Worth the extra pennies???

MagikPocketz

Looking to buy an entry level bike and armed only with knowledge newly discovered on the internet I have creted a shortlist of a few bikes.

-Norco Storm 6.1 2012 £325 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/storm-61-2012-mountain-bike-ec031689
-Felt Q220 2012 £340 (best price) http://www.evanscycles.com/products/felt/q220-2012-mountain-bike-ec032648
-Hardrock Disc 2012 £400 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-disc-2012-mountain-bike-ec030131
-Voodoo Bantu 2011/12 £400 http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_786839_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

My intention, if I don't break my neck before is to have this bike for a couple of years and upgrade to a new bike as my skills improve at which time obviously my budget will increase. From what I can fathom the Voodoo has the better spec of all.
So my question would be - Is it worth paying the extra for the Specialized/Voodoo bearing in mind my long term plans, also is there some logik that a more basic bike would offer a purer riding experience?

Thanks in advance

lugsey2k5

Not sure about the quality of the ride but the voodoo is defiantly worth the extra in my opinion for the better brakes and forks.

The Rookie

Consider also the Carrera Vulcan at Halfords (although the price just went up I think), 5* review on here at the original £359) price.

Otherwise no1,2 and 3 on your list is the Voodoo, just pick the right one of the 3 sizes!

Don't pay extra for the Spesh, the frame is lovely but the spec is poor, only worth getting if you KNOW you'll keep it for a fair while and upgrade the lower spec parts off it, even then it's debateable as you may as well get a better specced bike and reframe it into a used Spesh frame later!

Simon

supersonic

The Voodoo blows the others awaty in that list - as mentioned, the fork and brakes are far better.

That Hardrock is painfully poor for the money.

MagikPocketz

At least there seems to be a clear winner at this point
@beginner - A friend has a Carrera Vulcan which he recommended to me but the current price is £480, at that price point I had already decided it would have been the Decathlon (Btwin) Rockrider 8.1 but I set my ceiling at £400 as I've all the accessories still to buy.
Interesting two opinions against the Specialized as I had somewhat come to the same conclusion.

chez_m356

MagikPocketz wrote:

At least there seems to be a clear winner at this point
@beginner - A friend has a Carrera Vulcan which he recommended to me but the current price is £480, at that price point I had already decided it would have been the Decathlon (Btwin) Rockrider 8.1 but I set my ceiling at £400 as I've all the accessories still to buy.
Interesting two opinions against the Specialized as I had somewhat come to the same conclusion.

personally i think you should rethink your budget, and push it that extra £100 for the 8.1, to get something with a similar spec from one of the big names, you could be paying not far off double the price of the rockrider

MagikPocketz

chez_m356 wrote:

personally i think you should rethink your budget, and push it that extra £100 for the 8.1, to get something with a similar spec from one of the big names, you could be paying not far off double the price of the rockrider

Would a rider like me with no experience at all really benefit? I'm sure your right in what you say but the capabilities of the bike will surely be restricted by my own lack of skill. I'm not against stretching the budget I just don't want to pay for something that has no relevance to me. I live very close to Cannock Chase so I will be doing some trail riding, hopefully quite regular.

idiotdogbrain

I wouldn't worry about buying something too good...! Seriously, my OH had never ridden mountain bikes before and got a Specialized Camber Elite at £1500 as her first ever mountain bike. She loves it and loves riding it, and fully appreciates the difference between it and something costing £500.

Always, always buy the best bike you can possibly afford, regardless of your skill level.

stubs

The law on MTB purchase budgeting is work out how much you can sensibly afford and double it. You know it makes sense

Get the Voodoo cracking bike avoid any Specialized under approx £700 they are poor in comparison to many others.

MagikPocketz

stubs wrote:

The law on MTB purchase budgeting is work out how much you can sensibly afford and double it. You know it makes sense

Yeah I'm learning that pretty quickly , impatience is starting to kick in now and I live within a few hundred yards of a Halfords with lots of Voodoo's in stock yet I am now contemplating the Rockrider. Thanks for all the good advice.

snotty badger

MagikPocketz wrote:

stubs wrote:

The law on MTB purchase budgeting is work out how much you can sensibly afford and double it. You know it makes sense

Yeah I'm learning that pretty quickly , impatience is starting to kick in now and I live within a few hundred yards of a Halfords with lots of Voodoo's in stock yet I am now contemplating the Rockrider. Thanks for all the good advice.

When I went new bike shopping a few years ago:
I thought "£600-800 for a nice HT"
when a mate said "might as well get a FS"
There was half decent FS for about a grand back then but were a real compromise of parts so using bloke logic I upped my budget and got a Pitch Pro. Just about doubled my original budget but meh its only money...

New bikes are only going up in price, so if you spend more than you wanted to now its saving money in the future. Honest

stubs

snotty badger wrote:

so if you spend more than you wanted to now its saving money in the future. Honest

This. You are obviously an economist do you work for the greek government

MagikPocketz

snotty badger wrote:

New bikes are only going up in price, so if you spend more than you wanted to now its saving money in the future. Honest

I chuckled and admired that logic all at the same time

Contemplating a trip over to Decathlon Wednesbury later, does anyone know if they offer a bike build service?

cycle monster

The biggest problem you will find with entry level bikes is the (lack of) quality of the suspension. My first (£250 ) and my second bike (£550) had rubbish front forks. Happily I managed to kill the front forks on the latter and Giant being unable to supply a replacement set, gave my LBS the RRP of a new set, so it was upgrade time. With Rockshox Toras on my 2010 Talon, I now casually ride over stuff that was impossible before. The difference in the ride is incredible. Quantum leaps to be made in upgrades at this level.

barbs

idiotdogbrain wrote:

I wouldn't worry about buying something too good...! Seriously, my OH had never ridden mountain bikes before and got a Specialized Camber Elite at £1500 as her first ever mountain bike. She loves it and loves riding it, and fully appreciates the difference between it and something costing £500.

Always, always buy the best bike you can possibly afford, regardless of your skill level.

Im just about to upgrade from a HT to FS and the two I have narrowed it down to is the specialized camber elite and Giant Anthem x4. Good to know your OH loves hers swaying me a bit more towards that one now :-)

MagikPocketz

Well I ended up getting the Voodoo Bantu in the end as I have absolutely no accessories, tools, clothing or safety gear that all still needed buying else that would have been another £150ish to the budget.
@Cycle monster - Tho only initial thing I've noticed is how soft the suspension is so I can see your point, I think I can adjust the air pressure in the forks a little but not tried it yet to see to what degree it alters them but riding with the lockout on at the mo.
Wave to me on Cannock Chase I'll be the one being air lifted out by the air ambulance

cooldad

You need a shock pump.