Best Halfords MTB for £600

fergo

Hi All

Looking to buy an new MTB from my local Halfords, have around £600 to spend. Would be used for light off road, local trails, canals, few local routes in woods, nothing heavy though. What are your thoughts?

Cheers

mar_k

What does it have to be from Halfords?
Why not widen your choice by looking at other shops aswell

petriodet

A lot of people suggest the carrera fury http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_810735_langId_-1_categoryId_165499#tab2, if you can find an extra £50 the boardman comp http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777747_langId_-1_categoryId_165499#tab2 is a decent upgrade over the carrera, it has better forks,better brakes and is lighter, but if you can only afford £600 the fury is a decent bike for the money.

fergo

Thanks for that, the boardman comp looks a great bike, what about the Boardman Urban MTB?

petriodet

fergo wrote:

Thanks for that, the boardman comp looks a great bike, what about the Boardman Urban MTB?

it's entirely up to you, the thing with the urban mtb is it doesn't have suspension forks and has slick tyres, but it does have the sram x7 over the x5 on the comp. personally i'd go for the comp if you want to go off road, if you only ride road and canal path the urban would be adequate.

Adam918

If you search the internet for a Halfords 10% off voucher code and use quidco you can pick up a Boardman for 560 to 570!! Great Bike and i think a Bargain!!

Slamdunkin

As you only want it for lightish trails and footpaths, the weight saving on the Urban would be more advantageous to you rather than forks over spec'd for your use. The Urban is a light bike and will help you fly along the terrain you intend to ride.

If you then find yourself doing more rugged stuff then you can always buy a set of forks in keeping with you newly gained perspective and passion for spending to increase your pleasure and ability. Or you stay riding the same terrain that you do now and have a great bike for doing so with the Urban.

PS...if you add the code NUSAPR11 at the reserve and collect checkout it will give you 10% off the price.

ElliesDad

Quidco are doing a 10% online voucher plus 4% cashback at the moment.

I'm picking up a Boardman Comp HT from Halfords tonight for £584 plus 4% cashback still to come!

fergo

Thanks for all the feedback, let me know how you get on with HT Comp as I defo fancy a Boardman bike

juice370

Does the 10% code end tonight (24th) or tomorrow (25th) as on the Quidco site it says "Expires in 1 Day"? Be more helpful if they actually add a date instead.

Cheers
J

mikey2341

it ends tonight NUSAPR12 works until end of the month though for 10%

ElliesDad

And presumably next month will be NUSMAY12 as last month was NUSMAR12.

I picked up the Comp HT last night althoughI havent had chance to ride it yet, damned work and weather, lol. It seems a really nice bike but just make sure (as with any bike from Halfords) you give it a check over yourself. Their builds leave a lot to be desired, safe but need lots of adjusting. So far I have readjusted the gears and the brakes. One other thing I would recommend if you go with the Comp (or any bike with air forks) is to invest in a shock pump, without this you wont be able to set the correct sag for your weight and riding style.

ElliesDad

One other thing, dont make the mistake I made when I got back into cycling. It was primarily to get fit and get out with the family on forest trails/green routes etc, now three months down the line I am selling my "old" bike which fitted that useage perfectly so I could get the Comp as I am now hooked on mountain biking and starting to get into red routes and more difficult terrain. I will still potter about with the family and still use the Comp to go to the shops etc, but at least I now know I have a bike that will fit both styles of riding I want to do.

clydefrog

ElliesDad wrote:

And presumably next month will be NUSMAY12 as last month was NUSMAR12.

I picked up the Comp HT last night althoughI havent had chance to ride it yet, damned work and weather, lol. It seems a really nice bike but just make sure (as with any bike from Halfords) you give it a check over yourself. Their builds leave a lot to be desired, safe but need lots of adjusting. So far I have readjusted the gears and the brakes. One other thing I would recommend if you go with the Comp (or any bike with air forks) is to invest in a shock pump, without this you wont be able to set the correct sag for your weight and riding style.

I take it be readjusting you mean just moving their position on the handlebars and nothing else?

supersonic

ALl bikes need readjusting after a ride or two - brakes etc, and you should be checkign bolts routinely.

clydefrog

I have a question about this code thing, it says it's NUS so if you used it in the online reserve and collect then went to collect it would you have to show your NUS card? I was just going to go to Halfords tomorrow morning and put the order it in (at normal price) to pick it up on Friday, but I'm wondering about this now.

swelsbyuk

My guess is that it all depends on how anal the staff are. I have bought two bikes from Halfords in the past year, ordered both online using NUS code - it just shows up on their system as a final price and that's what they charge you, the discount has never even been referred to.

However, if you turn up in store and say "I'm a student BTW, please give me 10% off" you are kind of opening yourself up to a challenge from the staff. Personally, to avoid embarrassment and a potentially wasted trip, I would order online.

clydefrog

Order online for collection or order online for home delivery?

Actually nevermind I'm just going to stick to my original plan and just go and order it for the normal price in store this morning.

Jimx26

clydefrog wrote:

Order online for collection or order online for home delivery?

Actually nevermind I'm just going to stick to my original plan and just go and order it for the normal price in store this morning.

Order it online for collection, save yourself some money and go via quidco and use the NUSAPR12 code. I did the other week and got a boardman pro for a shade over £800 if quidco come through.

Didnt ask if I was a student and there are no t&c's that I could find that suggest you have to be.

ElliesDad

clydefrog wrote:

ElliesDad wrote:

And presumably next month will be NUSMAY12 as last month was NUSMAR12.

I picked up the Comp HT last night althoughI havent had chance to ride it yet, damned work and weather, lol. It seems a really nice bike but just make sure (as with any bike from Halfords) you give it a check over yourself. Their builds leave a lot to be desired, safe but need lots of adjusting. So far I have readjusted the gears and the brakes. One other thing I would recommend if you go with the Comp (or any bike with air forks) is to invest in a shock pump, without this you wont be able to set the correct sag for your weight and riding style.

I take it be readjusting you mean just moving their position on the handlebars and nothing else?

Yes I spent quite some time the other night adjusting the fit of the bike, ie handlebars, saddle etc. But I also had to adjust the brakes and gears. the gears weren't running quite as sweetly as I would have liked so I tweaked them but the brakes were almost laughable. To start with the guy in Halfords opened the conversation by saying "I've bled the front brake and it works al lot better now", a bit of a strange commment I thought. Not so much bleeding the brakes but the comment about working a lot better. Anyway, the brake levers felt really spongy, almost to the point where I could pull ther lever to the bars. There is an adjustment screw just under the lever which when adjusted has made the brakes crisp and sweet. I was confident enough to do this at home and as it was 7.30pm I didnt really want to spend another hour or so hanging around in the store.

Don't get me wrong, it seems like a great bike but if you are buying from Halfords be prepared for a bit of tinkering when you get home. If you arent confident to do this either make sure you get the Halfords mechanics to adjust the bike to your satisfaction before you leave or pop it into your LBS for a quick service.

aahjnnot

ElliesDad wrote:

Don't get me wrong, it seems like a great bike but if you are buying from Halfords be prepared for a bit of tinkering when you get home. If you arent confident to do this either make sure you get the Halfords mechanics to adjust the bike to your satisfaction before you leave or pop it into your LBS for a quick service.

Yeah, totally. The setup on my Boardman Comp was a joke: no air in the tyres; multiple components dangling loose from the frame, pedals attached when I'd specifically asked for them to be left off; brake levers in wrong position on handlebars; fork with an absurd rebound setting; etc. It took me no more than an hour to fix everything, but I really shouldn't have needed to. It was particularly pathetic to see that the staff had carefully ticked every item on the pre-delivery checklist when clearly they'd checked nothing.

I also had an amusing conversation with one of their bike 'experts' when he attempted to sell me a shock pump to pump up my tyres. I really don't think that he understood the difference even after I'd explained it to him - "It's a pump, isn't it? And it has a pressure gauge like you wanted."

Great bike at a great price, though.

ElliesDad

Yes great price and great bike, really looking forward to getting out on it!

At least you had a rebound setting, that was something I forgot to mention! I spent ages trying to work out how to adjust it when I got the bike home (first forks I've had with rebound adjust!), it turned out the red adjustment knob was missing! Had to pop in to the store to get one from a very apologetic Halfords mechanic.

johnnicebutdim

Can't you get your employer to join the Cycle to work scheme and get yourself a discount that way as Halfords subscribe to it?

I am making certain assumptions in my reply - ignore me if my assumptions are way out!!