New, and looking for advice. Re. Cube bikes

AlaskaStone

Hi!

I'm new to this forum and looking for some advice from people who know there stuff! I'm a complete newbie and don't know much!

I'm looking to get into off-road/mountain biking for a hobby, and I'm just looking for some advice on buying a new bike (sorry I know there is loads of threads like this (and I've looked at them) but just wanted to see if anyone had specific advice :P ). I live in Hampshire and want to be able to ride the plentiful cross country trails around me, as well as the MTB trails along the South Downs and Queen Elizabeth Country Park. I will also be looking at visiting some of the numerous trail/MTB centres in the UK, especially Wales. I'm not sure if I'll get into serious downhill biking but I want a bike that would be able to handle it (to an extent). I want to get a bike that I will be able to grow into (skills wise) and will hopefully last me a long time.

From my research (of what is available and what I can afford) I've narrowed it done to these two bikes:

Cube Attention: http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... ain%20Bike

Cube Access WLS Pro: http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... Pro%202012

They are both the same price at £679, but I think I'm right in saying that the Attention has better forks (?). I've tried them both out and they feel good. I just wanted to see if these will be good for what I want to do with them, and generally if they are good bikes? I'm open to advice if there are better bikes out there for my needs!

Thanks for any help!

supersonic

Hi and welcome to Bikeradar.

Firstly these are xc bikes, designed for cross country and general trails. They are not for downhill and will not be ble to handle it at all really! But depends what you mean by downhill - they will handle small jumps and minor drops, but not the big stuff!

The Access has the better fork as is air sprung - easier to adjust to your weight, stiffer steering and lighter than the Rockshox XC28. The rest of the kit is very similar.

supersonic

What other stores do you have local?

AlaskaStone

supersonic wrote:

Firstly these are xc bikes, designed for cross country and general trails. They are not for downhill and will not be ble to handle it at all really! But depends what you mean by downhill - they will handle small jumps and minor drops, but not the big stuff!

Thanks for the reply That's given me a bit to think about then as I would like to give downhill a try, that being trails in Wales with some jumps etc. nothing too crazy though. I don't really know what type of bike I should be looking at :oops:

Local stores:
http://www.cycleworld.co.uk/
http://www.velocitybikes.co.uk/
and Hargroves and Halfords are the main ones I can remember just now

Also my local cycle world has the Giant Talon 1 on sale at £699, but I think that's just a XC too? http://www.cycleworld.co.uk/product/212 ... _Bike_2011

supersonic

Depends how high you want to jump ;-). But a DH bike will be no good on normal trails as far too heavy.

I'd start with a bike like the Cubes here, then if you feel your riding is getting harder and requires a more capable machine I'd upgrade then.

The Talon is very similar to the others, but with more relaxed geometry to add stability.

Do you have a Halfords or CDecathlon nearby.

Eranu

The WLS is a womens geometry bike, so unless your a girl it may not be best suited

As for the riding round here, then either of those will do most if not all of the trails, including the new trails at qecp.

Hargroves are normally pretty helpful but also look at Solent Cycles.

AlaskaStone

supersonic wrote:

Depends how high you want to jump ;-). But a DH bike will be no good on normal trails as far too heavy.

I'd start with a bike like the Cubes here, then if you feel your riding is getting harder and requires a more capable machine I'd upgrade then.

The Talon is very similar to the others, but with more relaxed geometry to add stability.

Do you have a Halfords or CDecathlon nearby.

I have a Halfords, but no Decathlon, but I'm hoping to buy from one of my other local bike stores as they do 0% finance - which I don't think Halfords do.

I think that I'll take a look at these two again then just to get me started on XC and (easy) trail riding. Looks like DH will be something for the future

Thanks for the advice!

AlaskaStone

Eranu wrote:

The WLS is a womens geometry bike, so unless your a girl it may not be best suited

As for the riding round here, then either of those will do most if not all of the trails, including the new trails at qecp.

Hargroves are normally pretty helpful but also look at Solent Cycles.

Don't worry I am a girl :P

It's good to know that either of these bikes are suited to Hampshire and that they'll be able to handle the rides. I will mainly be riding in and around qecp and I'm starting from basics, so it does look like either of these two will get me started pretty well.

Thanks for the advice, I'm a little less confused now!

Eranu

If you live near qecp you can help with trail building too

EyesintheSky

Hey, I have a 2011 Attention and absolutely love it! It feels great whatever I throw at it, local Malverns to Cannock and FoD, the frame feels solid with no worrying issues so far. It's also a great starting block to upgrade in the future unless full on downhill does take your fancy A trusted purchase!