Need advice on new XC bike / self-build

mcskiver

Hi,

I'm after a new hardtail bike with a XC focus, and am also open to building it myself (though I've never done it before). I'm able to spend up to around £900, but most of the bikes under that price seem like quite heavy all-rounders. I like the idea of building it myself, but it seems I'd struggle to do it for less or the same price than I could buy off the shelf.

I don't do any significant downhill riding, but prefer longer XC rides. For example, I'm going to use my new bike to ride the Coast to Coast in a couple of months, which involves a LOT of hill climbing...

Some bikes I've considered are:

Cube Ltd (down to around £700 at the moment - this is the favourite but I haven't been able to test ride).
Boardman Team MTB (looks decent, but Halfords won't let me test ride it. Seems a bit steep at £850.).
KHS Alite 2000SL (looks great, but they sell direct and have no stock for another couple of months).
Decathlon / Btwin RockRider 8.1 (looks great for £500).

Based on the above I'd love to hear what others think about either the above bikes, or something I've maybe not heard of that I could buy or build myself.

I know the "sub-£1000" question has been asked a hundred times, but a lot of the bikes recommended in that range are pretty heavy (Carrera Fury for example) and just wouldn't suit my riding. Also, my knowledge of frame makers etc is pretty limited, so would love to hear from the wider MTB community.

Thanks

The Rookie

For a dedicated XC bike at that price point look at the Carbon Rockrider XC rep - pretty much a carbon framed 8.1.

Check out the link to my Kraken in my sig for what you could do with a Carrera (or any other semi decent frame), if you're willing to buy pre-loved stuff you can build something like that quite cheap!

mcskiver

That Kraken looks great! Highlights how little I know about building bikes too though...

I can't find the bike you're referring to on the Decathlon website, unless it's this one, which is £1700 quid:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-8x ... 16462.html

The Rookie

No, but it's not on there anymore (dang).......was that bikes carbon frame with 8.1 components and priced at £899.99.

No part of building a bike is hard, each stage is easy, it's the whole that looks daunting, plenty of help online via Sheldonbrown, parktools and on here.

If building yourself I'd always advocate looking at 'good used' parts as the saving can be significant.