Confused newbie ... advice needed please!

scott_h

Hi everybody!

I've always been a road biker but with the shocking weather this 'summer' my neighbour - a keen mountain biker - leant me his spare bike for my first off roading a few months ago. I've been doing this quite regularly since and in fact I've enjoyed it so much I bought his bike!

Now this is an okay bike but rather old and heavy and I want to buy something better and lighter - probably for XC. I'm in my late 30s and not doing any crazy stuff but I'm finding this mountain biking lark more fun than I ever did the road biking! So with money burning a hole in my pocket I thought selecting a mountain bike would be quite easy. But after buying some MTB magazines and reading around I'm now quite confused. I'm one of those people who if I know I'm going to be enjoying/using something like to buy quality to start with and that I'll keep for a while rather than buying a succession of compromised cheaper stuff that cumulatively ends up costing more than if you'd bought the quality item in the first place! So I've pegged around £2.5k at this. However I'm not exactly bursting with spare cash so don't want to feel I've made the wrong choice or been 'cheated'.

The main issue is probably this darned wheel size thing. I didn't even know 29ers existed and being 6'4", yes, perhaps those 26ers are a little diddy but 29ers look so, um, ungainly and unwieldy. But wait ... there are 27.5ers on the way ... perhaps a good compromise. So what to do?

Do I buy a current well reviewed bike now? In that case what? Are there any other 6'4" chaps out there and what did you buy and why? Why 26 and not 29 (or vice versa)?
Do I wait until next year and see what the verdict is on these 27.5ers which seem to offer a best-of-both-worlds mix?
Or ... and this has been a serious consideration ... do I get some 'reasonable' quality size specific items (frame, wheels) to live with for now ... but pair this with some whizz bang top notch componentry (front and rear mechs, brakes, seat post, saddle etc. etc.) that could all be transferred in the future? Or is this just silly?!

I've read about the 27.5ers being a cynical marketing ploy to help people spend more money ... but in my case it's stopping me spending any money! Sorry about the long question but I hope you see my confusion and as someone who's only recently got into the world of mountain biking I'd really appreciate any helpful comments from you experts out there so I'm getting the right bike that I'll be happy with for years to come!

mrmonkfinger

I'm 6'2" and 26" wheels have never been a problem for me.

At £2.5k you have loads of choices of great bikes. In fact you could spend half that and get a fantastic bike. Once you're over £1k the improvements are much smaller.

Boardman range is particularly good value (don't let the fact that halfords sell them put you off) - the Carbon Pro HT has great kit on it:

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/ht_procarbon.html
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab2

passout

If I was too tall like you, I'd get a 29er hardtail with 80-100mm travel up front. Perhaps an On One Lurcher? You might actually be OK ona an 18'' frame of this bike but generally I'd guess that you'd be ona 19'' or even a little bigger. You'd be fine on 26inch wheels too of course - frame size is the thing. I also think that Genesis bikes look good & agree about Boardmans - good VFM. If going 29er then maybe Specailised but On One would be my first stop.

Bishbosh10

Ride some bikes you like the look of. Buy the one you are most comfortable on.

steve_muzzy

You have a solid budget, you could even buy two bikes, a lightish hardtail and something with a bit of travel for the fun stuff ?

800 will get you the hardtail say a boardman team and 1700 will get a good 5 inch travel xc full Susser like a canyon nerve

Alternative could be to blow the lot on a top end 5 inch do it all Susser like a lapierre?

King_Pin_Rich

I'd try and test ride a few if your unsure, that's a lot of wonga to splash on a bike you might not enjoy.

scott_h

Many thanks for the suggestions.
I hadn't made it clear in my original posting that I had pretty much decided on a full-suspension bike ... hence the budget.
I'll try and find a local bike shop that has a range and allows some meaningful testing.
The wheel size issue I think is still going to be the biggest headache!

Thanks

chrisjnr19

If it's any use at this stage, the 2013 Range of Whyte 29ers look absolutely gorgeous and will be priced around that £2.5k. Alternatively, Canyon and rosebikes.co.uk have some fantastically specced offerings at that price.

EDIT: Also, I'm 6'3" on a 20" frame. Hasn't been a problem for me

scott_h

Thanks for those suggestions Chris.
I hadn't really thought to look at '2013' bikes ... but that Whyte T-129 looks very tempting

Giraffoto

26" wheels are perfectly OK if you're 6' 4", my wheels and I are that size respectively

oodboo

I'm 5'10" and love my 29er.

I don't know if it's within your budget but I'd be looking at the 2013 Whyte M-109 among others.