MTB Best Buy under £500

ironiv

Hello All

Admittedly, I am not the most experienced cyclist in the world. In fact, I am looking on buying my first mountain bike in 15 years.

There are fantastic bikes to buy nowadays, made from super aluminium allows and fancy ultra light components. It is difficult for beginner like me to make a choice between them.

I have been looking for the best bike under £500 for weeks, my research so far narrowed down to six mountain bikes, all complete with Hydraulic Disc brakes and front adjustable suspension.

On paper, there all look good to my amateur eye.

Which of those six is the Best Buy and why?

__________________________________________Material_____Fork (mm)___Brakes (Front/Rear)
1 Land Rover Experience Hydro 2011__£349.99___Al 7005______100______ Hydraulic Disc (160/160)
2 Claud Butler Shamen 2012_________£359.99___Al 6061______???______Hydraulic Disc (160/160)
3 Carrera Vulcan 2011/2012_________ £379.99___Al 7005_____120_______Hydraulic Disc (???/???)
4 GT Avalanche 2.0 Hydro___________£409.49___Al 6061_____100_______Hydraulic Disc (180/160)
5 Carrera Kraken 2011/2012________ £449.99___Al 7005_____120_______Hydraulic Disc (???/???)
6 DECATHON Rockrider 8.1 2011_____£499.99___Al 6061_____100_______Hydraulic Disc (160/160)

You could find them all at (16/03/2012):
1 http://www.damianharriscycles.co.uk/pro ... ntain-Bike
2 http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Claud-Butler-Sh ... _52057.htm
3 http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499
4 http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-avalanche-20-hydro-2011/
5 http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab2
6 http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html


Thank you very much,
ironIV

supersonic

I put the old thread here, split it from where you posted:

viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12842293

It is the Rockrider ;-)

2wheelsonit

vulcan is a good bike the rockriders better pound for pound its a steal for what you get buy it noe before they realise

ironiv

Hello All,

I would like to make something clear, I didn't ask which is the best bike.
I asked which is the Best Buy
for example:
The Vulcan is about 3/4 of the Rockrider's price. Does the Rockrider worth the extra £120?

it seems that you all gone for the most expensive!
Regards,
ironIV

apreading

ironiv wrote:

The Vulcan is about 3/4 of the Rockrider's price. Does the Rockrider worth the extra £120?

Quite simply: YES

The Rockshox Recon forks alone would make it worth the extra but just about everything else is in a different league too. The Kraken is well worth the extra over the Vulcan (see a thread on here last week from someone who bought the Vulcan and now realises it was a mistake and wants to buy the Kraken and sell the Vulcan). The Decathlon is worth a heck of a lot more than the Kraken. I have seen bikes nearly twice the price with poorer components.

apreading

I should add that I was in Decathlon 2 weeks ago and saw the Rockride and thought it was great - assumed it was a bargain at something like £800, then realised it was only £500!!!

Its soo cheap that my instincts are telling me to buy one although I dont need another bike and mine is better than it anyway, but it has to be the bargain of the decade.

supersonic

I didn't ask which is the best bike.

You did ;-). Is clearly in bold in your first post! But you also asked which is the best buy, and it is still the Rockrider.

ironiv

Well that make sense, thank you!
What are your feeling on the Kraken?
The nearest DECATHON to me is 80mls which is a bit far compared to the nearest Halfords which is only 7mls.

Thx,
ironIV

The Rookie

The Rockrider is the best bike/buy for most people, the 2 main competitors you haven't listed are the Carrera Fury (sub £500 when on offer, which is often,) and the Voodoo Hoodoo, neither are as good value but may be a better bike for some people as the RR is more XC orientated.

Simon

supersonic

Is a very good bike still, but the fork is limited compared to the one on the Rockrider, and heavier all round.

The Rookie

If your going to Halfords, the 2 I mentioned above are better bikes/buys than the Kraken, I would also say Vulcan is better value buy than the Kraken though not as good a bike.

2wheelsonit

to me the best buy is getting a balance of the best components and the lightest most durable bike and with good after sale support as a bonus. For this reason i voted Rockrider 8.1 although it is the more expensive it is actually still cheap for what your getting i've just recently took 2 Carrera vulcans back after about a day each due to a catalogue of failed components and compared to the rockrider 8.1 they were like tesco specials