What bike should a novice MB rider choose

Blazin Saddler

Hi Everyone

I have been a bit of a fitness fan fior a while and last year got into biking much more than ever. So next year I want to treat myself to a decent second hand MB. Theory being more for my cash age of bike wont bother me.

I have about 500 - 1500 to spend but have not got a clue what or where to go. Obviously I have been reasing a fair amount about bikes but am now a little confused as there is so much out there

I want to ride mainly off road but also have a small amount of road time so a hardtail is the way I was thinking.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what and where to buy a second hand bike I would appreciate it.

Blazin trail - Soon

d87heaven

IMHO
Get a new MTB giant/specialized etc for £300. Use it for ~3-6 months and by then you will have a good idea of what you want and what is good. You will also learn what to look for when if you go secondhand route.
Plus then you will have a spare bike for pub runs, using in the real bad weather etc

bails87

Boardman Pro FS!

If you're already into it you might as well get a decent bike and that's one of the best for the money.

But whatever you pick, I;'d say spend at the top end of your budget, otherwise you'll regret it. You could get a decent FS new for £1500, so don't limit yourself to a HT.

Blazin Saddler

Thanks for the feedback - Any ideas on bike ranges models to look at?

t0pc4t

it really depends on the type of terrain you're riding and personal preference

I ride mainly trails and don't do anything too intense in terms of drops, I also like a bike that climbs well so I went for a Giant Anthem, which is a 100mm travel FS bike.

If I was doing bigger drops and harder terrain I might be looking at something with more travel

A chap was asking this recently and he went to his local trail centres and hired bikes there to see what sort of thing suited him.

There's no 'off pat' answer to this I don't think

Flax1980

i went for the giant trance. depends on how serious you are and what budget you got as theyre almost a grand but, i`m well happy with mine and it was reviewed as best full suspension ped for a grand a couple months ago. can get a good hard tail for about 400.

try finding a test day or a local shop may have some demo`s? horses for courses and all that.

leaflite

You could also go down the self build route-then every part is exactly how you want it. You can get a decent frame for £200, a decent groupset + brakes for £500, Decent wheels for 250, Decent forks for £400 and good finishing kit for £150

xcmad

First off, I would always buy new. I don't think I could connect with a 2nd hand bike, knowing someone else loved it too.... or something.

Secondly, choose a bike with the best frame. If you get proper into riding then you will be replacing parts within 3-4 months, so you get plenty of time to upgrade.

Happy hunting.

jakeeeeeee

personally i'd go for a specialized hardrock sport disc as their light,good looking and very good value. also its a sound base if you want to upgrade . and its only £379.99 !
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec024136
or if you can strech to this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... ort%20disc
£404.99

Northwind

The trouble is, you don't really know what it's going to be for in 6 months- riding has a way of going in unexpected directions. So spending your whole budget on something that'll be awesome for you today might not work out since in a year's time you might be in Morzine in a full jousting suit about to fling yourself off a precipice of doom... Or you might be sedately riding canal paths. Or not riding at all.

So something capable- good enough to not instantly hold you back or rack up maintenance costs or generally put you off. But not too expensive so that if your riding evolves you've got cash to spend.

So like every other "what bike" thread, I say get a Carrera Fury. £600 gets you a competent performer with dependable quality parts, which will be capable and happy doing anything you're likely to want to do now, and very flexible, yet also tough enough to put through harder use. It takes you up to one of the major diminishing return hurdles. And you have £900 left in case your riding goes in some unexpected direction, or you decide that actually biking's rubbish and you should have spent it all on hookers.

jakeeeeeee

or this.....http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec024979

starseven

500 to1500

Should be any easy choice :?

Boardman seems like an easy choice, certainly the best value but if I had one of those in my garage i would probably never ride it. Sorry Chris there just dull.

I would probably buy new anything with a reba fork, given my knowledge now i would build up myself complete bikes generally have crap wheels.

So its a new bike from on one or merlin or a made up from a salsa/kenesis frame and fox fork.

HattoriHanzo

I suggest narrowing your budget a bit; 500-1500 covers a lot of bikes. Pretty much anything from the mainstream brands will be fine – Specialized, Trek, Boardman, Marin, Giant, Cube, Kona, et al. Check out your LBS’s (Local Bike Shops) to see what they’ve got. In the back on WMB you’ll find a list of top bikes by category, Bike Radar also has loads of bike reviews online.

Also, only buy second hand if you’re a good mechanic and able to give the bike a good check over – with the proper tools. Even then you may end up with a bike with hidden problems, some (frame/forks) may be fatal (to costly to repair), others should be easy to fix – at a price of course.

If you haven’t already got decent cycle apparel then you’ll need to budget for this as well. This is tricky cos unless you know you’re serious then you may splash out on a load of expensive kit – which you’ll get almost nothing for on the 2nd market. It’s easier in summer months, trainers, baggies and a t-shirt covers it, but in the winter you really need decent warm clothing, waterproof jacket and so on. Don’t forget a helmet of course.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to have fun, in my club the bloke on the cheap Specialized Hardrock enjoys club rides as much as the bloke on the fancy Full Sus Carbon rig – and he’s faster.

leaflite

I suggest you go to somewhere like swinnertons at cannock chase, rent a bike and see which riding style suits you best.

Swinnertons have am orientated fs bikes such as the orange five, and more xc orientated giant hardtails to rent. Cannock chase has a whole variety of trails, from tarmaced paths to downhill runs, so I reccomend you rent one or two of the bikes and sample the courses on them so you can see which riding type and which bike will suit you best...

shoddy

I would advise you spend around £500 - £600 and then ride as much as you can. You will quickly learn what you like/dont like about the bike and this will help with future purchases.

cavegiant

I agree with a lot of the advice above, get something basic and you will find out what you want.

if you are intending to get something great now, go for a 6" FS as it will do everything.

I ride a WFO with a dorado on the front and a cutom tuned RP23.

I put road wheels on it for road riding, big wheels on it for DH.

It is good for road, good for XC good for AM and good for DH.

If you get a HT then decide a year down the line that you want to start doing small drops you have to get a completely new bike.

So get something cheap and learn, or get something good at everything

The Northern Monkey

try bikes... lots of them. before even considering parting with cash.

even if it means just sitting on them or testing them in carparks. at least you will get a feel for what you like.

The Northern Monkey

cavegiant
why cant you do small drops on a hardtail? BS.

depends on the bike/frame/components.

cavegiant

depends on your definition of small, ht and how big you are =-)

Doing drops of a foot or two on a racy XC hardtail will eventually bugger the wheels.
Doing 10 foot drops on an evil sovereign is fine.