Which Bike?

chorton84

Hi all!

I'm sorry i bet you've had this post sooo many times, but here goes!

I have around £600 to spend on a bike.

So far the leading contender is the Diamond Back Apex 09 as its currently on sale for £499 brand new.

However i have found a KTM Race cross Hardtail 09 for around £600 second hand which looks a decent buy. But i dont know a thing about KTM bikes

Finally, i have also been looking at the 2009 Kona Caldera which looks a good buy too at £539, so im confused!

Please could you advise, or if you have any suggestions of your own i would be more than grateful!

Thanks

nathanman

Im assuming its the apex they have on sale at Pauls cycles. For the money its very hard to beat that spec in a new bike but having not ridden one i don't know what the frames like.

Mi2terE

I bought the Kona Caledra and the Apex from Pauls. The Apex is absolutely awesome, cant fault it at anything. Very pleased with this bike and at that money is madness. The frame to me feels very much like a Kona, the brakes on it are brilliant, the gearing works very well, I cant speak enough about this bike. The Kona is a good buy too, but be warned you'll probably need to bleed the brakes and change the pedals. I like them both and ride them both. The Apex is 18' and fits me perfect (6.1) the Kona is 19' but given the choice I'd take 18' but 19 is fine, just wanted 19' as my lad is still growing and we may swap if he gets to 6.3

I bought the Kona because I have always had Kona's and the frames have never broke on me, they seem bulletproof, but I cant see why the Apex would not be the same, I cant separate these two, both are good, but out of the box the Apex has the edge - plus being able to stop well with the brakes is always a bonus ;-)

Pudseyp

If you don't mind an older model then this
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b2s2p1494
cracking spec for your money, and Mongoose do make some great bikes...

IDave

Someone else is bound to say it soon, so I may as well be the first.

I was asking the same question a while back and the Carrera Fury from Halfords was recommended. I'm very happy with it and it's currently selling for £530.

I have actually bought 2, since my first was stolen after only 2 months! (Aparently Edinburgh is the UK's bike theft capital!)

You may want to have your LBS check it out though as Halfords can have a patchy reputation when it comes to build quality. It really varies from store to store.

nonnac85

+1 for the Caldera. I have one and love it. I ride all types of trails, jumps, drops etc and no major mechanicals since I bought it at the start of the year. Its light and strong.