Advice on bike options, £250 budget

K.Rothery

Hey, I'm looking to get into biking, I live in the gorgeous countryside of Wiltshire and have decided to finally make the most of it with gentle biking around the woodlands and country tracks. Unfortunately I only have a small budget so want to try and get the best with what I have and would like advice on a couple I've found.

Raleigh freeride at40

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RALEIGH-FREER ... 377wt_1195

Appears to have good specs for the money but I can't really find any reviews on Raleigh bikes which I generally interpret as a bad thing. The other option would be to go with something that has less specs but good reviews.

Saracen tufftrax

http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m15b124s2p7 ... S_GB/20362

My other option would be to go for a second hand bike, I've seen carrera krakens a couple of years old go for around 250 so would that be a better option?

Cheers

One 80

im new to mtb after 20 yrs but if you could stretch an extra £20 or find a 10% code then the carrera valour looks ok for the money.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

K.Rothery

Cheers, I popped into halfords and had a look but I loved the voodoo bantu, sadly out of my price range but may hang fire for a bit see if it drops anymore in price.

mountaingoatimnot

You don't see much talk of Raleigh bikes on here much, but for the money its got hydraulics discs and a fork that is often seen on bikes up to £450. The 24 speed gears are a bit mean, but soemthign gives at any price point.

The Saracen with only 63mm shock travel is probably best avoided unless you want to stick to smooth cycle paths

Halfords at any price point should get you a reasonable spec compared to other makes, given their buying power and you can get some cashback via Quidco to chip another £10 or so off the price. As you've discovered the Bantu gets you a lot better kit for that extra outlay, but its 40% more than your budget !

I'd have a look at Decathlon website too - they offer good spec for the price.

£250 might be better spent on a used bike from eBay - have a look whats around your areas (say within 15 miles) - its surprising how many bikes are within easy collection, and often a lightly used bike at £250 was ca £500 when new a year or so ago.

supersonic

Have a look at this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Python-Ul ... 27c26c1b45

Hidden Hippo

I've been doing a similar thing (same budget). I settled on the Merida Pro D. Dual hydraulic discs, although apparently the suspension isn't great. Still, with a fork upgrade it should punch well above it's price.

K.Rothery

Cheers for all the advice guys, I've just found an awesome deal on eBay, mongoose tyax elite 2011 ex display going for 210 with delivery, the only problem is its a size small, you think this would be ok for a 5 foot 7 female? Otherwise they have the comp version for 10 more in a medium. Thanks!

supersonic

Hard to say without trying, but I'd err on the side of the small frame.

K.Rothery

Cheers for all the advice, went ahead and got the tyax elite, they were selling out quick and didn't want to miss the opportunity, if it is too small I'll just sell it on again but fingers crossed it will be ok

K.Rothery

Received my bike today and am thrilled with it, the size is perfect. I have one little concern though, after putting the front wheel on there is a very slight rub at one point on the disc brake, and if you turn the bike upside down and rotate the wheel you can see it doesn't rotate in a straight line, it's only very slight, but is the a cause for concern?

cooldad

Not really, just ride it and see if the rubbing stops once everything is bedded in. It won't cause any catastrophic damage.