Best Hardtail - £500-£600

batfink82

Our bikes got stolen a few days ago..........so begins the replacement process.

I had a Specialized Rockhopper Disc (2008) and my wife had a Kona Blast Deluxe (2008)

We both loved these bikes and we will be looking to replace them with like for like.

Has there been any good magazine reviews of the 2010 hardtails? MBR did a good review in 2008 when the Kona Blast Deluxe came top with 10/10.

What are considered to be the best 2010 hardtails for £500-£600. looking for similar specs so hyraulic disc brakes, good 100mm shocks and decent chainset.

Any advice is greatly received!

BigJimmyB

Do a search on here & the web for reviews?

Not guaranteed, but worth a try...

The Fopster

WMB reviewed a few a month ago or so - winner was Carrera Fury. I bought one - and very happy with it!

solsurf

How about this, one day only offer:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=43059

let us know how you get on.

Sodfoster

Cube Acid if you can push the budget! The Attention ain't too bad either for under £500!

batfink82

thanks for the replies guys i really want to nail down the replacement bikes we want so when the insurance people call me back i can tell them what i want.

last time our bikes got stolen More Than said we had to use Halfords to replace them. I found this was beacuse Halfords give them a 25% discount on the replacement bikes. They did get my Specialized without any problems but they couldnt get the Kona. So i fought them for 2 weeks until they gave in and let me buy it from Evans and Halfords paid for it.

This time More Than have changed their policy so that they use 4 different companies to supply the replacement bikes (halfords, Evans, Wheelies and one other). Hopefully this time it will be easier!

I was disappointed to see that Specialized dont make a direct replacement for the Rockhopper Disc at £600. I would interested to get a Merlin Malt 1 as this always get good reviews, but I dont think the insurance Gnomes will allow it.

Keep the ideas coming........thanks again.

Belv

Pauls Cycles have a number of Kona hardtails from 2008-2010 between £500 and £600.
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

supermonkey

batfink82 wrote:

I was disappointed to see that Specialized dont make a direct replacement for the Rockhopper Disc at £600.

They do make a direct replacement. But not for £600. But that shouldn't make any difference? Not your fault bikes have gone up in price.

Northwind

The Carrera Fury is absolutely superb for the money, though it's a bit more rough and tumble than your average 100mm bike. Though, oddly enough, a lot of the 100mm bikes in this range are actually heavier. It's the best in class, but possibly not the best fit for what you want to do...

mac_man

The Furys do look mint. Saw one in Halfords the other week.... looks a lot like the Boardman hard tails. Spec is better than the current base £700 Rockhopper.
Fury
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

The Boardmans would also be a good alternative.. The Sport is a dead ringer for the old Rockhopper (In terms of spec), or if you want to put a bit towards it the Comp is on at £699. But has a good spec.

Sport
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

Comp
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

Or the GTs....

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#dtab

Paulkingk

After building and rideing a few of the new white carrera furys i honestly don't think you'll find a better new bike for £500 the spec is really good nice frame detailing and air shocks with lock out a descent rebound adjust is pretty much unherd of. not sure what the cheapest boardman bike is but both of these were winners of a few awards in wmb mag.

Oh the boardman is lighter than the fury by the way

batfink82

So i have managed to bully the insurance company to give me a cheque for the full amount of coverage we have as their replacement service was just not going to work out for us.

I would advise anyone with more than insurance to make sure their bike are covered by another policy.

Basically what happened was;

The bikes got stolen I phoned the police, they gave me a crime ref number. I then phoned More Than to make the claim, they took the my details etc etc and then said they would pass the claim onto a personal insurance claim specialist to make sure the bikes were replaced properly. This specialist then phoned me and said my claim was fine and that he would pass it on to the valuation company Evanda (or avanda not sure). They then phoned me up and said the direct replacement for my Specialised Rockhopper Disc was the Gary Fisher Piranha Disc (£519) I laughed and got very very annoyed. Their argument was that they replace like for like on the spec. I told her the spec was not the same and that the direct replacement for my Rockhopper would be the Specialised Hardock Disc 2010 (£549). She said (in a 'computer says no' kind of way) they couldn't do upgrades, nor would they let you add money to the pot to buy a slightly better bike.

Then we moved onto the Kona Blast Deluxe replacement, her magic computer suggested the direct equivalent was a Boardman Pro Comp something worth £999!!! I then laughed at said surely that proves how cr*p their system was.

I then phoned back the personal insurance claim specialist who listened to my rant and then said ok this isn't going to work how about I just send you a cheque for the full amount! I hate insurance companies bunch of ********************

mac_man

batfink82 wrote:

Then we moved onto the Kona Blast Deluxe replacement, her magic computer suggested the direct equivalent was a Boardman Pro Comp something worth £999!!! I then laughed at said surely that proves how cr*p their system was.

I then phoned back the personal insurance claim specialist who listened to my rant and then said ok this isn't going to work how about I just send you a cheque for the full amount! I hate insurance companies bunch of ********************

Should have taken the Boardman Comp though..... bloody nice bike

jadamson

ive got a fury...very impressed best hardtail for the money hands down!

batfink82

The carrera fury 2009 does look really good but Halfords have only got 18" & 20" frame sizes. Did they make a 16" version?

I see they are still stocking the carrera fury 16" 2008 but I really want the 2009 version.

Anyone know if 16" are available? I have emailed Halfords to ask.

supersonic

2008 is just as good, if not better than the 2009.

fletch8928

I think you have done well and also robbed yourself with the offer of the boardman.
Start with the well bit, fast service, they couldnt offer what you thought were good replacements so gave you a cheque instead. I wish I had argued with my insurance on a claim in the summer if thats the result.
Robbed. you couldnt get a cyclist (mtbr) to do your replacements, so ended up with a mishmash of offers, better and not quite there imo.

Now you have a cheque you can look for the real deals and get exactly what you want.

ilovedirt

decathlon rockrider 8.1, best spec you can get for under £700. Especially as it's only £500.
link

batfink82

unfortunately they were never going to give a Boardman it was just funny that the computer picked a bike worth twice as much as the Kona was originally worth. Surely it should just pick the latest Kona Blast Deluxe as surely that is best replacement.

supersonic

It doesn't mean the latest model is the same, or same value.

ilovedirt

save your money and get the rockrider 8.1 anyway, konas tend to be quite expensive for what they are.

supersonic

Or the Fury ;-) Especially the 08.

ilovedirt

the rockrider has better forks and drivetrain and is £30 less... :roll:

Northwind

The Fury has better wheels though. And the 08 Fury, which is still around in some sizes, has a substantially better fork than the Rockrider. The 09 Fury has a fork which isn't as proven as the Tora 302 but it's a better performer- I'd personally be a little concerned about longevity just because it's not such a known contender.

ilovedirt

the 08 fury has the same fork as the rockrider.... :?

Northwind

No it doesn't! It has a fixed length 100mm Tora 302, the Fury had a u-turn 130mm Tora 318.

supersonic

ilovedirt wrote:

the rockrider has better forks and drivetrain and is £30 less... :roll:

Erm, no, the 08 Fury has a Tora 318 which is a better fork than the 302 - the same damper as the standard Revelation. Even the base level Lapierre Zesty at £1800 doesn't get a fork this good! Also Uturn travel adjustable as NW has pointed out. I'd take that upgrade anyday over an insignificant drivetrain improvement (the 08 has X7 rear mech too). Wheels are similar, and the Fury is £20 cheaper.

ilovedirt

supersonic wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

the rockrider has better forks and drivetrain and is £30 less... :roll:

Erm, no, the 08 Fury has a Tora 318 which is a better fork than the 302 - the same damper as the standard Revelation. Even the base level Lapierre Zesty at £1800 doesn't get a fork this good! Also Uturn travel adjustable as NW has pointed out. I'd take that upgrade anyday over an insignificant drivetrain improvement (the 08 has X7 rear mech too). Wheels are similar, and the Fury is £20 cheaper.

i meant the '09 fury, fair enough if you mean the '08 but they're not particularly easy to come by now i don't think. also i wouldn't call the U-turn "significantly better", i mean 130mm travel is a lot for a hardtail, i think anyway, and i'm the sort of person that tends to "set and forget on a fork", i don't like fiddling with the u-turn at the bottom of a climb, and then again at the top etc

supersonic

It is designed for it though - but that is the beauty of Uturn, you set what feels best. It is more about that damper though - Motion Control has progressive compression damping adjustment.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Rockrider - up with the Fury, they pretty much rule the £500 price bracket value wise.

ilovedirt

yeah definitely, though personally after my experiences with rockshox and suntour, i won't be touching another suntour fork as long as i live.