Looking to buy a bike with a budge of...

SpeedFræk

£1200 - £1700. I know I had made another thread comparing spesh bikes with the cube acid but since I now have an increase in budget (due to a tax rebate yippee!) I would like to splash out on something that is going to last me a lifetime. I am going to be doing XC and a little of DH in Scotland and in Spain. Quite like Kona, Ghost, Cube, Santa Cruz and Spesh.

I am a total newbie so I don´t really have a good knowledge base on brands etc.
I would really love some advice on which type of bike to buy.

Ideally i´d like something that is going to give me the best for my price range, hard wearing and has great suspension and is reputable.

Thanks




Sarah.

delcol

are you wanting new or second hand..? as that budget wont get you a full santa cruz bike. maybe get you a new frame..
could be worth looking at canyon, yt industries and rose as they do cheaper bikes that are pretty decent.

SpeedFræk

I was looking at the Santa Cruz chameleon I REALLY like the look of this bike but is it one of the best bikes of that price range or are there other better bikes? I know I shouldn´t really judge purely on brands or the "look" of a bike but it does look rather cool.

I am looking to buy brand new also.

What about the rest like Spesh, Ghost, Cube, Kona etc??

Was looking on here and it comes complete for 1,499 or am I wrong?

http://www.santacruzbikes.co.uk/chameleon#tabs-2

Are Santa Cruz the best manufacturers for this price range or are there better bike models?

Twelly

If that Santa Cruz on the link is £1499 with that fork and drivetrain I would look elsewhere. You can get a better fork on a bike costing half as much.

I have just bought a Cube LTD Pro with Reba's and XT/Deore drivetrain for £857

SpeedFræk

Thats a good price. I just like to ask for advice because its a lot of money to spend on a bike and I want to make the right decision as I am a total newbie here :oops:

I´ve also seen that there are free ride bikes too but im not sure which would suit me as i´d be using it for the hills/mountains, dirt tracks both here and in Scotland. A bike that can take a battering and will be comfortable and has good forks etc.

I am sorry for asking so many questions guys!

Twelly

With regards to drivetrains and components, this is a list of the Shimano and SRAM groupsets available with the best stuff at the top of the list. Should help you compare bikes with different components.

Shimano
XTR
Saint
Deore XT
SLX
Deore LX
Deore
Alivio
Acera


SRAM
XX
X0
X9
X7
X5
X4
X3

With forks it is a little different because different high end forks are built to do different jobs but as a general guide for the Rock Shox range...

Rock Shox
Boxxer
Revelation
Sid
Reba
Recon/Sektor
XC

If you are looking at hardtail bikes (front suspension only) I would expect at least a Reba fork and Shimano XT or SRAM X9 drivetrain. Full suspension bikes are more expensive so your budget will not stretch as far. I would be looking for nothing less than a Recon fork (or equivalent) and maybe X5 or Deore components.

Other things to consider:
Weight - Full sus 13kg or less is good, hardtail anything around the 11kg mark is ok
Brakes
Suspension Travel - dictated by the riding you intend to do

Obviously there is a lot of other things to think about, not least the size and fit of the bike and the kind of riding you intend to do on it but this will give you something to start with.

SpeedFræk

Thanks very much that will be very useful for me. With that information in hand and looking at specs I have excluded many of the bikes I did like.

The type of riding i´ll be doing is up hill/mountain routes with lots of bumps, tracks, and trails. A little bit of downhill too. Its very dry where I am and rocky.

I still haven´t decide on whether to go for suspension or hard tail, is there a huge difference??

I had my eye on the Cube AMS 130 pro also and the Merida 1-20 XT-D

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1866/ ... -grey.html

Twelly

I like that Merida

swelsbyuk

How about this?

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2559

SpeedFræk

Ok so i´ve narrowed down my choices to these.

Hardtails

Cube Reaction SL http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1766/hardtails.html

Reaction Race http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1766/ ... dized.html

Reaction GTC in Carbon, would this be better than the above 2?

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1766/ ... white.html


Full suspension

AMS WLS http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1772/ ... -grey.html

AMS 130 pro http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1772/ ... white.html

Merida one-twenty XT-D

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1866/ ... l?mfid=594

So I really dont know what to choose between, hardtail or full suspension. I doubt very much i am going to be competing in races but I like a nice bike that can move of course, that can handle the mountainous terrain of southern Spain, dirt tracks and woodland, even in Scotland

SpeedFræk

swelsbyuk wrote:

How about this?

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2559

That is one beautiful bike too! Like the purple

swelsbyuk

Well, as everyone knows, if you like the look of your bike, you use it more. Scientific fact....honest.

SpeedFræk

I´m obsessed with purple

But in all seriousness I like the Cube reaction, AMS, the Merida one-twenty XT-D and the Canyon.

They all look like good bikes, I just gotta make up my mind which isn´t easy

swelsbyuk

I'll make it easy for you.....buy the Canyon

SpeedFræk

I´m not gonna go for it based on colour, I prefer the Cube range and the Merida. Though is there a lot of work with a full suspension bike?

swelsbyuk

If price is an issue....http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2557

Not just great colour, great vfm and parts - both of them.

SpeedFræk

Oh no its not that, I just really like the cube and the merida.

Though i dont know whether to buy hardtail or full suspension for riding uphill and downhill in the Spanish countryside/mountains/tracks and in Scotland too. Something that can do everything.

SpeedFræk

I forgot to ask, with the cube hardtails that I like can the current forks be extended?

delcol

deally i´d like something that is going to give me the best for my price range, hard wearing and has great suspension and is reputable.

ah chameleon.. from your post i thought you were after f/s...

the chameleon is a really good bike our kid had one for 4 years and loved it.. and you can throw a big hitting fork (160mm) on it to make it come alive on the downhill bits...

for bargin bikes though you really cant beat canyon and yt industries...

SpeedFræk

I did like it but its turned out to be quite expensive where i've looked and the parts where not as good as what cube or merida offered which is unfortunate.

The only problem is i dont know whether to go for hardtail or fully. Is fully really going to compromise my climbs??? I am also worried that the hardtail that I like wont give me enough cushioning.

I've narrowed my search down to these after a lot of thinking last night.

Its between these

http://www.cube.eu/en/full/pro/ams-130-pro/

http://www.cube.eu/en/hard/pro/reaction-sl/

Carbon too

http://www.cube.eu/en/hard/pro-comp/reaction-gtc-pro/

They seem to have the same-ish specs except one is fully. Totally unsure which is better here guys. With the hardtail can the forks be extended more than what they're at?

The terrain where I live is all dirt track at the house i am out in the country (is very hilly), 10 minutes from town and near the coast. We have big peaks near us too, the Tejeda mountains and the sierra Nevada mountains 1 hour away by car. There is a lot of woodland with hills too, its very dry and rocky. On cubes website they say that the AMS 130 doesn't compromise the climb (because I know most full suspension bikes do and they're heavier). Seems to be an all rounder bike?

swelsbyuk

Living where you do, and having access to the mountains you refer to, I would go full suss.

bails87

FS won't stop you riding hills.

SpeedFræk

Ah, i have just heard people saying that FS would slow me down on steep climbs etc which was a little disheartening. I still like the hardtails though. But your right maybe FS is better for me and an all rounder for everything.

delcol

i lucky and own both a hardtail and a full suss.. to be honest 99.9 percent of the time i take the hardtail..
i not used my f/s bikes since september last year and that was when i was in whistler..

i even opted to take the hardtail to scotland when we did our 7 stanes trip the other week..

you cant beat the rawness of a hardtail,, but then you cant beat a f/s for comfort (especially if you in the saddle for hours) and on certain terrein the added traction benefits f/s brings...

i bet for your budget you would get a better speccced h/t than you would a f/s...

as for the chameleon build could you not spec one your self as in buy frame then source the net shops,ebay,classifieds to find parts at reasonable prices.. to see if that could save you money and get a better specced bike..

i in the process of doing that now with a new mini dh/free ride bike.. i reckon i can build up a better specced bike than the complete one the manufacturer is offering.

delcol

it depends on the suspension design and shock some are better than others but most modern day shocks are prety dam efficient at elimanating pedal bob..

it also depends on what the climb is if it's teccy (roots/rocks etc) then the added benefits of suspension will aid traction so you will in theory have more grip..

i always struggled and hardly cleared this rocky steep climb near us on my hardtail, our kid on his f/s bike always cleared it,, then when i got my first f/s my santacruz heckler i tried and cleared the climb first time..
the suspension made it easy by absorbing the bumps and kept the rear wheel tracking the ground..
were as on the hardtail i would have to loft the back wheel over the bumps thus stalling and loosing traction resulting in a dab of the foot..

SpeedFræk

Thats great advice delcol thank you. I am not really "clued up" on building bikes so i´d rather buy one ready to go "almost" like the cube bikes. The terrain is so varied where I live that i´m going to have to think about everything and the advice people have given me and decide.

SpeedFræk

These are the 2 bikes that i´ve narrowed it down to.

The Cube Reaction GTC pro carbon bike

http://www.cube.eu/hard/pro-comp/reaction-gtc-pro/

Cube AMS 150 Pro FS

http://www.cube.eu/en/full/pro/ams-150-pro/

Its really a toss up between these 2 babies, I really dont know if I should go FS considering im not always going to be cycling around my area which is single track dirt/rocky roads with hills and drops, i´m going to be going to the Sierra Tejeda, Nevada and more mountain ranges to take full advantage of my bike. As I said earlier i really want a bike that can be good for uphill climbs too, can handle some drops from downhill and can be quick on tight bends.