Coming back to mountain biking at 42

jimbo2112

Hi All,

I used to love going off-road when in my 20's. My daily commute on my 92 Bobcat Trail is all I do now and I want to get dirty again!

So, what I want advice on is this:

* Best bike from £700 - £1k (rear susp unlikely, but will consider)
* Want a set of cheap wheels with road tyres for a quick swap at weekends
* Best value, most useful accessories to service, keep looking good, upright pump, lights
* Best insurer
* Also interested to know where the best trails are around Watford and Herts are and if there are any clubs people belong to?

As the post says, I'm 42 and my wrists can't take the battering they used to so comfort is important. I want to do mostly wood trails and a bit of downhill.

Look forward to hearing your pearls of wisdom!

Cheers

welshkev

bike: anyone of the boardmans for spec at that price.

wheels: superstar components wheels you can get a pair for about £80

jimbo2112

Interesting that you mention Boardmansas I saw a huge spec one in Halfords for a grand, but could not believe that Halfords would stock anything decent. Maybe I should take another look!?

welshkev

jimbo2112 wrote:

Interesting that you mention Boardmansas I saw a huge spec one in Halfords for a grand, but could not believe that Halfords would stock anything decent. Maybe I should take another look!?

they're sole suppliers i believe, why boardman have chosen them is beyond me :shock:

my mate has the pro hardtail i think and it's an awsome bike for the money he paid.

i saw the comp on sale last weekend for £629 i think

Ro88o

+1 for the Boardmans (FS or HT).

They are fantastic value for money, the spec is quality for the price.

A lot of people are put off with the Halfords stigma, but at the end of the day its the bike thats important

Shop around is my recommendation, and try some different bikes out to see whats comfortable for you.

jimbo2112

Sounds like I need to get down to Halfords again! The one I was thinking of was:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#dtab

Boardman Mountain Bike Comp Full Suspension Medium 2010

I've not had a full suspension bike before though. Pro's and con's? As long as they are locked out they will ride like a hardtail on the road?

Tartanyak

Personally, I'd avoid a full susser at that price. Go for a good hardtail. You end up compromising on other parts of the spec.

Saying that, I'd not trade in my full susser for a hardtail for proper riding for any money. It saves my bottom and knees lots of pain.

welshkev

Tartanyak wrote:

Personally, I'd avoid a full susser at that price. Go for a good hardtail. You end up compromising on other parts of the spec.

Saying that, I'd not trade in my full susser for a hardtail for proper riding for any money. It saves my bottom and knees lots of pain.

+1 i'd go for the hardtail boardmans

robertpb

The bargain of the month has to be this Felt, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Felt_ ... 360045878/

welshkev

robertpb wrote:

The bargain of the month has to be this Felt, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Felt_ ... 360045878/

i saw that and it is a great price, but it is more of a hardcore hardtail with it's double and bash etc

but it is an awsome price and great spec

jimbo2112

The Felt looks a little bit too airborne for me... I'm more of a land lubber.

I need to save me knees for snowboarding in January, so maybe the full sus is a good option. What is the risk of full sus at this price? Do I need to be forking out £1500 min for full sus?

Cian_mtb

You don't need to spend 1.5k just look around as At the moment there's lot of sales before the 2011 come out. This years models are still brill and you'd be able to get a 1.5k bike for just over 1000 if you pick well. I would choose a full susser if you can however and are willing to pay that little extra as in the future you won't regret it with the smooth..er ride and knee ligaments still attached if you're looking at some DH.

Dirtydog11

jimbo2112 wrote:

The Felt looks a little bit too airborne for me... I'm more of a land lubber.

I need to save me knees for snowboarding in January, so maybe the full sus is a good option. What is the risk of full sus at this price? Do I need to be forking out £1500 min for full sus?

No absolutely not!

There's nothing wrong with the spec of Team Boardman , its worth the extra £50.00 over the Pro for the Reba SL forks.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#dtab


As a fellow 40 something rider and knowing what I know now I would buy a full suss, your back will thank you for it in the long run.

On the other hand if you want a proper workout get a hardtail.

welshkev

maybe something like this?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... gn=froogle

underdog

Tartanyak wrote:

Personally, I'd avoid a full susser at that price. Go for a good hardtail. You end up compromising on other parts of the spec.

Saying that, I'd not trade in my full susser for a hardtail for proper riding for any money. It saves my bottom and knees lots of pain.

That's just not that true these days, you can get a very decent full sus for a grand (or even less). You may have a down graded drive train but honestly in blind tests 95% of the riding public wouldn't notice any difference between 2 well set up drive trains no matter what their price difference. Same goes for disk brakes, or even the extra lb or 2 in weight.

Since comfort is a key requirement of the poster, I would certainly look for a good budget full sus, things can be upgraded as they break.

My mention would go for Giant Trance range, also the boardmans of course, KHS will be worth a look too.

diy

I would take a look at that Specialized FSR that welshkev posted also look out for high end rockhoppers to.

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/c ... &x=16&y=11

Halfords is where you go to by kids bikes and tool boxes :twisted: Those boardmans are well spec'd but no better than the equiv. from Orange or Specialized. Plus if you find MTBing is not for you, you can sell it next summer for about 20% less that you paid.

With regard to slicks.. In your price bracket, you will have disc brakes, so its not straight forward swapping wheels over. Its just as easy to put slicks on an XC rim. But if you go for tyres like Specialized Fast Trak LKs in a control, they are pretty good on and off road.

Have a look on ebay too and maybe keep some of your budget for the next bike. I just picked my mrs up a Specialized Rockhopper pro 2008 for 340 quid. Although it will be minus the XT rear mech and Reba forks, by the time she sees it.

I don't buy in to the idea of a cheaper FS bike as a comfort option. There is nothing worse than climbing a hill on a FS bike with a budget rear shock bobbing up and down.

Rear suspension is there to stop the tail bouncing up when you go over drops and to keep the tyres in contact with the trail. If you want comfort buy a gel saddle.

thelonegroover

I think you'll find most bikes in the £750 - £999 range will be very good; the Voodoo range, also at Halfords is excellent.

underdog

diy wrote:

I would take a look at that Specialized FSR that welshkev posted also look out for high end rockhoppers to.

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/c ... &x=16&y=11

Halfords is where you go to by kids bikes and tool boxes :twisted: Those boardmans are well spec'd but no better than the equiv. from Orange or Specialized. Plus if you find MTBing is not for you, you can sell it next summer for about 20% less that you paid.

I don't buy in to the idea of a cheaper FS bike as a comfort option. There is nothing worse than climbing a hill on a FS bike with a budget rear shock bobbing up and down.

Rear suspension is there to stop the tail bouncing up when you go over drops and to keep the tyres in contact with the trail. If you want comfort buy a gel saddle.

So many things that are wrong where to start huh?

Find me a current year FS of the same price that competes with a Boardman for spec. There aren't many.

To find a bad rear shock on a FS these days you would need to be looking at sub £700, budget FS bikes are pretty bloody fantastic now and are better than bikes you would be paying twice as much for a few years back.

Also a FS does add comfort, especially to the lower back I find, which at the wrong side of 30 is important to me these day.

The only problem (with some Halfords, and also some LBS too) is that the set up of the bike may not be great, but then you could always tighten all things up yourself and do the set up it's easy to do and worth learning.

Also look at mongoogse bikes too.

jimbo2112

Great response guys. Mucho appreciation.

Worth adding that I had 3 slipped discs making life hell through my 30's which was another reason not to go biking. So I think it's the full sus option and Boardman is in the lead right now.

Who would have thought such a second rate comedian, who made a career from a single joke (The Germans and their Fokker planes) would turn out to be such a great builder of bikes eh? ;-)

jimbo2112

Hmmm... now I'm confused... just saw the link to the Specialized FSR XC Comp 2010 and it's a real looker. More so than the Boardman (but with a lesser spec?)

Any thoughts on which is better?

grubby

jimbo2112 wrote:

Who would have thought such a second rate comedian, who made a career from a single joke (The Germans and their Fokker planes) would turn out to be such a great builder of bikes eh? ;-)

Jimbo....best comment I've seen for a long time!!! Nice work.

jimbo2112

Cheers ta!

paulbox

jimbo2112 wrote:

Great response guys. Mucho appreciation.

Worth adding that I had 3 slipped discs making life hell through my 30's which was another reason not to go biking. So I think it's the full sus option and Boardman is in the lead right now.

Who would have thought such a second rate comedian, who made a career from a single joke (The Germans and their Fokker planes) would turn out to be such a great builder of bikes eh? ;-)

I'm also the wrong side of 40 mate and came back to MTB'ing about a year back. Was using my old GT hardtail for a while then picked up a Giant Anthem FS. Forget all the stuff that you used to read about FS being a drain on your energy etc. going up hill, these current models are bloody fantastic.

My top tip: Try as many bikes as you can until you find the one that is right for you.

Leisurewheels in hemel has some demo bikes that they'll lend you for a weekend: http://www.leisurewheels.co.uk/
There is also a Specialized concept store in Ruislip that will lend you bikes to try out: http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/stores/home.aspx?parent_id=0&page_id=34

As for riding, Whippendel is pretty good, but not fantastic. There is the big loop for general fitness and just being out on your bike and there are a few other trails dotted about the place with some jumps thrown in if that's what you fancy. Wouldn't mind showing you round some time if you'd like.

On the commuting wheels issue, can't you keep your old bike for that?

underdog

jimbo2112 wrote:

Hmmm... now I'm confused... just saw the link to the Specialized FSR XC Comp 2010 and it's a real looker. More so than the Boardman (but with a lesser spec?)

Any thoughts on which is better?

If you want to add to that confusion find any of the Giant Trance range from 2010, brilliant frame, excellent suspension set up, light enough for general XC, tough enough for little more extreme stuff and as the frame is the same right through the range, well worth upgrades as parts break.

Good deal on an anthem here too http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b0s1p2852

They seem to still have the Trance in stock here http://www.leisurewheels.co.uk/products ... 7472&rs=gb

It's going to depend how aggresive things are going to get, the Anthem is a wonderful XC bike, as is the Boardman, the Trance is a great trail bike as is the Spesh.

Eskimo427

isn't the boardman lighter? Go for that. If you have a bad back full sus or no full sus the weight of the bike will come into play if your trying hard.

I'm in my 40's too and do a lot of cycling and believe me even with a full sus if your trying hard you will still get lower backache.

welshkev

PaulBox wrote:

jimbo2112 wrote:

Great response guys. Mucho appreciation.

Worth adding that I had 3 slipped discs making life hell through my 30's which was another reason not to go biking. So I think it's the full sus option and Boardman is in the lead right now.

Who would have thought such a second rate comedian, who made a career from a single joke (The Germans and their Fokker planes) would turn out to be such a great builder of bikes eh? ;-)

My top tip: Try as many bikes as you can until you find the one that is right for you.

?

good tip, you can look at the price and spec of bikes as much as you want, but if it doesn't feel right then it'll be no good

merlie

MAMIL ?

underdog

merlie wrote:

MAMIL ?

Badger

jimbo2112

OK... so I need to negotiate some free time this weekend to go and take a look at bikes. I love the look of the Specialized, but will have to ride the Boardman as well.

PaulBox, thanks for the offer... may take you up on that with new wheels in tow. I might also take the advice on using the old Bobcat as my commute.

steponahen

The frame and forks are the important bits, and I don't think you can go wrong with the Spesh FSR at that price. All the bits will need replacing at some point whatever you get, so I wouldn't worry too much about the spec - always get the best frame you can at any price point.

paulbox

jimbo2112 wrote:

OK... so I need to negotiate some free time this weekend to go and take a look at bikes. I love the look of the Specialized, but will have to ride the Boardman as well.

PaulBox, thanks for the offer... may take you up on that with new wheels in tow. I might also take the advice on using the old Bobcat as my commute.

Cool, can't say enough how important it is for you to ride them (not just in a car park!), I was set on buying a Specialized Epic, hadn't even considered a Giant, then I tried one and fell in love with it, my mate was with me and he hated the Giant...

Not as convenient for Watford, but this is where I got my bike from, they are very good and have a good sale on at the moment: http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/

If you want to meet up for a ride just send me a PM.