A little help.......

djlestat

Hey folks,

been flicking from review to review for the past month and still not bought anything. :roll:
So thought I would ask the professionals.
Im after something that will get me to work and back, around the village and still handle being taken across country with the Mrs and her horse.
Budget is about £350ish, but may be stretched a little.
I have no problem buying used, (always after getting more for my money! lol)
I think hardtail is the way to go, and would like disc brakes.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Dj

cooldad

I don't know of any bikes that can carry two people AND a horse.

Welcome, hopefully more useful people will be along in due course.

bluechair84

GT avalanche is a great starter bike. PaulsCycles usually have some on discount too. They ride really well and are good value for the money, but definatly see if you can find a reduced one to get hydraulic disc brakes in your budget, not cable discs.

djlestat

Hey folks,

I put a post in the beginners section but thought it might work better in here.
Im after something that will get me to work and back, around the village and still handle being taken across country with the Mrs and her horse.
Budget is about £350ish, but may be stretched a little.
I have no problem buying used, (always after getting more for my money! lol)
I think hardtail is the way to go, and would like disc brakes.
Ive been looking at all sorts just have no idea what works best.
Ive seen the RR mentioned alot and really like the look but its a bit over budget, is it worth it? Can you only buy it direct from decathlon? I cant find it anywhere else.
Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Dj

mountaingoatimnot

RR is a Decathlon own brand, they have about 6 outlets int he UK - if you're not local to one, then its mail order or a decent road/rail journey.

Halfords ?

Voodoo Bantu is a decent hardtail at £350, and with Halfords buying power you do get good components for the price point. At least you can try one easily for frame sizign and fit. It shares the frame with the higher priced Hoodoo (just different components)..

Whilst in Halfords have a look at the Carrera range - Vengeance is about £300 these days (and now ith mechanical disc brakes, not hydraulic) but with sale offers, discount codes you could probably get one for £280. Decent bike, and you can upgrade the brakes to hydraulics at a later date. I think the next bike up th Carrera range is the Krakan which is over budget.

If you can find a £700 RRP bike at half price through one of the on-line sellers you should get hydraulic brakes and mid range components , but you're not going to end up with anythign significantly different to the Voodoo or Carrera spec wise.

A used Boardman HT might be worth considering, especially as you can try those out for size in Halfords too

djlestat

Cheers, Will have a look at those...

mountaingoatimnot wrote:

I think the next bike up th Carrera range is the Krakan which is over budget.

Is the Krakan a good bike? Found a 2011/2012 used for 275
Is that worth it for a used one?

mountaingoatimnot

Reviews here - http://www.bikeradar.com/search/?search ... era+kraken

Not a bad bike, currently £450 new online (minus a bit of discount with vouchers etc). Typical spec for that price range, although if buying new the Hoodoo Voodoo is much better for the money

Sold my barely used Vengeance for £175 recently (too low, all of 6 minutes on ebay), so £275 doesn't sound too bad, but £250 would be better !

djlestat

mountaingoatimnot wrote:

Reviews here - http://www.bikeradar.com/search/?search ... era+kraken
so £275 doesn't sound too bad, but £250 would be better !

If £250 was better would it be worth biting his hand off for £200??
The Ad:
carrera kraken bike only few weeks old and only used hand full of times
bike is 2011/2012 model with avid brakes and hydrolc forks
Alloy Rims: Yes
Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc
Chainset: SRAM S600 Chainset
Exact Frame Size: 18"
Fork Lock-out : Yes
Fork travel: 120mm
Forks: Suntour XCR-D hydraulic
Forks - Adjustable damping : Yes
Frame Colour: Satin Ice White
Frame Material: Aluminium
Frame Size: 17-18
Frame-: Lightweight 7005 T6 aluminium
Front Brake: avid juicy 3 hydraulic disc brake
Front Mech: Shimano FD-M430
Gear Shifters: SRAM X5 trigger shifters
Gender: Mens
Handle Bars: Alloy oversize riser bars (30mm rise) (31.8mm diameter)
Headset: Semi integrated
Hubs: Alloy with Q/R
Number of Gears: 27
Pedals: Wellgo alloy platform with toe clips
Rear Brake:avid juicy 3 hydraulic disc brake
Rear Mech: SRAM X5 rear mech
Rims: Double wall alloy rims
Saddle: Carrera
Stem: Ahead aluminium stem
Suspension: Front
Tyre size: 2.20"
Tyres: Continental Mountain King
Wheel size: 26"
Approximate Weight (KG): 13.8

Anything I should look out for when looking at a used bike??

mountaingoatimnot

some good mid range components ont here, and at £275 you aren't going to find anything new near that spec.

The more you can knock off the better and if its genuinely only a few weeks old then nothign should be amis. Check tyres and operation of brakes and the gears - should all be fine !

djlestat

Cool, cheers bud.
Appreciate your help.

djlestat

Just to keep asking questions.....
What do you think of this?
The frame is an old Specialized Hardrock. I can’t tell you what year,
Forks: Rock Shock Dart 3
Gear set: Shimano
Rims – Alexis
Tyres – Schwalbe
Carbon Fibre handle bar
Stem upgrade

How does that sound? And what would it be worth, its from a guy at work.

Cheers (again)
Dj

cooldad

If it's £50 maybe, but who can say. I have an old Hardrock at home I rescued from a skip at the dump. '90 something or other.