Newbie needs advice... Canyon, Lapierre, Mondraker or Cube?

Bluenose17

Hello All, 1st post....go easy!

I'm fairly new to all this but can ride a bike!

I 've asked for help on another forum and it seems an all mountian full suss bike with around 140mm travel is the one for me (4or5 miles on the road to find the off-rd stuff)

I've been reccomended the Lapierre Zesty, Canyon AM, Mondraker Foxy. Just been to the LBS and they have the Cube bikes. The guy in the shop talked about the Cube Strereo PRO and even the carbon version - Strereo super HPC PRO. Me being big licks (as my dad used to call me) I want the Carbon one!... So going from spending around £1300 I may now spend £2300!

Am I going over the top as I'm no pro?
What are poeple's thoughts on these bikes? (Before all this I was looking at Trek & Specialized)

Thanks

mmafan

Get the most bang for your buck.... It doesnt matter if you're a pro or not, not everyone wearing a TLD D3 on the trails is a pro! Carbon is light and fast and pretty rigid, so if you like that feel then get it. I got a Canyon Strive and am super stoked with it. I would suggest that if you're going for a AM bike then get one with a dropper post if possible.

dirty face

mmafan wrote:

am super stoked

you've beenn listening to the pro's too much......."super stoked.........super sweet......super this...stoked that"

Bluenose17

Whats a dropper post - I saw the Whyte bike had a button raise/drop the seat post. I presume its that?

Any views on the bikes themselves?

Thinking Cube or Lepierre as LBS sells them and the Canyon is like a 3 month wait???

dirty face

Bluenose17 wrote:

Whats a dropper post - I saw the Whyte bike had a button raise/drop the seat post. I presume its that?

Any views on the bikes themselves?

Thinking Cube or Lepierre as LBS sells them and the Canyon is like a 3 month wait???

Yeah thats a dropper post, so you can 'drop' or raise the seat height on the move.

Both cube and lapierre are great bikes. Lap have got better rep from what I gather but either one you can't go wrong. The way to decide is look at the spec (forks / shock / drivetrain) and see which one has better stuff. Also if your LBS has them then go take a look and see which on takes your fancy. Pictures never really do bike justice tbh, when you see the one you want you will just know!

3 month wait for the Canyon? thats too long in my opinion, you'll miss out on what looks to be a great spring season for riding!

webby_1805

I think you'll find it's three weeks for the Canyon, well it had better or i have a long,long wait.

Neal_

You get a lot for you money with Canyon and judging by all the reviews they are great to ride, if the price is still right when I'm ready to buy a new bike I'll be getting a Nerve AM. As you'll be riding on road with it I'd avoid the 8.0X as it has a double and bash chainset so will be under geared for the road (IMO). The 7.0 would be my choice which is £1,878 with a dropper seat post (added at checkout) or £1,709 without but if you feel like splashing out then the 9.0 at £2,469 is pretty tasty. All sizes of the 7.0's and 9.0's are available immediately according the Canyon's website.

Stu Coops

All good bikes got a Lappy myself but as stated Canyon pretty hard to beat but take a look at Ghost 7500 or the lower specced ones some real good prices on most models now, you'll be SUPER STOKED & SUPER HAPPY AS IT'S SUPER SWEET as mmafan would say :roll: :shock:

Thewaylander

here is my advice,

Do you know what time of riding you prefer, you say yoru a newbie so have you done alot of off road riding? I say this because people approach to riding is vastly different and the tools people will pick then will be vastly different.

For instance i do some cross country, and a fair amount of push up/uplift days so my focus is far more down than climbing in fact as long as i can pedal to the top i'm not to worried, so i went to a 160mm bike, tried pedalling a 7"coild but i couldn't manage just up all the climbs i lke to do, so i have gone to the heaviest side of the spectrum i can.

But you may like trying to set times on your local trail, and if this is the case most time is saved climbing were a sharper lighter 120mm bike would help.

But the reasoning of my point is this, if your totally new and are not really sure yet and you spend 2.4k on a bike and you go the wrong wawy a year down the line your gonna be shopping again, or your going to spending huge sums of money trying to adjust the bike you bought to suit you.

When i returned to mtbing after having my previous bikes stolen(took a few years to save) i bought a cheaper general bike at first and got out and rode, then when i was totally sure of the direction of my riding i spent the larger sum this is just my advise but really figure out what riding you want to be doing

bartimaeus

Ride some bikes... borrow you mates bikes, blag a ride off of people you meet, and if possible find a 'demo day' and try some bikes.

The best spec in the world is no good if you don't like the way a bike rides - though unfortunately as a newbie you may initially pass on something which you may like when you know more about riding. But if a bike feels 'right' to you then it probably is right for you.

If you live anywhere near Petersfield in Hants then there's a demo day there on 20th May. You can try some 120-160mm FS bikes - though not Lapierre and Mondraker (and definitely not Canyon as they are a direct-sale operation). But Cube, Spesh, Scott, Stevens etc - and certainly the Cube Stereo. If you've never been to a demo day, I'd certainly recommend you find one and go with some mates.

Bluenose17

I live in Gloucestershire and dont know of any demo days?

A little dissappointed with Evans. I went there yesterday and not much selection. And the deals they claim on the web didnt transcend into the shop. Thinking of seeing if the LBS will let me ride a few, if not might just make the plunge and buy a Canyon AM 6.0. Everyone seems to rate the Canyon.....

dirty face

Bluenose17 wrote:

I live in Gloucestershire and dont know of any demo days?

A little dissappointed with Evans. I went there yesterday and not much selection. And the deals they claim on the web didnt transcend into the shop. Thinking of seeing if the LBS will let me ride a few, if not might just make the plunge and buy a Canyon AM 6.0. Everyone seems to rate the Canyon.....

where abouts in Gloucestershire? Leisure Lakes have a few demo bikes, and the guys in there are pretty helpful, most are riders themselves. I've been told to keep away from evans, apparently they are a posh version of Halfords, but I don't have any experience of them myself.

Bluenose17

Leisure Lakes is my LBS - a 5 min walk.
I went in the other day and as you say - very helpful. I spent about an hour picking their brains.
If I buy from them it may be a Cube (or the Lappy! lol)... I'll go check if I can demo but I'm sure he said they only do demo days??? I may have got that wrong. They may let me ride one arond the shop. Is that enough to know?

dirty face

I think they have a cube stereo demo bike, and a couple of others but can't remember which ones. I've ordered my next bike from them and collect in a week or so, I always find that whenever I go there they are glad to help and advise without trying to sell you something. Once spent 45 minutes in there just chewing the fat.

As far as the Lappiere goes, they sell them but don't stock them so probably wont have a demo version but I'm sure they'll sort something out if you give them a bell.

dirty face

here is the link which shows what demo bikes they have

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/Article.aspx?&id=141

Bluenose17

Thanks Dirty,

They have a Cube Stereo but just read the review on this website and it doesnt score very well. They dont like how it climbs or even on the flats they say its 'energy hungry'.... Dunno. The Canyon gets a good review but not sure about ordering online.

dirty face

Bluenose17 wrote:

Thanks Dirty,

They dont like how it climbs or even on the flats they say its 'energy hungry'.... Dunno.

fair one. I've never ridden one so could'nt comment, however, surely that depends on how the suspension is set up? does it have 'pro pedal' or equivelant? All i know is they're good spec for the money, but the ride may be different to every rider......its your call. At least if they have a demo bike you could try it out and see for yourself.

Eranu

They have a Cube Stereo but just read the review on this website and it doesnt score very well. They dont like how it climbs or even on the flats they say its 'energy hungry'.... Dunno. The Canyon gets a good review but not sure about ordering online.

The review isn't reflective of my or many others experience of the Stereo. I would try one, it climbs and descends very well, I've ridden mine all day so I would hardly call it energy hungry.

I would look at and try as many bikes as you can. The Giant Trance X has to be worth a look too in this price bracket.

Bluenose17

Or how about the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR comp 2011?

The bike was originally £1999.99 but it’s being sold at £1,449.99 at the moment. The 2012 is £2,300 but is basically the same spec???

Bluenose17

Hi All

Thanks for your help. I should have posted a while ago but I've been having too much fun on my new bike... in the end I went for teh Canyon nerve xc 7.0. I realised that I would be climbing a lot of hills and trails before coming back down so I didnt need the travel of an AM bike. Great bike and good service from Canyon. Good value too!

prowbiker

I'm in the mood to take the plunge on a Nerve AM 7
How does your xc ride ? What height & size frame did you get ?

The only thing that's stopping me ordering is the bearings issue - ie, how do you change 'em ? I've read that they have to be sent back to Germany ???

Bluenose17

Not really sure about the bearing thing... I've not thought that far along. How often do bearings need changing? As the title suggests I'm a newbie.

I went for a Medium sized (I'm 5,9) even though their site suggested a small. It rides well and feels good and is quiet. I havent really found a bad review... only the fact they arent a Bike retailer so might have after sales issues. I think now that they have a english office means they are serious about selling them here. I just wanted to get a bike which was good value fo money and had good reviews as I couldnt find any decent demo bikes local to me.

Neal_

prowbiker wrote:

I'm in the mood to take the plunge on a Nerve AM 7
How does your xc ride ? What height & size frame did you get ?

The only thing that's stopping me ordering is the bearings issue - ie, how do you change 'em ? I've read that they have to be sent back to Germany ???

Assuming the Nerve AM is the same as the XC it replacing the bearings seems pretty straight forward, have a look at this pdf guide http://creamteam.be/WordPress3/wp-conte ... cement.pdf