£400-£500 MTB

jt_6_4

A friend of mine is looking at getting an MTB and has seen the following:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... 4#features

or

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... 1#features

I thought they looked a little light on component spec but a colleague at work reckons the frames will be pretty good. Maybe a good base for future upgrades?

I have a Rockrider 8.1 from late 2009 and my brothers have some halford models which are better spec'd in terms of components but my friend has heard from another mate that the service at halfords can be a bit iffy - is this the case?

It seems most 'what bike' threads on here draw to a conclusion with an own brand type bike with better components rather than the big brands. Is it generally better to go for better components at this price point rather than frame?

Any advice or suggested bikes appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

supersonic

All frames are good at this price point - the forks aren't. Very few have good forks, the Rockrider 8.1 and Carrera Fury are too such bikes.

jt_6_4

What sort of price point would one need to start at to get good forks with a bike (total bike price)?

Also if I were to upgrade the forks on my rockrider 8.1 (Rockshox Tora) what sort of price should I be looking at to ensure a noticeable improvement (fork only price)?

Cheers

waby1234

Decent forks on a complete bike - bikes start at about 500 e.g Carrera Fury, Voodoo Hoodoo. For a big name brand in general add another 250 ish or more.

cooldad

I wouldn't worry about Halfords. They are a bit hit and miss, but once bought, you look after it yourself, or if you can't, there are plenty of LBS's who can work on them.