41 year old mtb virgin.

Mickh68

Iam a 41 year old not so fit London cabbie,and want to get back into cycling.I want an mtb for road & light off road to start.I have been drawn to the Scott aspect 45 ,this is pretty much top of my budget,iam 5'11 & about 14 1/2 stone & live in Bromley in Kent.Advice on bike & trails in my area would be appreciated,Cheers!e

cat_with_no_tail

So budget around £500 then?

Do you have a decathalon store near you at all?

The Rockrider 8.1 seems to me like a massive bargain at that price.

Scott Aspect is ok, decent frame but let down a bit by some poor components overall. There are lOADS of better bikes at that price range (and cheaper)

blister pus

Welcome back on board, Mike. So you're looking at £500? You'll get standard recommendations at this price, which is good because they are good starter bikes.

So first stop is Halfords to check out the Carrera Fury and GT XC2 and XC3 (if you can stretch). Also check out Decathlon stores and the RockRider 8.1, which is a very nice package and a must to short list. Go in and sit on them and size them up and see what feels best for you. That's the important bit. Halfords do regular deals so don't jump at the first price either. That's your starting point.

stubs

+1 for the Carrera Fury how Halfords do it at the price is a mystery. A mate has a Carrera Kraken as his winter bike its the model down from the Fury but is still a cracking bike that handles really well.

The bike I would go for at the moment is the GT Aggressor XC2 my local Halfords has a sale on all GT bikes the XC2 was £499.99 its now £399.99 and they were throwing in a helmet for 1/2 price.

The better bike is the Carrera but the GT is a steal at the moment get yourself down to Halfords the offers dont last very long and this offer might be a bank holiday special