First bike for serious off trail. Help!

WolfHound
WolfHound Posts: 6
edited December 2011 in MTB buying advice
Hi all,

Went out last weekend for first run, and now desperate to buy a decent bike!
Usage will be maybe an hour or more up road to start of descent. Then down mountain side, following hiking trail. No Centreparcs here. Difficult, fairly steep, lots of rocks, humps, ruts, roots, and very little clear trail. My arms were shaken to bits.
From the bit I've read looking for hard tail, wide handlebars, decent shocks, disc brakes, but no idea yet which shimano is better than which SRAM.
Looking for a bargain, so clearance 2010 maybe.
Size, I'm 6' 3", 33 3/4 inside leg, so reckon 22" frame or thereabouts. Bike I borrowed was 19.5", will only 2 more inches make a difference (!).
Budget 600 - 700 pounds, or as I've moved to France from London last year, 700 - 800 ish euros. Max...
Was about to get whistle alikut 2010 on winStanley for 600, but some forums poo pooed it.

Any pointers or advice appreciated, I'm worried about getting it wrong and wasting the money... Thanks!!

Comments

  • Pudseyp
    Pudseyp Posts: 3,514
    France is awash with decathlon stores, I would take a look at the Rockrider 8.1 http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html For £500 it's comparable to a Giant XTC 3 in sale at £700 (was £950) http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b0s2p3483 and its available in XL
    Tomac Synper 140 Giant XTC Alliance 1
    If the world was flat, I wouldn't be riding !
  • WolfHound
    WolfHound Posts: 6
    Cool, I'll look at those, ta
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Frame size: see our guide in the stickied thread.
    GT ZASKAR CARBON TEAM

    VOODOO CANZO

    Come and see me at https://www.facebook.com/biketyke/
  • hainman
    hainman Posts: 699
    the decathlon bikes are a crackin bit of kit,very well spec'd for the money,
    i have the rockrider 9.1 and for 600 i wouldnt get the same spec on a full suss for at least 1000-1300quid :lol:
    Giant Reign 2
    Crohnie
  • WolfHound
    WolfHound Posts: 6
    This is great, so I'm focussing a hardtail, Rockrider 8, especially as stores in France will help if there are any problems with the bike. So next question: do go to my max budget and get 8.2? Is there much diff to 8.1? Both 2011
    700€ for the 8.1 vs. 800€ for the 8.2 . I'm getting screwed on exchange but decathalon.co.uk do not deliver to france. £500 for 8.1 on .co.uk is about 600€. !"%%^!!
    8.2 not on .co.uk? Heres fr link http://tinyurl.com/73szdud
  • Pudseyp
    Pudseyp Posts: 3,514
    Seems crazy that a french company can sell cheaper in the UK !!
    The Manitou is an air/coil fork which is 350 gramms lighter and will have slightly better adjustment than the RS Recon Silver which is a coil fork but has the advantage of a lock out on the handle bar...

    The chainset (gear system) is one up on the 8.2 (Sram X7 to X9) and the brakes Elixir 3 to Elixir 5

    So yes I would say the €100 difference is worth it...
    Tomac Synper 140 Giant XTC Alliance 1
    If the world was flat, I wouldn't be riding !
  • WolfHound
    WolfHound Posts: 6
    Just seen that .fr price for 8.1 is 700€ online but 550€ to buy in my nearest store! Gonna pop down to nearest decathlon store, check out the 8.1 vs 8.2 and leave with a bike! Yahoo, up the mountain Sunday...
  • Pudseyp
    Pudseyp Posts: 3,514
    WolfHound wrote:
    Just seen that .fr price for 8.1 is 700€ online but 550€ to buy in my nearest store! Gonna pop down to nearest decathlon store, check out the 8.1 vs 8.2 and leave with a bike! Yahoo, up the mountain Sunday...

    Good luck and enjoy !!
    Tomac Synper 140 Giant XTC Alliance 1
    If the world was flat, I wouldn't be riding !
  • WolfHound
    WolfHound Posts: 6
    So, in case anyone's inerested, had awesome hairy thrill ride in rain on tough terrain on my new 8.1. Then crash, which was purely loss of concentration, getting cocky and looking down at my gears, and back at my mate. Snapped the bit that holds the handlebars to the frame. I got bad bruise on thigh, otherwise not a scratch, hit a big pile of squishy leaves, luckily i missed most of the rocks....
    Back to decathlon this week, back out next weekend, weather and leg allowing.
    Learned a hell of a lot. Happy trails! Thanks for getting me going, very, very happy with bike

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