Which beginner’s bike for £600-£700?

MyNameIsEarl

Hi

I’m looking for a good bike for a beginner, with a budget of £600-£700.

I’ll be riding local XC trails, nothing too taxing to start with (over 40 and not very fit)

I was looking at either:

Boardman Comp HT
Specialized Rockhopper
Carrera Fury

I’ve also got the option of my LBS building a custom bike for me, would that be a better bet?

For £600, they can supply this spec:
ADC LITE FRAME, RST OMEGA SUSP FORK MICROSHIFT SHIFTERS, DEORE HYDRAULIC DISCS, ALEX DP17 RIMS

What do you think?

chez_m356

you wont find anything better than this for your budget http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html and you'll save a few quid too

Buckled_Rims

First of all there's far too much choice now-a-days. I doubt any bike is the "best" no matter what price bracket it's on. So, if you're looking at getting fit, then £600 sounds about right for a MTB for local and slightly more advanced trails. I'd go for the Boardman, it's just a shame it'll be bought from a Halfords :-( It's highly possible my next MTB will be a Boardman...hopefully next year.

As for the custom build, I'd stay clear unless you know exactly what your want. RST forks and Microshifters might be cheap and cheerful, but ...lets be honest...you'll soon hear that others have Rockshox forks and XT shifters for a few £'s more and want them instead.

clydefrog

I picked the Comp HT over the Fury, mainly because of people on here telling me the fork is better on it, the rest of it is pretty much equal.

ElliesDad

I was in exactly the same position as you, a forty something unfit beginner.

I went for the Boardman Comp HT in the end, I did try the Decathlon Rockrider 8.1 but to be honest I wasnt taken by it and it didnt fit nearly as well as the Boardman! Thats the key at the end of the day, you need to test different bikes for fit.

I can recommend the Boardman though, its a fantastic bike and lightweight for its price point. Its even more of a steal if you reserve it on line using the code NUSMAY12 which gives you 10% off bringing the price down to £584.99.

clydefrog

One bad thing about the boardman (for me anyways), the saddle, even after just sitting on it for a few seconds I could tell it wasn't comfortable. I think I'll have to get a new one before I go on any long rides on it.

The Rookie

For £20 a charge spoon is the no brainer replacement saddle.

clydefrog

The Beginner wrote:

For £20 a charge spoon is the no brainer replacement saddle.

I hear of this one a lot but it's no guarantee I'll find it comfortable, don't really know how to go about getting a new saddle, if I just go for the most popular one such as the spoon or not.

EH_Rob

I'd say its a good starting point, it's well priced and seems very popular so you can always take it back or flog it if doesn't suit.

Bike wise you can't go far wrong with Boardman.

Cr3do

chez_m356 wrote:

you wont find anything better than this for your budget http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html and you'll save a few quid too

+1 for the Rockrider! Really great bike for the price!

MyNameIsEarl

Thanks everyone for the quick replies, especially to ElliesDad where I ordered the Boardman online, with the promo code and got the bike for £584.99. Woo-hoo!

Looking forward to trying it out.

Thanks again.

ElliesDad

Good stuff!

The bike will be fine, but one thing I will advise is to check the bike thoroughly when you get it home and be prepared to adjust things if necessary. Halfords builds leave a bit to be desired sometimes (not the fault of the bike but the mechanics), when I got mine home I had to adjust the brakes and gears quite a bit.

Its pretty simple stuff really, but if you have any reservations either pop it into a proper bike shop for a quick service or get a mate to look at it for you. Then enjoy!

And if your ever up at Cannock Chase or Haughmond Hill and see another floundering 40something beginner floundering about on a Boardman Comp it will probably be me!

MyNameIsEarl

Hi,

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on going for the Boardman. Just picked it up earlier this evening and it's fantastic. I was worried about bad reports from Halfords mechanics, but had an honest chat with the guy who put it together and they are well aware of the bad press. He was really helpful and put my mind at ease, went through everything with me and checked I was okay with it.

I'm a very happy bunny. Thanks again.

clydefrog

MyNameIsEarl wrote:

Hi,

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on going for the Boardman. Just picked it up earlier this evening and it's fantastic. I was worried about bad reports from Halfords mechanics, but had an honest chat with the guy who put it together and they are well aware of the bad press. He was really helpful and put my mind at ease, went through everything with me and checked I was okay with it.

I'm a very happy bunny. Thanks again.

I also just got mine recently, I'd like to know, how far back can you pull your brake levers without much force? I realise they'll probably be different to mine as when I was in Halfords today getting a chainstay protector I pulled the ones on a boardman in the store and they didn't go back as far as mine; it's made me think mine might not be as they should be but then again each of my brakes are identical in that they both go back the same distance and feel the same etc. That's made me think it probably isn't anything to do with the bleed but I'd still like to know how they are for others.

ElliesDad

clydefrog wrote:

MyNameIsEarl wrote:

Hi,

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on going for the Boardman. Just picked it up earlier this evening and it's fantastic. I was worried about bad reports from Halfords mechanics, but had an honest chat with the guy who put it together and they are well aware of the bad press. He was really helpful and put my mind at ease, went through everything with me and checked I was okay with it.

I'm a very happy bunny. Thanks again.

I also just got mine recently, I'd like to know, how far back can you pull your brake levers without much force? I realise they'll probably be different to mine as when I was in Halfords today getting a chainstay protector I pulled the ones on a boardman in the store and they didn't go back as far as mine; it's made me think mine might not be as they should be but then again each of my brakes are identical in that they both go back the same distance and feel the same etc. That's made me think it probably isn't anything to do with the bleed but I'd still like to know how they are for others.

When I picked up my Comp from Halfords the brakes had quite a lot of travel and they also felt very spongy. I was about to resign myself to the fact that I might need to bleed them when as a last resport I adjusted the grub screw just under the lever, I think this is supposed to adjust the reach of the levers but in my case it made the brakes much sharper, not nearly as much travel and the spongy feeling has gone.

MyNameIsEarl

ElliesDad wrote:

clydefrog wrote:

MyNameIsEarl wrote:

Hi,

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on going for the Boardman. Just picked it up earlier this evening and it's fantastic. I was worried about bad reports from Halfords mechanics, but had an honest chat with the guy who put it together and they are well aware of the bad press. He was really helpful and put my mind at ease, went through everything with me and checked I was okay with it.

I'm a very happy bunny. Thanks again.

I also just got mine recently, I'd like to know, how far back can you pull your brake levers without much force? I realise they'll probably be different to mine as when I was in Halfords today getting a chainstay protector I pulled the ones on a boardman in the store and they didn't go back as far as mine; it's made me think mine might not be as they should be but then again each of my brakes are identical in that they both go back the same distance and feel the same etc. That's made me think it probably isn't anything to do with the bleed but I'd still like to know how they are for others.

When I picked up my Comp from Halfords the brakes had quite a lot of travel and they also felt very spongy. I was about to resign myself to the fact that I might need to bleed them when as a last resport I adjusted the grub screw just under the lever, I think this is supposed to adjust the reach of the levers but in my case it made the brakes much sharper, not nearly as much travel and the spongy feeling has gone.

Ahh, I was wondering about that. There's a lot of travel on mine too. The guy in the shop said he'd checked them and didn't feel they needed bleeding yet, so will just adjust 'em.

clydefrog

ElliesDad wrote:

When I picked up my Comp from Halfords the brakes had quite a lot of travel and they also felt very spongy. I was about to resign myself to the fact that I might need to bleed them when as a last resport I adjusted the grub screw just under the lever, I think this is supposed to adjust the reach of the levers but in my case it made the brakes much sharper, not nearly as much travel and the spongy feeling has gone.

I just tried this on mine and it's done the same thing and they don't go back as far now (they went about an inch from the handlebar before or a bit less if I squeezed them hard, I thought that was how it should be but trying some others made me think otherwise), I thought all that would've done is made the lever move further out or in (I turned the allen clockwise by the way, is that what you did?) but I didn't notice any difference in the lever position apart from now they don't pull back as far. Thanks for the tip.

clydefrog

---

ElliesDad

clydefrog wrote:

ElliesDad wrote:

When I picked up my Comp from Halfords the brakes had quite a lot of travel and they also felt very spongy. I was about to resign myself to the fact that I might need to bleed them when as a last resport I adjusted the grub screw just under the lever, I think this is supposed to adjust the reach of the levers but in my case it made the brakes much sharper, not nearly as much travel and the spongy feeling has gone.

I just tried this on mine and it's done the same thing and they don't go back as far now (they went about an inch from the handlebar before or a bit less if I squeezed them hard, I thought that was how it should be but trying some others made me think otherwise), I thought all that would've done is made the lever move further out or in (I turned the allen clockwise by the way, is that what you did?) but I didn't notice any difference in the lever position apart from now they don't pull back as far. Thanks for the tip.

Can't remember which way I turned the grub screw, but mine didn't appear to move position either.

clydefrog

ElliesDad wrote:

Can't remember which way I turned the grub screw, but mine didn't appear to move position either.

Have you used the bike since you adjusted them?

mikeymike

The Carrera Fury comes highly recommended. It's within your price range.

We use these at work so I can certainly vouch for it.

ElliesDad

A couple of times, yes. They are quite sharp and they are still bedding in. Coming from V brakes on my last bike they are much keener.