Gt or Cannondale

CHRIS P BACON

Ello all. My heads battered trying to decide which bike to go for between these two so any insight would be much appreciated.

GT avalanche 1.0 2012 (£600 from £800) or the Cannondale trail sl3 2012 (£600 from £750). Bit of a novice but I know the spec on the GT is better but keep hearin good things about Cannondale frames and it got four stars in a review on this website . Its got to be one of either of these as I've got the certificate for cycle to work and £600 is my very top end
Cheers

Adotparker

Cannondale of course......... and the sl's are brilliant for both amateur and expert, a good solid frame... with readily upgradable components when you've finished falling off it

cooldad

Post some links and get some slightly more impartial advice.

CHRIS P BACON

Adotparker, I am leaning towards the Cannondale so cheers mate, looks like a nice bike.
Cooldad, as with bikes I'm also crap on computers so don't even know how to do the link to the bikes mate (was hoping to hear from you as I've seen alot of your posts on the formum's)

CHRIS P BACON

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b1s2p91 ... %282012%29
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p91 ... 2012%29%0A

Does that work as a link??? I know. . . . . . .I'm a dope!

Davie mac

personaly prefer the cannondale as a base but the spec is better on the gt :roll:

cooldad

Easy enough to tell if they work, click on them. Of those two, the Cannondale probably has the best fork, although hard to get bits etc if anything goes wrong, the GT maybe the better components but not much in it.
At the price I would look at the usual suspects - Rockrider from Decathlon or from Halfords
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab2
Much better fork than either of those, rest of the bits are decent. And £100 cheaper to spend on stuff or bacon.

Or for an extra £50
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab2

Or depending on the size
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2011

Davie mac

if its about bike snobery it would be the cannondale but theres much better value bikes out there,the boardman bikes are awesome value,well spec'd.

CHRIS P BACON

Nice one Davie think that's what I'm gonna go for mate. My certificate for cycle to work is with triton so need to order off there cooldad. I had a sit on the Voodoo a month or so ago but wasn't sold on it despite the great reviews etc. I'm actually mates with Boardman's daughter and she wont' get me a discount (even with the offer of endless bacon goodness)

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b0s200p ... 2012%29%0A
There's also this one on there for my price range but know even less about these

Cheers for all the help lads, really appreciated

CHRIS P BACON

Davie mac wrote:

if its about bike snobery it would be the cannondale but theres much better value bikes out there,the boardman bikes are awesome value,well spec'd.

No snobbery mate, just want to get the best bike i can for my budget

70\ʹspenguin

If you like Cannondale then this is better than the SL3 and within budget.
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3696

Decent fork and Bits.

Or this which is right on max budget, has great fork and really nice components! Looks nice too IMO. Only in medium though.

http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?p ... 0s163p2715

cooldad

70\'sPenguin wrote:

If you like Cannondale then this is better than the SL3 and within budget.
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3696

Decent fork and Bits.

Or this which is right on max budget, has great fork and really nice components! Looks nice too IMO. Only in medium though.

http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?p ... 0s163p2715

Keep up.

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

My certificate for cycle to work is with triton so need to order off there

70\ʹspenguin

cooldad wrote:

70\'sPenguin wrote:

If you like Cannondale then this is better than the SL3 and within budget.
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3696

Decent fork and Bits.

Or this which is right on max budget, has great fork and really nice components! Looks nice too IMO. Only in medium though.

http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?p ... 0s163p2715

Keep up.

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

My certificate for cycle to work is with triton so need to order off there

Ah fannies! :oops:

cooldad

But it looks like Triton use the general Cycle to Work scheme which is accepted by loads of shops, so why are you restricted to them?

Adotparker

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b1s2p9156/GT_Avalanche_1_(2012)
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p91 ... 2012%29%0A

Does that work as a link??? I know. . . . . . .I'm a dope!

Hmm having seen the spec on the 'dale, unless your considering upgrading forks and brakes, any time soon, i'd go for the GT

sandy771

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

(was hoping to hear from you as I've seen alot of your posts on the formum's)

Don't mistake quantity with quality

cooldad

sandy771 wrote:

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

(was hoping to hear from you as I've seen alot of your posts on the formum's)

Don't mistake quantity with quality

Is that what you tell your wife when she giggles?

rockmonkeysc

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b0s200p ... 2012%29%0A

This one may not have the best components but it's a great frame & the only 29er I have ridden & liked.
The Charge would be my choice over the other two as a long term bike worth upgrading.

stevekoz

I have the cannodale so one vote for the Trail SL3. Its a solid and quite light frame for the price and it was more expensive when i bought it in 2011 so even better value for money IMHO. Its been a good bike to get back into riding with. I found the original brakes faded quite quickly so i've upgraded those. The grips were abit naff (moving around) so i bought a set of lock ons which helped. Tyres i got as standard are ok but lack grip in wet in certain conditions (currently posted about changing them as they need doing now). I love the bike, it has its quirks and a couple of marks against it , but i've treated mine pretty hard and its not let me down at all.

harders10

Another vote for the cannondale. I got back in to riding last summer and bought the 2011 SL4 which is actually pretty much the same spec as the 2012 SL3. It's been brilliant. Was great for getting back in to MTBing. I've started upgrading various bits (brakes, pedals, cranks) and now very happy with it.

supersonic

The Cannondale has the better fork. It also has the lighter frame, wile the GT gets a better transmission and sturdier build.

Both are made by Giant, in the same factory, and both are owned by the same people, so the quality is good.

I'd take the lighter Dale and better fork for XC riding.

sandy771

cooldad wrote:

sandy771 wrote:

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

(was hoping to hear from you as I've seen alot of your posts on the formum's)

Don't mistake quantity with quality

Is that what you tell your wife when she giggles?

No, I think that was when I was with your wife.

cooldad

sandy771 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

sandy771 wrote:

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

(was hoping to hear from you as I've seen alot of your posts on the formum's)

Don't mistake quantity with quality

Is that what you tell your wife when she giggles?

No, I think that was when I was with your wife.

Presumably you mean my ex. You're welcome to her, commonly known as the farking evil witch from hell.
But obviously she is used to a decent size.

sandy771

cooldad wrote:

sandy771 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

sandy771 wrote:

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

(was hoping to hear from you as I've seen alot of your posts on the formum's)

Don't mistake quantity with quality

Is that what you tell your wife when she giggles?

No, I think that was when I was with your wife.

Presumably you mean my ex. You're welcome to her, commonly known as the farking evil witch from hell.
But obviously she is used to a decent size.

sounds like her, but given my age it could have been your mother.

CHRIS P BACON

Right lads, sat on both the Gt and Cannondale yesterday and decided on the, drum roll please. . . . . . .Cannondale. Only problem I've got now is I've seen this http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... er12-45965
for £600 and I'm quite likin the look of it. Are there any advantages/disadvantages of gettin this with it bein a 29er would you say? Reckon I'll be happy with either so any more input would be great. Thanks for al the feed back so far
Mr Bacon

CHRIS P BACON

RockmonkeySC wrote:

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b0s200p9805/CHARGE_Cooker_Mid_(2012)

This one may not have the best components but it's a great frame & the only 29er I have ridden & liked.
The Charge would be my choice over the other two as a long term bike worth upgrading.

Do really like the look of this so will try and find somewhere local to have a look at it, cheers mate

CHRIS P BACON

CHRIS P BACON wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m1b0s200p9805/CHARGE_Cooker_Mid_(2012)

This one may not have the best components but it's a great frame & the only 29er I have ridden & liked.
The Charge would be my choice over the other two as a long term bike worth upgrading.

Just ordered the Charge Cooker Hi. Went to see it a couple of days ago and loved it. It was £750 from £1000 and with the cycle to work tax break lookin at payin about £500 so well happy. Once I've got a bit more cash will up grade a few bits, ie forks but should be more than good enough for me to start with. Will put some pics up once I've got it up and runnin. Nice one

CHRIS P BACON

http://www.mbr.co.uk/news/tested-charge-cooker-hi-999/

70\ʹspenguin

Reet Smart!

CHRIS P BACON

Cheers son, cant wait to get on it now!

CHRIS P BACON

Finally picked it up on Friday! Had loads of problems with the cycle to work certificate but all sorted now. Took it for a spin on Saturday and Sunday and completley made up with it. Really, really happy with it. So glad I didn't get the GT now!