£500 budget for a MTB newbie

wasi1984

Hi guys any tips on what to get???

Being a roadie ive got no idea where to start with an MTB.

Obviously has to go up hills, not into these downhill motorbike looking things!!

Been advised to go 2nd hand ??

Any tips, cheers.

njc69

personally for 500 pounds i d go for a new 2010 model mountainbike

cooldad

Run through the Buying Advice column, and there will be quite a few similar posts.

stannie

I have just been through the "what bike to buy for £500?" for my daughter.
I would try to get hydraulic disc brakes, rather than mechanical. The best value new bike I found was a 2010 Boardman Comp from Halfords on line ( not exactly a great Local Bike Shop, but very good value for money at £559) and it can be collected at a local store.



http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499


Otherwise I would go second hand if I were you - there are a couple of decent second hand bikes in the classifieds, but unfortunately thety are quite a long way from me.









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stu27183

the boardman is very well specced but personally i didnt get sucked into that. It has reliablilty issues from what ive read around the net. I ended up with this and love it:


http://www.bikeoutlet.co.uk/products/Cl ... 091-0.html

it was £799 last year and the new version is same. Really happy with it.

cooldad

What have you read that the rest of us haven't?

stannie

cooldad wrote:

What have you read that the rest of us haven't?

Exactly - I would be interested to know!

Especially as it is £250 cheaper than the Cape Wrath. ( and much closer to the original £500 budget)
I am sure the £250 saved can be used to solve some of the "reliability issues."








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stu27183

singletrackanne wrote:

cooldad wrote:

What have you read that the rest of us haven't?

im lost here? the cape wrath is on sale at 469? which is 30 under budget and 90 less than the boardman?

cooldad

stu27183 wrote:

singletrackanne wrote:

cooldad wrote:

What have you read that the rest of us haven't?

im lost here? the cape wrath is on sale at 469? which is 30 under budget and 90 less than the boardman?

You were talking about reliability issues - what reliability issues?

concorde

A case of lying to make friends I think there!

stannie

stu27183 wrote:

singletrackanne wrote:

cooldad wrote:

What have you read that the rest of us haven't?

im lost here? the cape wrath is on sale at 469? which is 30 under budget and 90 less than the boardman?

Apologies - I couldn't open the link earlier but I can see now. The Cape Wrath looks like a very good deal too.
But you still haven't said what the reliability issues are with the Boardman.
I bought a ladies Boardman Comp today for my daughter. I took it to my LBS to have it checked out and it had been put together well by Halfords and was fine.
I couldn't get a bike for her that she hadn't tried for size - not all gents bikes fit girls very well, so the Cape wrath is not an option.
She is very pleased with it, probably because it is white and pink!


wasi1984 - let us know what you decide to do - new or second hand.

LostHorizon

fit were me i would go for a good frame that can be upgraded as the components wear out..i would try and stretch my budget an extra £100 to this:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec025261

it has hydraulic brakes too...and it looks good plus has the pedigree.

or as another poster suggested go for a sale bike, brand new 2010 or 2009 model.

angry_bird

For your budget, you could go second hand, obviously you have to be careful about what you buy, component wear, damage to the frame etc, but for your money you should get a mid range 2/3 year old hardtail with decent spec components.

Alternative wise, carrera from halfords or the boardman mentioned earlier. For value for money they are going to be the better options and they generally get really good reviews and lots of positive feedback. Spec wise I'd take that Boardman over the Claud Butler mentioned, even if it is £90 more, if you just compare the forks, you've got 120mm dart 2 pogo stick vs 100mm air recons. No brainer really.