which would you choose out of these two?

blazeNblue

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s2p2287

or

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

and why would you choose it?


as many opinions on these as possible please chaps
thanks in advance

rockmonkeysc

I would buy the Giant.
The forks on the GT are crap, I have had suntour XCR forks and found the damping to be very harsh, no matter how soft I set them they still felt very firm over rough ground. A set of rockshox tora's made the bike feel so much better.
Don't buy from Halfords unless you want your nice new bike assembled & set up buy some part time student on minimum wage with very minimal training (my mother has worked for halfords for 20 years & I wouldn't let them touch my bike).

Muddy1182

Giant all the way! Always have and always will buy giant, great product, great backup service! Plus buy it from a real bike shop you can rely on, not a chainstore that don't know bikes............. and not much about cars to be honest when i last went there. Never again.

Oxygen Thief

Giant, no contest.

omegas

I would suggest you try them out as the 2 bikes have very different frame geometry rather than get hung up on which has the better spec, and then it all depends on what you intend using the bike for.

Oxygen Thief

The Giant is made for being quick and nimble through the woods.

blazeNblue

jonbonjovial wrote:

The Giant is made for being quick and nimble through the woods.

nice, i like the sounds of that mate!

The giant has the AluxX SL aluminium, Fluid Formed, how does this compare to the frame on the GT?





so its GIANT 4 GT 0

need more of your opinions fella's im ordering one of these in the morning

Oxygen Thief

The Giant looks about a million times better than the GT in my eyes also. It's pure sex on wheels.

Bred2shred

Throw a couple more pennies at it and get a carrera fury, everyone else does. And by all accounts none of these peeps were disappointed.

Oxygen Thief

After trying to learn as much as poss about frames. The GT seems to be the more aggressive of the two and also with it's longer travel it wants to be chucked down hills taking bigger hits and thown around through tight turns.

The Giant, is longer and more stable so not as aggresive as the GT. But it's still more aggressive than most others. It'll be more manageable at speed and is still pretty aggressive.

supersonic

I'd prefer the XCR over the Dart. And for harder riding the GT wins this with honours. The Giant has poor brakes and a worse fork.

Why not visit the shops and have a look?

blazeNblue

I have been the shop mate, and out of the ones that where on offer i like the Aggressor.

Im not looking to start throwing the bike down hills and dropping off 10ft drops, its will be used for darting in and out of traffic, long xc bike rides, mostly roads and paths but also trails when the weathers good.

which is the lightest? because the lighter the better!! i dont want a slow tank of a beast that kills me dragging it up a hill!

am i right in thinking giant is the same frame used on there 1000+ model?

which frame would be the best to upgrade parts for in the furture?

underdog

For what it's worth I have the lower spec GT and it's been great. It's taken an absolute battering the past few weeks and has been comfortable and sturdy through it all. If you're a novice you want something comfortable, dependable and that will take a good beating as if you're learning then it's going to take some pounding. The GT has done it all fine for me.

bails87

The GT is built for slightly harder riding, but not 10 foot drops. It won't feel out of place or overly cumbersome on an XC ride.

I'd take the XCR over the (rubbish) Dart on the Giant too.

I don't know why people are saying to buy from a "real shop" instead of Halfordswhen it's actually mail order, so you'll have to post the bike back if there's a problem!

I bought a Boardman from Halfords and while there are some bad branches, my local one have been superb, so don't tar them all with the same brush. There are plenty of permanent, full time staff who know what they're doing. I don't know why RockMonkeySC says that you will be served by a part time student and then tells us that his mum seems to have quite a permanent job there :?

In short, most of the spec is even. But as SS says, the forks and brakes are better on the GT. The frame will be lighter, but more fragile on the Giant.

underdog

Very true, I'd rather take my bike back to a local halfords than post it back to a mail order company anyday

Also my local Halfords were pretty good with setting up my bike too.

compo

Giant. Do not go for the GT as I have the same forks and they bottom out really easily

supersonic

Any fork bottoms out if the spring is wrong. Change spring.

phoenixliston

That giant is really nice looking and a decent set up, DOOO IIIIT! 8)

underdog

compo wrote:

Giant. Do not go for the GT as I have the same forks and they bottom out really easily

Really? I am 15 stone and can't say I have noticed it happening at all, maybe I just don't notice though

blazeNblue

Thanks for all the replys, I desided to leave buying from halfords on the grounds of all the bad press they have!! Not just that I went in and had another look at the Aggressor 2 that caught my eye the first time I went.

Nice graphics, but after looking at the frame for a while desided it wasn't for me.
2 people came in with aggressors while I was scoping the bikes, the first trip down there the day previous 5 people (all together) came in with bikes and 4 of them had aggressors too! I'd seen 6 GT Agressor owners in the space of 2 days lol, another reason why not to buy one, everyones got them!! and I like to be different, and tbh I did prefer the frame on the XTC4, from the pics.

So I thought Id take a chance and order it before stocks run out.

Watch this space.

supersonic

So if you order online, how are you going to take it back at all for any free servicing? Need to factor that in too.

compo

supersonic wrote:

Any fork bottoms out if the spring is wrong. Change spring.

How easy is that? and is it expensive? Surely it would be better to get a bike with a better fork in the first place?

supersonic

But it is a good fork, the spring is the problem. Better than the Dart on the Giant in this case.

Contact Greyville Enterprises and see if they can get you a replacement spring.

blazeNblue

supersonic wrote:

So if you order online, how are you going to take it back at all for any free servicing? Need to factor that in too.

Hello mate,

like i said after reading about halfords, i probably wouldnt have bothered taking it to get a service there anyway, i wouldnt feel safe riding it home, and once id got home id been going over the whole bike checking for loose nuts etc..

when the time comes and it needs a service, i will take it to a decent bike shop that ive known for years.

Anyway the xtc4 is here and im over the moon with it the paint-job\graphics are awesome, i love the frames sweet lines, and i was suprised how light the bike is when i picked it up! it true, it looks 100 times better in the flesh

bails87

Wouldn't have been my choice But it's a good bike, congrats, enjoy it!

blazeNblue

Cheers mate, took my bike into halfords, I was in the area.. After looking at mine and the halfords agres2 side by side, I defo know now that I made the right choice. Very happy with my ride.