Newbie to MTB lokking for beginners bike.

2003boy
2003boy Posts: 3
edited July 2011 in MTB beginners
Hi I went out for a ride on a trail with my lad at the weekend on hired bikes and both of us loved it. As I quite like the outdoors stuff and am a reasonably keen runner I thought this would be a good thing for both of us to do together, hence I'm looking at getting a bike. (My lad already has one, a cheap Silverfox with suspension and disc brakes)

I know there are massive differences between the standard of bikes and parts but I've kind of settled on going for a Hard tail with lockable front shocks, as I will probably do road riding as well. As this is my first venture I think £300 should be my budget ceiling.

I'm looking for a few bits of advice:
Should I look at new or used?

If used what kind of deals and things should I be looking out for?

If new should I look at the Halfords Carrera brand, as they seem to get mixed reviews regarding quality and price?

Comments

  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    As a newbie I would recommend a new bike. Many reasons for this: you get to see it first, try it out, get advice, have it built, have a free service and easy to reach aftersales care. Plus a warranty!

    For £300 you can get a competant entry level XC bike. Carreras generally rule the roost for this money, the Vulcan is good, the Kraken is fantastic. But also look at the Decathlon Rockrider 5.3.
  • gregwari
    gregwari Posts: 230
    Hi

    One of the MTB magazines did a a review of £300 bikes recently, chances are the reviews are somewhere on Bike Radar. I'd have a look at the usual contenders such as Specialized, GT, Giant and Trek, and for something a little less obvious try Mongoose or Vitus. For the money though, I'd keep away from any form of disk brakes, they're a distraction until you look to spend over about £500. Also, for £300 you'll struggle to get a fork that locks out. For what it's worth though, I don't think I've ever locked my front fork out in all the years I've been riding. Only other thing to consider is a good old trawl around the internet looking for a new bike, but a 2010 edition. There's a few good deals still out there....
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    Personally I would look at used bikes - £300 will get you a 2-3 year old £1000 bike, there are lots of 1 year old bike to work scheme bikes that are mint.

    look at ebay for pick up only close to your home - prices are high at the moment.

    I just sold a 5 year old giant for £90 that only cost £140 new. But with pickup only you can often get a bargain.

    But if £300 is a lot of money for you then you might want a warranty and the back up of a bike shop. Personally I'd take a risk and grab a bargain. I know quite a few of the bike shops dump their trade ins on ebay and they go for reasonable prices.
  • nozzac
    nozzac Posts: 408
    Really? Prices on ebay at the moment seem to preclude those sorts of deals from what I've seen.