Which of these hardtails ?

mountaingoatimnot

Posting here as i'm looking at ladies models for my 10yr old son, so input from lighter riders is key..

Criteria..
standover height maximum 740mm (same as his current Apollo girls bike which is not suitable for trail use) but would prefer slightly less - basically up to 15" frames are OK, some 16" models are OK too.
budget ideally £300, but happy to stretch that given how little £300 buys these days
new - i'd prefer to buy new, as i know exactly what i'll get and bar basic assembly and fitting its ready to ride

Use ..
local cycle paths and canal towpaths
already done the blue trail at Forest of Dean, and a few greens at Talybont
Cwmcarn is local, Afan only an hour away and i did a quick reckie of Hopton Woods at the weekend as I passed
In essence, blue trial with potential red in the next year or so

I'd also add that he is no racer, prefering a leisurely ride pace, so even though he has riden a blue trail and loved it he's not likely to be getting the wheels airbourne for some time yet !

My shortlist, cheapest first..

Specialist Myka Disc '11 http://www.freeborn.co.uk/specialized-2011-myka-disc

Giant Revel 1 W http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-rev ... free-goods

Doesn't appear much to choose between these two; with same fork, mechanical discs and a mix of cheaper shimano gear components

Giant Revel 0 W - http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-rev ... free-goods

Is the extra £50 worth it for the hydraulic discs and marginally better gears ?

Finally, and a somewhat out of budget..

Cannondale SL 3 W http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 0s163p3629

The spec is obviously better, but is this (and a Men's Marin B-17 that we've also seen) overkill ?

Many thanks for your input ladies

supersonic

The Cannodale is head and shoulders above the rest - the Myka is bloody awful, lowly gearset, clanking fork, steel bars, while the Revels get the same nasty fork.

The SL3 has a great frame, quality fork, good components and decent disc brakes.

mountaingoatimnot

supersonic wrote:

The Cannondale is head and shoulders above the rest - the Myka is bloody awful, lowly gearset, clanking fork, steel bars, while the Revels get the same nasty fork.

The SL3 has a great frame, quality fork, good components and decent disc brakes.

Cheers supersonic

i guess the real question is what is the minimum for leisurely blue trial riding - if the lesser quality Revel/Myka aren't up to it then looks like £500 is the real entry point for any trial riding and anything lower priced is for casual riding on cycle tracks and tow paths.

Any view on the Marin B-17 ? http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2010

Twelly

The Marin is the best bike in this thread IMO

supersonic

There are better examples of cheaper bikes - it is just that the fork on these models ruin the ride on even easy off road. Halfords and Decathlon both sell some decent models at 3- 400 quid. Look for a damped, hydraulic fork.

mountaingoatimnot

supersonic wrote:

There are better examples of cheaper bikes - it is just that the fork on these models ruin the ride on even easy off road. Halfords and Decathlon both sell some decent models at 3- 400 quid. Look for a damped, hydraulic fork.

My issue is the standover height. Halfords do nothing below a 16" in mens cycles, and the lowest standover is 740mm (Carrera Vengeance, Voodoo Bantu) which is a smidgen too much at present. Halfords 'womens' range is Apollo (not up to the job) or a pink decalled version of the Vengeance.

He's at an awkward age / size for lots of things - seems the transition from boys/mens is the same in bikes as it is in street shoes (ie not much to choose from lol!). I'd probably be better waiting another year so he's fully into a 16" mens frame but there's no way i'll let him do more than a few more laps of the FoD on the current bike.

miss notax

Why not buy something second hand? That way when you sell it in a few years (when your son moves up to a bigger bike) you'll take less of a hit - possibly even get back what you paid for it if it's well maintained. If you buy new then you will undoubtably lose more money on it.

As much as it pains me to say this, a large proportion of the ladies bikes on Ebay etc have had a pretty easy life as they are given as pressies by boyfriends / hubbies and then hardly ridden. Bikes don't wear much sat in the garage for years :? The exceptions are my bikes and those of the ladies on here that are probably ridden to within an inch of their lives

Oh, and don't assume that female specific bikes necessarily have forks more suited to a lighter rider. Some do, some don't.....

Edited to add - for example there's a nice 14" Cube for sale in the classifieds here. Good fork and look ok

Twelly

miss notax wrote:

Edited to add - for example there's a nice 14" Cube for sale in the classifieds here. Good fork and look ok

+ 1 for the 14" Cube Attention in the classifieds. If it checks out ok that could be a really good deal for you and your son. Cubes have the bling factor too so he will be able to make his friends jealous at school

oodboo

What about isla bikes?

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn26.html

Might be a little more and you don't get disc brakes but these are deisgned for kids, (if looked after) have good resale value and should easily be enough for the riding you described. Disc brakes really only come into their own with heavier riders at higher speeds.

mountaingoatimnot

oodboo wrote:

What about isla bikes?

http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn26.html

Might be a little more and you don't get disc brakes but these are deisgned for kids, (if looked after) have good resale value and should easily be enough for the riding you described. Disc brakes really only come into their own with heavier riders at higher speeds.

Whilst their bikes look good and are supposeldy designed for children, by the time you add suspension fork and better tyres its a little expensive to my eyes. For sure they get good reviews, and plenty on eBay at fair prices so hold their value. I visited their outlet in Ludlow, the reality is they just unbox and set-up bikes like any bike shop

mountaingoatimnot

TwellySmat wrote:

miss notax wrote:

Edited to add - for example there's a nice 14" Cube for sale in the classifieds here. Good fork and look ok

+ 1 for the 14" Cube Attention in the classifieds. If it checks out ok that could be a really good deal for you and your son. Cubes have the bling factor too so he will be able to make his friends jealous at school

Thanks for the heads up peeps - have sent PM< to Chelle but also saw it advertised on another forum with interest there too.

mountaingoatimnot

Just to close out, i was all for getting the Cube from Chelle, but after visiting the Marin dealer yesterday we were shown a Merida Matts Trial 100-D (£475 for cash)which suited him perfectly. I've convinced him a 2009 model in less lurid colours would be less obvious to tea leafs and his meddling mates, so have now bought him a up spec 500-D model at £430 !!