Decathlon Rockrider 8.1

Burnz0

Hi All
I'm off to Decathlon tomorrow to buy my Rockrider 8.1 (after reading everything on here it sounds like the best bet for my £500 budget. I've made my dislikes of the looks quite clear but I'm going to go for substance over style! ).
I've noticed it comes with clip in pedals which concerns me slightly so can anyone recommend a decent set of normal (flats?) pedals for cheap that I can buy until I get confident enough to use the clip-ins?
Also, has anyone had any experience with Decathlon before - is there any potential to swap parts e.g. the pedals, or will they throw in any bits for free like you would probably get from your local bike shop. I expect the answer is no as they are a big store but it might be worth a try!
thanks

milko9000

I would get Superstar Nano flats. http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=194

mattrgee

When I got mine from stockport they had some decent flat pedals in store which they put on for me. They weren't very expensive. Enjoy!

cooldad

I think it actually comes with toe clips. If so just bin them straight away. CRC have Wellgos on sale I think. Any with pins will be ok.

Burnz0

it comes with Wellgo 823 WPD clipless pedals?

cooldad

Sorry it's the lowere models that come with toeclips.

Burnz0

I was hoping to spend as little as possible (within reason) as the bike's already hitting the wallet quite hard. For the time being, will any cheapish flats be okay and then I can look to buy something better if need be in the future??

Burnz0

I've just seen that Evans have the 2011 Specialized Hardrock Pro on sale at £499 - would this be worth considering over the Rockrider as a last minute change??

supersonic

no.

jeannot18

Decathlon won't give you anything for free (I have tried when I got mine) as their profit margin is quite low, thus they are very good at honouring their warranty (personal experience). The money you will spend on cheapy pedals now won't be offset later on when you upgrade to a better pair. Unless you can find a pair for a couple of quids, if you are spending let's say £6 to £9 you may as well fork out the difference and get some decent ones. This is what I got on my Rockrider 8.1:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wellgo-MG1-Ma ... 6860478563
Enjoy your new bike!
JC

bellys

Decathlon are very good with the warranty but make sure you get you're 1st free service done off them that was if you get any probs there won't be a prob. As for a store the one at Stockport is very good and have an excellent cycling department as for the bike your getting you will not get a better bike for that little cash.
Give the peddles a try you might like them.
Iv had loads for there bikes and there very good I had the 9.2 until it got stolen just before Christmas.

roverthehill

let us know how you get on!!

Burnz0

I've just got back from Decathlon Lakeside with the new Rockrider and I'm sad to say it doesn't look any better in person. The bloked serving me assured me I was getting a bargain with the spec it has and that if the colour scheme was my only issue I should just live with it. He did however suggest that I could get some decals custom-made to go on the rims which might break up the white a bit and said they could probably do it in the workshop if I knew exactly what I wanted although I#ve got no idea how expensive it will be.

I went for the medium size so only time will tell if I've made the right decision as they weren't particularly helpful and just said it was a matter of preference. I'm about 5' 9/10" and had a little go on both the medium and large - I felt that I was leaning forward much more on the large whereas with the medium I'm slightly more upright and it felt like I've got more control over steering - which Im sure will come into play on the trails. Does this sound about right or would the larger model be better? I havent ridden a bike in so long that 30 seconds up and down the isle wasn't enough to test either.

As for the pedals, I bought a set of their £9 cheapos (in silver) - they don't look too good but I couldn't be bothered to wait for a new set to be delivered if I purchased them off the internet and at that price I can live with using them only as a temporary pair.

The question I've got is with the quick release wheels - I took the front wheel off to get in the car and I've put it back on but am not sure how tight it is and didn't want to force it. At the moment the quick release lever isn't lined up with the fork and is going in the opposite direction (if that makes sense) as I was struggling to get it to both line up and lock. Is there a knack to doing this? or will it be okay as is other than looking a bit funny?

Next thing is to buy a few extra bits like the bottle cage etc. and then have a think about any cheapish modifications I can make that will improve the look, but so far so good!

Burnz0

one more thing - I know looks are not important BUT if I was to go down the route of trying to make it look a little better what's your thoughts on what will look good? even for little things like the bottle cage there's such a wide variety of types and colours I've got no clue what will go best - I'm thinking either go for plain black on everything and possible remove some of the red stickers or adding a few bits of white and going for a black and white colour scheme - either way I think some of the red stickers will be going and I'm going to try and block out the white on the rims

supersonic

Size is a matter of prefrence ;-). There are no hard set rules to sizing, it does go on feel.

Quick release - hold the lever and turn the nut on the opposite size. Keep trying to close the lever, and when you feel resistance start to build up at 80-90 degrees from closed, snap the lever shut. Best to point them backwards if you can to stop branches snagging them.

As for decals and the like, ride it first - after a few rides it be scratched and buggered up anyway ;-)

roverthehill

who cares what it looks like = it's not a woman! enjoy it!!