First serious bike.

mikelskas

Hi guys,

I am currently looking to purchase my first serious mountain bike.

I have narrowed it down to the following three:

Trek 3900 d 2012

Specialized Hardrock sport disk 2012

Giant revel 1 2012

I will be riding 70% roads and 30% trails. I wont be tackling any heavy trails with it so it wont be used for drops, jumps etc.

I will probably ride the bike as it is for a year and then start to look at upgrades.
Which of the three would you recommend from a components point of view. I.e which has the best components that will stand up to fast trails/roads.

I am of course in the middle of trying each bike. So far i have only tried the Trek which i found very nice but a little 'too soft'. I am hoping to try the giant and the specialised tomorrow.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

Giraffoto

More and better advice is likely to come along soon, but there appears to be some agreement that forks are an important component to consider when you're deciding. Since you can easily spend a third to a half of the original price of your bike on any substantial upgrade to the forks, its worth bearing in mind.

I have last year's Hardrock Sport disk and it suits me just fine, although I have fitted a shorter stem to it now. I'm still vaguely considering a fork upgrade.

El Zomba

Where are you looking to buy from? Evans has brought the price on the Hardrock down to £450, which brings it more in line with the other two. But before Supersonic jumps in, I'd recommend this:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html#ancre-detail

The frame is made by the same people who make Specialized's frames, but the spec is far, far superior to the three bikes you've listed. In fact, if you did buy one of the other bikes, you'd probably end up upgrading it to the Decathon's spec anyway, and it would cost you far more than buying the Decathlon off the peg.

EH_Rob

El Zomba wrote:

Where are you looking to buy from? Evans has brought the price on the Hardrock down to £450, which brings it more in line with the other two. But before Supersonic jumps in, I'd recommend this:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html#ancre-detail

The frame is made by the same people who make Specialized's frames, but the spec is far, far superior to the three bikes you've listed. In fact, if you did buy one of the other bikes, you'd probably end up upgrading it to the Decathon's spec anyway, and it would cost you far more than buying the Decathlon off the peg.

This. Rockrider is by far the best value, nothing comes anywhere close to it.

chez_m356

of the 3 bikes i would say the specialized just edges it over the other 2, but as the others have said, if you can stretch your budget for the Rockrider, you will be getting far more for your money, to get a similar spec from the 3 makes you mentioned, you would be paying several hundred pounds more than the price of the 8.1

mikelskas

Thanks for the replies guys.
The decathlon bike does look good. I guess it would just be a case of stretching my budget that extra £50. I have to admit i'm already at a bit of a stretch though. Hence the reason i was looking for a good entry bike that could easily be upgraded later on.

Il have to go and see the decathlon bike in person, hopefully justifying the extra cost.

supersonic

The Decathlon is miles ahead of the other bikes! The Trek is just poor for the money, the Giant barely better: the Hardrock has some decent spec, but all are flawed by awful forks.

The Rookie

If you can't stretch to the Rockrider, consider the Carrera Vulcan which is £340 right now and better than those big name bikes despite them costing a lot more!

Simon

chez_m356

The Beginner wrote:

If you can't stretch to the Rockrider, consider the Carrera Vulcan which is £340 right now and better than those big name bikes despite them costing a lot more!

Simon

cheaper yes

supersonic

And better than the Trek and Giant by a country mile! And I'd say the HR too, courtesy of the fork.

chez_m356

supersonic wrote:

And better than the Trek and Giant by a country mile! And I'd say the HR too, courtesy of the fork.

i,d have said around the same as the HR all things considered,but thats just MO, but value for money does count i suppose, but once you have bought the vulcan, how much to get it to the 8.1 standard? which is really what i was getting at

supersonic

It's just a bugbear of mine when manufacturers fit undamped forks lol. The Trek and Revel are inexcusable, really dire specs for the cash, the HR gets a nice drivetrain and wheels, but I'd actually rather see a lower spec drivetrain and a better fork. But on the shop floor, saying 27 to a punter over 24 is easier to push than a fork, which all look similar ;-)

chez_m356

supersonic wrote:

It's just a bugbear of mine when manufacturers fit undamped forks lol. The Trek and Revel are inexcusable, really dire specs for the cash, the HR gets a nice drivetrain and wheels, but I'd actually rather see a lower spec drivetrain and a better fork. But on the shop floor, saying 27 to a punter over 24 is easier to push than a fork, which all look similar ;-)

you don't have to tell me, i have a 2010 HR remember, worse than the current spec, well it was , but its a bit annoying when you give people advice on the best they can get,for just a little more than they were looking at spending, and someone throws a cheaper alternative in the works, yes it can save someone money at first, but then if, they want to upgrade, it would probably cost them more in the end than the initial cost of, for instance, an 8.1.....see where i'm coming from now ?

supersonic

Oh definitely, but at £330 the Vulcan is a really good buy, especially if you can't fork out £500.

Frosticles

I bought my first bike last March and after a LOT of research I opted for the Rockrider 8.1. I have never regretted that decision for one moment. Fantastic bike for the money in every way.

chez_m356

supersonic wrote:

Oh definitely, but at £330 the Vulcan is a really good buy, especially if you can't fork out £500.

a hell of a lot more value for money than a HR thats for sure it was a very good suggestion though, would be more than enough for what the op wants, and if he did eventually upgrade, it would most probably be to something much more expensive than a few new parts, as most of us on here have learnt at some point

mikelskas

Hi again guys. Once again thanks for the great advice.

I did go to decathlon and try the rockrider. The guy in the shop said he had sold out of them all and was wainting on 9 more to be delivered. He did let me try out one in the shop though and I have to admit it just didn't feel 'right' to me.
Yes I know it is fantastic value for money but I couldnt put my hand on my heart and say I liked it, thus I couldn't justify spending so much on it.

The good news is though that I am now the proud owner of a Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 2012 thanks to a colleague of my dads who was selling the bike for a very reasonable price with only light use. So I have saved some money which I hope to put towards upgrades sometime later this year.

I have only been on a few rides so far. The furthest being 18miles on a combination of roads/pavements. The seat made me a little sore but thats to be expected! I also found the grips became uncomfortable but again maybe thats to be expected having not rode for 3-4 years.

For the moment though I am looking to pick up the basics. I am currently researching what type of oil is best and trying to find a good price on some lights.

Once again, thanks for the help and I look forward to being a part of this active community.

chez_m356

as long as your happy with it, thats all that matters

IBISMojoHDamon

Padded cycle shorts will help the censored !.... But remember... They are never to be worn without baggies over the top...

bartimaeus

Mikelskas wrote:

The seat made me a little sore but thats to be expected! I also found the grips became uncomfortable but again maybe thats to be expected having not rode for 3-4 years.

Don't be afraid to swap/adjust contact points... so give the saddle a chance, and get some padded shorts, but saddles are very personal, so if the worst comes to the worst, try a different one... not all are expensive. There was a saddle 'swap shop' on here at one point.

Grips are also relatively inexpensive - but if you don't have gloves, maybe try some gloves first. But remember, gloves are primarily for grip rather than comfort so don't get ones with too much padding.

Small adjustments to the saddle height, saddle position, and the stem height will make a difference in how the bike feels - and you can also change the stem length and bar width (for around £50) depending on the riding you do.

Bikeradar has some articles on all of this - e.g. this one and this one.

For lights see "What Lights" - though this is primarily a set of theads on lights for off-road at night. The key message is that lights need not be too expensive. Looking in most shops you'd think you need to spend £150+ for decent lights, but MBR just gave 10/10 to a £40 Ultrafire SSC P7 light which would be plenty bright enough to ride singletrack off-road in the dark.