Newbie, saying hi and needing advice

hiswitsend

Hi,

Have been no stranger to bikes in the past, though for the last few years they have all had an engine: Still have my old Shogun Trailbreaker 2 (clue to age and then add some) :oops: and have covered a few road/canal path miles on it, but now have a quandary:

I was determined to do get back into cycling to up/regain some fitness and also to do some proper mountain biking, round Glentress etc and I appear to have agreed to tackle the Strathpuffer Lite in June :shock: :shock: :oops:

Now, while I am sure I could pick my way round on the Shogun; am looking at getting a different bike and was looking around the second hand market for a hardtail when my mate offered me his Carrera Hellcat (with two sets of wheels) , full sus, effort.

From what I have read, I was thinking, from budget (£250 max) that it would have to be hardtail like the Specialized Hardock Pro or such like, but he did say that the Hellcat did have good suspension and that the rear can be locked off, or rather the preload wound right up.

My question, therefore is this: Hellcat, or hell no!

Cheers

Dave

cooldad

Hell no. Full Sus from around 1999? I wouldn't, unless he was giving it away. At £250 you can get a very decent second hand bike.

hiswitsend

Cheers

Didn't want to offend him, he's offered me it for £125 including the spare set of wheels/tyres, thought that was ok, but was just not convinced that it would be best suited for what I wanted it for, so thought I double check since I don't know what I'm talking about

supersonic

Have a look at the Decathlon Rockrider 5.2, excellent entry level mountain bike.

cooldad

At £125 you MIGHT be able to sell the bits and make some beer money, but not to ride.
Heavy and very very dated.

hiswitsend

supersonic wrote:

Have a look at the Decathlon Rockrider 5.2, excellent entry level mountain bike.

Cheers, hadn't come across that one yet; looks good

cooldad wrote:

At £125 you MIGHT be able to sell the bits and make some beer money, but not to ride.
Heavy and very very dated.

Will pass that on, if there's money to be made on it he should do it - oh, he also said something about the brakes not being as good as they once were...so even more of a no from that standpoint.

cooldad

I said might. I wouldn't count on it.

hiswitsend

After revising my budget a bit, picked up a Carrera Kraken - quite chuffed with it as was the bike I thought I could get:

A wee picture - couple of wee things need doing, they main one being riding it

Chunkers1980

Second being bell and reflector removal!

hiswitsend

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Second being bell and reflector removal!

yup reflector will be coming off, but no bell - it'll either be the X-9 shifters or the hydraulic reservoirs