it with a Reba though.

passout

Leisure Lakes were doing a cyclescheme custom special based an Orange Crush frame. Looked good. Or perhaps an On One Inbred?

bomberesque

BenChaffer wrote:

Boardman Pro HT.

it's gotta be tough to beat that spec at the price, even if handing Halfords your money makes you wince.

get in and testride one I'd say.

what bike do you have at the moment and is there anything that you want to change about it fit or geometry wise? As your bike is 10 years old I suppose it's a fairly steep XC type geometry. It would be helpful to you to test ride a couple of current long travel hard tails to see if a slacker geometry would suit you or not.

cannondales are great quality but thy're priced as a premium brand, unless you find a deal, and there are literally loads of quality bikes out there at the moment, especially at the 1,000 GBP pricepoint, so you would do best to test ride some to make sure that the fit and geometry suit your style and body type. Nothing worse than ending up with a great bike that you hate because it's the wrong size/style.

.blitz

badu wrote:

Our lbs is very enthusiastic about the Cannondale Trail sl2...

Let me guess - they've got one in stock?

badu wrote:

...they reckoned the forks were great.

Think you would be hard pushed to find anyone who agrees with them. Cannondale make great frames but in doing so they have to cut some corners to make a price point.

2010 SL2

dunker

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/custom-mountain-bikes/

Merlin Malt 4 + upgrades,
full SLX groupset.
reba race fork.
xc717 black rims and spokes.
race face evolve finishing kit.

Merlin Rocklobster either TIG Team SL or the steel 853 +upgrade,
reba race fork.

both around £1k once you take off the 10% order online discount and don't forget
to buy pedals.

no bias here hehe :P

ride_whenever

bloody hell, you lbs are trying to pull a fast one, that's a pretty cr@p fork!

badu

mmm... sadly cannot ever bring myself to improve Halfords margins, I had a quick look at the Boardman locally and having seen the sales guys left just as quickly

ok so another day, another lbs - reckoning its best to steer away from Taiwanese parts i.e giant (makes specialized?) and Trek (makes cannondale) - buying a bike has turned into an ethical swamp!

Still thinking of stumpy - any comparisons with Lapierre pro race 300 or Felt trail? tried a Felt Q today which seemed ok but havent managed to find a Stumpy or Lapierre yet!

thanks for help !

badu

ok change of plan - tried a Cube ltd race and have fallen in love

ok so am hovering around the 5'7 mark and felt pretty roomy on the 18", a bit more tucked up on the 16" - bike shop recommended the 16" as there would be more manouverability on the bike and would be more suitable if things got technical - i'd be happy with either size and just wondered what you guys thought how this would effect the ride?

pdid

Depends on your riding. If you like trail centres and shorter distance rides then go for the 16". If you do lots of long distance riding spending lots of time in the saddle get the 18".