Need a half decent mountain bike for as cheap as possible..

CrouchingWayne

Hi guys,

I've recently got into road cycling which is my main interest given the local terrain however there is a charity bike ride (that I've been volunteered for!) that is between 35 and 75km going on which will be off road on/around a mountain (as far as I'm aware).

Now I'm just looking to pick up/make a bike that will survive this trip and the necessary training. I'll probably keep it after for riding some trails etc. but I'm unlikely to do too much heavy riding as such.

Quite keen on having a project as I don't know much about bikes being new to the scene so second hand seems like the best way to go. Spotted a few GT Aggressor's for sale as well for somewhere around £150, seems to be an ok package to start with and I could always replace the peddles, saddle and forks (seem to be the weakest areas) before the big ride in September?

I'll add that I'm only 5'7" so I'd be after a 16" frame I believe.

supersonic

You could be any size frame from 14-18 inches depending on the brand and model, so a good idea to try them out if you can.

The GTs are decent entry level machine, but also check out the Decathlon Rockriders and Carrera bikes.

MorganP104

If you're looking to spend £150, your best bet is to buy a "dry miles only" pampered bike from someone on eBay.

Car park poser bikes make great secondhand buys, and usually haven't seen too much in the way of hardcore off-road action.

Anyone who describes their bike as being "awesome in the dirt" or "fantastically strong when jumping" has ridden their bike properly. That's great, but do you want to buy it after they've finished with it?

Here's a few examples of what you should be looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TREK-810-MOUNTAIN ... 757wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/carrera-vulcan-mo ... 500wt_1156

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Giant-Talon-2-Mou ... 648wt_1139

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KONA-BLAST-MOUNTA ... 164wt_1139

Best to put a few bikes in your watch list and see how the bidding goes.

Good luck.

CrouchingWayne

Cheers, I've been trawling ebay for the past week or so!

Quite fancy the GT as I tried an 18" which felt about 2" too big so at least I'd know my size there. Would make a good project for summer too.