New bike advice

MattDav

Dear All,

I am new to cycling and am after some advice regarding the best bike to buy. My routes will mainly be on roads or cycle paths. I have visited my local bike shop and they recommended a mountain bike. The bike they recommended and the one I tried and liked was the Specialized Hardrock SE FOR £300. I have also been told to look at carerra bikes. The pro reviews of the Hardrock SE was not great however I will only be going on basic routes. The reviews mention the forks could be better and the gears. I am 6"3' and they recommended the 23" frame which felt nice.

My questions are:

1. Is a mountain bike the right bike for me?
2. Is the Specialized Hardrock SE a good bike or could anyone recommend a better bike for less than £350-£400?
3. If I do go for the Specialized Hardrock should I pay the extra £50 and get the disc brake version?

Thank you in advance for your responses!

G-S

It's not a bad bike for a starter, and the advice seems sound, but to be honest, I would have a look at the Voodoo Bantu for about £350 from Halfords. Even though it's not particularly light, it rides like a bike half the weight. When my bike was in the shop I borrowed one to do the work run on, and it was suprisingly nice to ride. The saddle is fairly horrible, but other than that, I really couldnt fault it. At 6'3" you should be looking at either a large or extra large frame on most bikes, but a 20" frame will suffice by most manufacturers. Most riders tend to buy a frame size smaller as it makes the bikes a bit more chuckable on technical trail.

cooldad

Find a new bike shop. It is horrible. Heavy, rubbish forks, old fashioned 7 speed freewheel (as opposed to a freehub), steel bars.
Have a look at the Rockriders from Decathlon or Voodoos at Halfords.

cooldad

Much better, lighter and cheaper, disc brakes, 27 decent gears
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-53 ... 06682.html

Even better at the £450 mark. Hydraulic brakes.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-80-id_8194500.html

And if you can push it to £500 you won't get better elsewhere for less than £7 or £800.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html

chrisw333

Never seen a 23" mtb, no wonder the shop was trying hard to get you to take it - it must be friggin mahoosive.

Obviously size is an individual thing, but at 6'3 20-21" is far more likely to be the right size I would have thought.

MattDav

Thank you for all of your advice so far. Decathlon don't have a store in Wales and the closest is in Birmingham. I really want to try the bike before buying it and dont really want to travel that far.

chez_m356

then sugest a trip to halfords and have a look at the voodoo bantu http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499 arguably one of the best for that price

bjj.andy.w

Roads and cycle paths? - get a hybrid WITHOUT suspension. Why no suspension ? At the price your willing to spend it will only add weight (bad ) for no benefits.

Fatal_Exception

If you are riding roads and cycle paths do you really need a mtb?

cooldad

Yes because you get hooked and start wanting to do more. Especially in Wales.

MattDav

Thanks again for the feedback so far. I have been to some bike shops today and they also said that a hybrid might be best for my needs ( 1 was the same shop that told me to get a mountain bike 2 days ago!).

Does anyone have any hybrid recommendations based on a price of no more than £400?

The current contenders are:

specialized Sirrus £370
Giant Escape 3 2013 £299
Carerra crossfire 1 £250
Carerra subway £270

Thanks in advance

supersonic

Avoid the Crossfire, is pretty poor, though the Subway is decent enough. The Giant is not too hot either with a basic gearset - the Specialized is the best there.

Thing is though, MTBs are often not much heavier and are better specced at this price. Stick some lighter tyres on some of the options mentioned above and you'd have a better bike. Especially if the paths get a little rougher.