Voodoo

Jawa

Well it's taken me a while but I've finally managed to buy a bike! It was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, but I'm hoping I did okay. I took a trip over to Leamington yesterday to have a look in a few of the bike shops over there, The Bike Yard was closed for refurbishment (typical luck I thought), and so I ended up calling in the Halfords to have a look at the new Boardmans. Then I saw that they had some new Voodoo bikes in which looked very nice, but they also had last years Voodoo Wanga on sale reduced from £900 to £650!! link

They literally had the display one there and none on the system or at any other local stores, but luckily it was a 17" (my size) and had been set up on a big display to advertise the new range a few weeks ago and not been touched since. I'm normally a bit funny about buying the last one of something but I gave it a good check over and it's immaculate.

Anyway I figured the spec was unbelievable for the money, Reba SL Air fork, Sram X7/X9, Chromoly frame, Elixir R brakes, Raceface Evolve XC finishing kit, it was too good to pass up. Plus I'm in love with the colour!

I can't really find any reviews of the bike but from the brief ride I've had on it I think I've picked a good 'un. I would have preferred Shimano gears but I figured I can always switch when I've worn these ones out.

Here's a couple of pics, I'll do a proper thread in the Your MTB's section soon.

Anonymous

Ho, that has to be the bargain of the century!

Fantastic buy.

muddylegs

Thats a lot of bike for £650 well done top bike looks sweeeeeeeeeeet.

yorkshire_man

That looks the dogs danglys mate and for £650 a complete bargain!!! Well done and enjoy!!!

kaytronika

Heh, heh, heh... Wanga

Looks awesome

The Big Cheese

Lovely bike - and bargaintastic too.. yes, you did good!!! 8)

solsurf

Lovely bike, especially as this years model is aluminium, a bargain, you were lucky to get such a good steel bike for the money, enjoy! I have the 19" and it has been great!

dunker

bike looks great congrats awesome deal too! :shock:

mastermosher

Fecking A mate!

Jawa

Thanks all, I'm really pleased. Think I'll try and get to Cannock Chase in the next week or two to take it round Follow The Dog / Monkey Trail. Can't wait!

paramart

lexinoo, bought one of those but was too embarrassed to put a pic on here, looks good and good value as well

lexinoo

Embarrassed i am not,however my IT skills are not the best in the world!One of the voodoo,also bought for the bargain price of £650 on the cycle to work thing,so i think it actually ends up costing me about £380,and one of the giant still covered in dust from last weekend just to prove to paramart its not always clean.

lexinoo

Bloody hell i did it,the Giant doesn't look very dirty on the picture though does it!A word of warning jawa-although the paint looks very nice,it chips very very easily so get a chainstay protector and put some tape where the cables rub.They steer very quickly ,but that might be because im used to the slacker giant.Might see you about on the monkey trail,up there every weekend aint i mart!

Jawa

Hi Lexinoo, yeah I'd heard about the paint chipping easily and was planning on getting some of those clear patches you can get. Not sure if they'll be good enough though? These ones...
link

Also having ridden it up and down the street a bit I'm wondering if I need some slightly higher riser bars. Or maybe it's because the only other bike I've been on was on a Giant Talon (hired at Cannock Chase) and that was quite upright. I'll see how I get on at Cannock though before I start replacing bits, it might be fine. If it is a bit forward for me though I guess I could swap the headset for a slightly shorter one with a bit of an angle, and a riser bar with a bigger rise than the evolve xc? What do you think?

lexinoo

Hi,im really not qualified to give you advice to be honest,not been mountain biking to long myself but i have just swopped the stems on my bikes ,put the longer raceface off the voodoo onto the giant and the shorter one onto the voodoo,in the hope that a shorter one will give me more control.Although in theory a shorter stem will make the steering faster.Anyway ive not tried it yet so i dont know.As for frame protection,i got a cheap neoprene chainstay protector off ebay and used insulation tape where the cables rub.Have fun.

Nick Cod

I'm going to see one of these this weekend, my local Halfords ordered one in so I could have a look with a view to making a purchase.

Problem is do I sell one of my other bikes if I decide to go with this or try to justify three mountain bikes to the Mrs?????

kaytronika

Heh, Wang

Nick Cod

So I took the plunge and got it. Had to make a few minor changes to suit me such as changing the tyres, pedals and chopping the ever so wide bars down a bit. And the saddle has to go!!

Did 20 miles on it yesterday, very impressed so far!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63011013@N08/?saved=1

Just got to put my GT up for sale now, I'll be sad to see her go

snowden_88

Did you guys check out the 2011 Bantu? Any thoughts?

chrisjnr19

not bad, although Nick_Cod I think that they may have put Elixir CR's on there,
as opposed to Elixir R's. Hehe, not a bad outcome for you then :P
and it looks great btw

kaytronika

It does make me yearn for a nice riding steel hardtail... Well, one that I can mount a 120mm fork and discs too.

edhornby

I have the bokor which is the alu framed version and they are quality bikes - they also have sliding dropouts so if you want to swap it to single speed in the winter you can

The Rookie

Only just spotted this thread, My Daughter works in Halfords in leamington, let me know any negative comments....or positives for that matter!

Simon

Jawa

The Beginner wrote:

Only just spotted this thread, My Daughter works in Halfords in leamington, let me know any negative comments....or positives for that matter!

Simon

I had no problems at all, service in the store was good and the bike was built up fine. Bit gutted they didn't put Elixir CR's on mine though like that other guys! That's even more of a bargain! Only joking, I'm really happy with the bike and for the price I paid nothing else could touch it, not even the Carrera's or Boardman's.

Jawa

Quick update with some new pics and new bits......

Got nice and dirty at Cannock Chase last weekend.



New Superstar grips.



New Easton EA70 High Rise Monkey Bar (bargain at £29 from Merln Cycles!).



All clean again.

Nick Cod

Still loving mine too. Nice bars Jawa

xand_xand

Looking good there jawa.
Where are you based chap in Warwickshire? always looking for new riding buddies, if you ever wanna hook up pm us

Jawa

xand_xand wrote:

Looking good there jawa.
Where are you based chap in Warwickshire? always looking for new riding buddies, if you ever wanna hook up pm us

I'm in Rugby, whereabouts are you then?

xand_xand

Nr Stratford upon Avon
Where do you usually ride chap?

Jawa

xand_xand wrote:

Nr Stratford upon Avon
Where do you usually ride chap?

I've not been riding long, done Cannock Chase a couple of times and then just a few local rides round Rugby and surrounding villages. Nice bike by the way!

Nick Cod

So after a few months I have to say I've been very pleased with this bike. Since the purchase though I've made a few changes.

Grips: Replaced with ODI Lock Ons and anodised red locking rings
Saddle: The original had to go, replaced with a WTB Rocket
Tyres: Replaced with Conti Race Kings 2.0
Wheels: Mavic F519s on Hope Sport hubs

http://imageshack.us/g/18/dscf2049w.jpg/

Did Marin Dusk till Dawn on it last weekend, despite twelve hours of trudging through the cold and wet the bike didn't let me down and I finished with a smile on my face, plus some Thetford mud