Help picking a £600-750 MTB

BDFun

Hi all,

I made a post in the Commuters board as I couldn't decide what type of bike to get (road bike or mountain bike) and I've finally settled on getitng a mountain bike.

Im a complete novice when it comes to bikes and I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the things I need to look out for.

Could someone give some advice as to the things I need to avoid/want in a MTB? I'm probably going to go to a local biking shop, Evans (In reading). It would be appreciated if someone could pick a few bikes for me and explain the choice: http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/c ... er_page=20

I'd like to eventually get into some mountain biking races, so a bike that is strong, light, and can take almost anything thrown at it (terrain wise), would be great! I don't ask for much really

For off-roading do people tend to use studded pedals and any comfortable shoe, or go clipless? Does this have any bearing on how technical you can on the bike? How much travel would I want to expect from the front suspension?

I have a budget of around £600-750. I also need to buy additional gear with that, such as tyres (if not already kevlar lined), pedals, knee/arm pads, and probably shoes.

Apologies for so many questions, I'm a complete novice

Thanks

The Rookie

Wow, tough ask, for your total budget you are going to be stretched, however for a new bike at the budget you have (sub £500 to allow for spend on the rest of the stuff) I would turn to Halfords, look at either a Kraken or a Fury, you will certainly get the most bike for your money, that or the relevant Decathlon rockrider, the bigger name brands can't compete with those two in terms of value for money.

Alternatively consider getting a used bike from the classifieds or fleabay, you have to get used to maintaining it anyway, so getting back to A1 condition will be part of the learning process!

Simon

BDFun

I can increase my budget for the bike to up to £1000 as I can probably wait another month or so before buying it which will give me time to raise the cash. If I'm spending a large amount on a bike, an extra couple of hundred or so is worthwhile:)

Bred2shred

Can i suggest the boardman range at halfords

The team is within your budget
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PDPz1

The comp is also well within your budget. I oohed and aahed over getting the comp but in the end got too impatient and ended up buying a bike i'm not 100% happy with.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

BDFun

What did you get instead of the comp?

timpop

A friend of mine just bought one the boardman mountain bikes, it's very light especially compared to my GT i-drive. He loves it so far.

I would still check out your LBS as you will find there are plenty of good bikes at a reasonable price to chose from. Marin and Trek etc all have a great selection of XC hardtails. For an idea, check them out from my LBS:

http://www.primera-sports.com/CategoryT ... ?catID=437

Have fun shopping!

Bred2shred

BDFun wrote:

What did you get instead of the comp?

Kona hoss, dont get me wrong i love my bike, it's totally bomb proof which is what i wanted and i can cope with it being a bit heavy but the fork just doesn't do what i need it to do.

New trail fork in the pipeline though so not too worry.

BDFun

My only issue with getting from Halfords is that my local ones are a bit pants. The staff aren't very professional and I can't trust them to give me the correct advice. Also I don't think they'll let me try out the bike, and riding it around a store won't give me a good feel of it. Although I'll still keep your recommendations in mind

Any other recommendations? I was hoping to buy from Evans Cycles as they are my biggest local shop that I can find.

Thanks

supersonic

The Evans store might actually be even worse...

The Rookie

If you want a local shop, look in Yellow pages, when buying for my girls we went 10 miles to a 'non-local local' bike shop as they were so very very helpful, m most local shop was hopeless.

Evans is a big chain with all the good and bad things (and variable quality) that goes with it.

Simon

pte1643

supersonic wrote:

The Evans store might actually be even worse...

Is that (or can that be) localised to individual shops, and/or mail order?

I only ask because I ordered my Daughters bike online from Evans, a Spec' Hotrock 24, as it happens, and they were good as gold.

The bike was set up perfectly (gear indexing, brakes etc) too.

Personally I was more than pleased.

diy

I've always had good service from evans - a bit pricey, but normally stuff in the sale is well priced. I would look at:

Specialized Rockhopper although the base model is not well priced - go for the expert if you can. or the Trek 6500 Disc

there are also some 2009 bikes that are starting to get discounted now..
Kona and scott in particular have some older models worth considering

Anonymous

If you're looking for a LBS in reading you can do worse than AW cycles. I've tried a few others in the area (berkshire cycles) in particular and found their service to be somewhat lacking. This might have been in part due to my very tight budget at the time but I still avoid them and have friends who do the same for their own reasons.

AW cycles have a website that might give you some but if you can, it's a good idea to pop in and have a chat with the guys there to see what they think. I think that they have stock in their shop not on the site but could almost certainly get a bike in for you if they didn't have what you wanted. They've always been friendly and know what they're doing. If you can go at a quieter time of the week as well they'll have more time to spend with you.

Pudseyp

Take a look at khsbikes.co.uk some great spec bikes at even better prices

stuisnew

If i was spending around £700-£800 I'd look at the Voodoo Bantu for £750ish or you could go mail order and get more for your money from Merlin.

Certainly enough to spend to start getting a serious bike.

Otherwise if you can find a decent LBS they may have bikes which have been Px-d. My local nearly always has some really decent second hand bikes at cheap as chips prices, and you can inspect them to make sure they're not wrecked rather than guessing on certain auction sites! Only an opinion.

Gazlar

Have you thought of looking at some of the web only retailers such as wiggle or crc.

For sub £1000 and for getting into mtb I would suggest stick with a hardtail for now,

one of my personal choices would be the KHS Alite 3000 at £680 which can be found here - http://www.khsbikes.co.uk/bikes It seems a pretty good package for the dosh

Alternatively depending on your size, try paulscycles.co.uk as they have last years models and some older at good discoounts

Hairylegs66

BDFun - my opinion is that you should decide first what kind of riding you will be doing most- cross country (XC), downhill, freeride, trails or whatever. Take a look in the MTB mags at the buying guides which explain the differences between the bikes, suspension options, weight, components etc. I bought my MTB for XC/trail use. I spent some time researching to get the right spec for the least amount of money and I am really happy with the result. Buy the best frame and forks you can afford so that you can upgrade drivetrain bits when they break or wear out. What suits other forum members may not suit you so take your time and get some impartial advice to help inform your decision.
Hope this helps & try to enjoy the buying process, it should be fun, not hard work!