Another Newbie looking for advice

TayWax

Hello,

Another newbie to the forum and to Mountain Biking itself and looking for some advice.
I'm looking at starting to ride as a means to stay fit having recently needed to give up football.
Will be starting out on mainly roads and some light trails with a view to moving on to some harder stuff as I get in to it.
With this in mind I am looking at which bike I should look to get to start me off.

Having done a bit of research (and getting mostly bamboozled) I have narrowed my needs down to getting a hardtail.
I have a fairly limited budget (around the £300ish mark) so have been looking for some bikes in and around that mark. I know that spending more more money would get me a better bike but being new I don't want to splash too much on a bike.

I managed to narrow it down to a few bikes which I thought were suitable

Merida Matts Pro-D
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/b ... -only.html

Rockrider 5.3
http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/rockrider- ... 170475622/

Trek 3700
http://www.trekbikes.com/int/en/bikes/m ... ies/3700/#

Scott Aspect 60
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... e-ec030852

Specialized Hardrock Disc
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec030131

(ignore the pricing on some of those links as they are just ripped from Google and not necessarily what I would need to pay)

Not quite as simple as picking the best one though i'm afraid. The Trek and Scott are available from local stores so available for me to test ride, which is obviously best, whereas the others would be mail order so test riding not really possible. Except maybe the Specialized as they are fairly easy to find.
So all in all, i'm looking at getting the best bang for my buck taking in to account current and future needs.

Oh, I'm about 5'9 so need to take the sizing in to account. Live in East Hertfordshire so any guys around that area that may know of some good local stores to visit would also be a help.

Sorry for dragging on, just want to make sure I get it right.

Thanks for your help

Shane

supersonic

No doubt that the top two are the best value for money. The Trek and Scott are limited by poor forks and drivetrains - the Hardrock is also plagued by the fork.

The Rockrider has the best fork, but is hard to ignore the Merida - not many bikes come with a quality 27 speed groupset and hydraulic discs.

TayWax

Thanks. That was pretty much what I thought having gone by what some other people had said on these forums and elsewhere, but looking at specs is all a bit jargon to me at the moment.

My only concern with that particular bike was over the sizing, I tried the Scott which was a size large which is apparently the equivalent of an 18" but it felt a little big to me but at the same time I tried a Specialized 19" and that felt very similar in terms of size to the Scott but the assistant at the time said an 18" would be fine. Obviously ordering online means I won't be able to try it for size. Does anybody know how the Merida measures up in comparison. I assume it's all down to the geometry of the frame. Confusing

Sorry for being a newb but I guess we all start somewhere. Lol

supersonic

You need to try and find the geometry numbers so can compare the reach. Merida make specialized bikes anyway lol.

Hidden Hippo

I plumped for the Merida when I was looking at your budget. I can't really fault it - the suspension isn't the best, but for light trails as I ride there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. The pedals aren't especially grippy, but for £30 you can get some decent flats.

Regarding sizing, I'm 5'8" or so and I have no problems with sizing whatsoever - saddle sits roughly in the middle of the adjustment, so there's plenty left to play with. It doesn't feel especially heavy either - light enough for a 62kg person to throw around anyway.

TayWax

Thanks for your help guys. I was swaying towards the Merida and I think you just helped me make my mind up.

Now just to get it ordered and find some good spots to go riding. Happy days

Hidden Hippo

It's a decent bike. I intend to spend £150 at some point in the near future on some RockShox Recon forks and it'll last me until I can afford a very nice full sus (and have the skills to use one).

TayWax

From the things i've read about the bike it sounds like that is the next step. So hopefully i'll be doing similar in the near future.

Cheers guys.