Complete Beginner looking for <£400 bike and advice!

PaulioBH

Hey guys!

am new to this site and noticed it whilst searching the web and its clearly the place to go when wanting bike advice!!

So im looking for advice on getting a bike for Christmas, I've ridden about 6 times since 2006 (one of those times was in belgium, so very flat, and another was in sri lanka, so pretty different than the area near me in Kent!) so am much more than a beginner!

This bike would mainly be used for cycling to and from school each day (plan to start in about february time, depending on weather!) which is about 10 miles along country roads with many ups and downs. And also through the local woods very often at weekends as I want to get into off-roading!

My budget's about £350, but can go up to 400 but it'd need to be very good for that price to convince parents!! I have no issues with used bikes so long as they're in good condition!

Im angling it at mtb's mainly because i really dont like roadbikes from my (admittedly small) past experience with them! Preferably it'd have suspension at the front, so a Hardtail, and if its possible at my budget to have air forks rather than spring's, and a 18" or 20" frame. It'd also be rather handy to have a light frame but am willing to compromise as i realise not all is possible. It would also be good to have a rugged bike that is easy to repair but unlikely to brake, if you can get them at this price!

One other issue is with security as often go into town with friends after school and want my bike to be as secure as possible! does anyone have any tips or products that they'd recommend, other than being sensible where you lock it up and not just locking the tires!!

Also if you have any advice on accessories then that'd be appreciated too!!

Many thanks!!
-Paul

cooldad

For a bike, the sticky just above your post.
viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12875967

For security buy a cheap nasty POS off Ebay and use that. If thieves want your bike, they'll take it.

The Rookie

Bikes are very stealable, but you'll need a good D-lock and a second lock at a minimum, D-lock the frame and backwheel to something solid (not a post it can be lifted off) and the other lock for the front wheel, preferably also to something solid.

cooldad

Which will cost you a lot more than a cheap POS off Ebay.

The Rookie

Exactly, I have a townsend as a hack bike, made to look as shonky as possible (not hard) it cost me £5.50 off ebay, none of my 3 decent bikes go into town (not even the £50 retro)

On topic, Voodoo Bantu for about £350 is excellent value, as is the Rockrider 5.3 (Decathlon) for similar, the RR is more XC orientated while the Voodoo is a bit more trail like.

PaulioBH

Thanks for the response guys, it seems to be that its not worth spending fortunes on locks and things as they're mostly not worth it?

the rockrider looks very good specs wise, and very nicely priced too! the bantu appears to be about £400 so what'd you say would be better about it than others, ive seen it being talked about before...also a friend of mine is does a lot of biking (and is very good too) and recommended the Saracen Tufftrax but the forks seem to be worse on it than others if ive got that right, what's your opinion's of it?

-Paul

LJ.

Halfords are running a promotion at the momet so you could get 40 off 400 20 off 200 etc on bike and accessories. I think the Bantu is better than any of the Tufftrax models. I wouldn't buy locks from Halfords they are way overpriced, you can get decent Onguard d locks for well under £20 on ebay. They charge £50 for them in Halfords

cooldad

What The Beginner said. I got a decent road bike off Ebay for a fiver, just needed new tubes, and have a couple of MTB's that cost around £20 each. A cheap £2.99 lock to stop them blowing away and I'm set. Anybody who really wants to steal them probably needs them (or some crack) more than I do.
But no one's been sad enough to try yet.