Just starting!

Acdc

Right, I'm completely new to mtb except for once on school trip and I throughly loved it so I want to keep riding, so I'm looking at bikes.

I have a budget of £400 and I intend to ride altura trail (whinlatter) and old coach road nr keswick and bridleways nr my house that probably won't be in brilliant condition!

I have been looking at several bikes in my local bike shops:

Specialized Hardrock 2010 disc - £350

Orbea Dakar (i think) - £330 for a hand built bike from a racing company

And a few others (can't remember which) think one was a Giant Talon 2.0 at £450 which is pushing my budget too much to be honest!

Any advice on these bikes and alternatives would be appreciated so would advice on other gear I may/will need and rough price estimates please!

I am about 6 ft 1 with a 33 inside leg so frame sizeing 'guides' would also be appreciated!

Hope this makes enough sense for you to understand enough to help!

Low Down And Dirty

I would go into a bike shop if I was you, and talk to the staff (not Halfrauds) they will give you advise on sizing and you can try bikes to see how they fit, and can give you good advise on a bike for the right price, although they will be slightly more money than buying online.

But ....... the Specilized is a good bike, I have found they ride well with good agility, but if you can find the extra money the Giant is probably a good buy although I haven't looked at the specs of the bikes you always seem to get a lot for your money from Giant.

Hope this helps.

ANDY

supersonic

I would go to Halfords and look at the Carrera Kraken as it is a far, far better bike than the Hardrock Disc.

Acdc

Hmm! 1 person says don't use halfords, one says do!!

Ive also find that evan's cycles are having a sale .... Mongoose tyax elite 2010 model is £50 off so £400 now for a bike with hydraulic brakes, rockshox dart 1s and more? Good deal? But I'm wary of buying over 'net cos I can't test em!

supersonic

Halfords stores vary, just like independent shops do. Go in talk to the staff - you'll soon work out if they are numpties lol. Or a take a friend that knows their onions.

You need to sit on the bike for size as brands vary. A short ride around a car park will give you more feel too.

The Tyax is a good bike, though should have an SR XCR fork which is better than the Dart 1.

bails87

Acdc wrote:

Hmm! 1 person says don't use halfords, one says do!!

And look at their post counts

Dart 1s are pretty rubbish tbh. I'm fairly sure they're just a 'spring in a tube' type of fork, probably worse than the Krakens forks.

I'd say go to Halfords.

Low Down And Dirty

bails87 wrote:

And look at their post counts .

AND ????? I spend my time going round the world riding my bike and not surfing the net, that means I know FA does it ?

handon94

i agree with supersonic you should go to halfords and check out the kraken my mate has one and for the price i was quite impressed and there isn't nothing wrong with halfords most of them are quite helpful

supersonic

Hmmm, let's not get into discussions about experience and post counts.

Suffice to say there are good and bad Halfords the same way there are good and bad LBS. But one thing Halfords does have is very well priced bikes - comparing the Kraken to the Hardrock disc is an embarassment to the latter.

shieldsy94

What i would do is check bikes sizewise at a local bike shop, what i would then do is buy off ebay or pinkbike as you get a better spec bike for cheaper or the same price