more confused than ever...

angusbeare

I've now spent about two months looking at bikes, reading reviews, asking friends and trawling the forums..

but I'm more confused than ever..

I have about £500 to spend and want a hardtail MTB with disk brakes. I've looked at dozens and dozens and read all about components. No sooner do I find a bike I think is right than I find a review slating the bike or it's components.

For example, i liked the look or Ridgeback bikes (yeah I don't give an arse about the name) and I liked the life time guarantee they offer on frames. I can't find another company making this claim. Then I read about Shimano Alivio components and how they fell apart for some poor dude on a trip with his mates. And then the tires. How some other bloke found they were awful on sand or whatever it was..

I didn't want to be put off Ridgeback since I like their brochure that offers a simple understandable range of bikes that you don't have to be a sneering-tech-spod to make sense of. (Try reading the Scott brochure or download the enormous Specialized PDF!) .

But now I am put off by Ridgeback so I looked at Specialized on a friends recommendation.
"oh you can't go wrong with one of those" - he said. Only for me to read a review with some poor sod who'd had to replace the wheels on his Hardrock after only a few months..

Can anyone offer some kind of direction through all this confusion? Quality reviews are hard to find and one can't really properly try mountain bikes in the shop.

I want to be able to go on trips with my mates who do about 30-40 miles off road a day on their adventures and I don't want to end up with a crap bike that will not handle the knocks.

Tell me straight. Do I need to spend more or can I really get a £500 bike that won't let me down over a week or hard off-roading?

Gus

bobcheese

at £500 you can't go wrong with the Carerra Fury from halfords wins all the sub £600 tests. Its is 28.5lbs so not too heavy and has 120mm travel to take the rougher stuff. Only problem is they only have them in 18" & 20" sizes but if they are ok for you your on a winner. see full review here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... y-10-35495

Also if you are quick you can get 20% off so that makes it £440 thats enough to get you a decent lid and your on your way :P

JamesBrckmn

Carrera fury or boardman ht comp from halfords, or rockrider 8.1 from decathlon. Rockrider has best spec, but there aren't many decathlon stores, but if your near a major city, theres probably one there

mrfmilo

+1 for the Fury

supersonic

All this stuff can happen to 5 grand bikes, not just 500 quid bikes! There are always people that break stuff, and occasional parts failures. Were they looking after the bikes properly?

*AL*

Carerra Fury.

upinsmoke

Kona Blast. They tend to be a bit under specced but ride very well and are good for upgrading later on if you stay into it.

bobcheese

Well the Carerra sale at halfords is finished now so the Furys gonna cost ya £550. Still a good buy tho.

llamafarmer

As supersonic says, you'll be able to find a negative review of just about any bike or component somewhere on the web, there's always someone who's had a failure somewhere along the line. That 'poor sod' with the Hardrock could have been doing any manner of stupid things to damage his wheels - riding too hard, or just plain badly, blasting the hubs with a jetwash etc or he could have just been unlucky.

Don't be too put off by the technical jargon, if you get out there and look at some bikes in the flesh you'll get a much better idea of what it all means and what you want on your bike. There's also some really good guides on here to help you out.

angusbeare

thanks guys

that's a great help.

I did look at Carrera/Halford bikes and was quite impressed initially but then I went to a bike shop and some guy told me to avoid them like the plague of course..

I'll take another look as it seems the components you are getting with the Fury are better for the money than others in the price range. I don't feel that confident about the setup and expertise at Halfords but then again the guy at my local branch seemed to know what he was talking about and the workshop setup is impressive. Besides, how hard can it be to tune up yourself with the right tools?

Unfortunately there's no Decathalon around here as I'd definitely have taken a look. I've lived in the French Alps for a while and they have Quechua which is the French Decathalon equivalent I believe. I bought a snowboard, boots and kit there for way cheaper than the ski shops and it's been fine. The name is gloriously uncool amongst the kids but I didn't feel the need to pay for that..

thanks again

Gus

Buckled_Rims

If you still can't the thought of Halfords Fury, try these, they'll will cope with most MTBing in my opinion:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Felt_Q720_2009/5360038904/

or

(medium size only, but specs are top notch even for a £1k bike)
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Northern_Lite_2009/5360037563/

crescent

angusbeare wrote:

thanks guys

I did look at Carrera/Halford bikes and was quite impressed initially but then I went to a bike shop and some guy told me to avoid them like the plague of course..

I'll take another look as it seems the components you are getting with the Fury are better for the money than others in the price range. I don't feel that confident about the setup and expertise at Halfords but then again the guy at my local branch seemed to know what he was talking about and the workshop setup is impressive. Besides, how hard can it be to tune up yourself with the right tools?

Gus

Definitely the way to approach a purchase from Halfords. I have just bought a Boardman Sport from Halfords and had no problems whatsoever. I would recommend using one of their 'Bikehut' stores though as these seem to be staffed by cyclists themselves, in my experience anyway. I looked at the Fury but opted for the Boardman instead just because it felt more comfortable, very little to choose between them spec-wise though. For what it's worth, most of the Carrera bikes get a half decent press on here and elsewhere, I think a lot of people confuse them with the Apollo and Trax brands which Halfords also carry and are really just glorified toys. Boardman are a separate company who sell their bikes through Halfords although they now have their own independent web sales as well, I believe. For £500 you can get a decent bike, don't let brand snobs put you off the Fury or the Ridgeback.

Cheers

SpeedWeasel

I have just bought a Fury and had a similar or same experience as Cresent.

I think sticking to Halfords with a Bikehut is a good call and see if you can sound out the lads who will be putting your bike together then this helps build confidence.

I've had a good look over my bike and all seems in order - they even 'forgot' to attach the bell and reflectors

HebdenBiker

Have a look at the Gary Fisher Piranha

angusbeare

In the end I bought a Genesis Core 10 and a Ridgeback MX5 for my girlfriend.

Pedals in Dorset were doing a 15% off deal so I got the Genesis for £509.99 and the Ridgeback for £424.99.

They both seem really nice bikes. None of the other shops would give any reasonable discount and we were very impressed with the workshop setup they have and the customer service at Pedals. The bikes are set up and tuned nicely it appears,

I'll post back later with our impressions.

gus