To buy or not to buy

Lewby5

Hello all,
I have a 2 1/2 year old carrerra vengeance ultimate that has a few major faults. It needs a new fork, rear hub, chain, rear derailleur etc which has been priced at about £150-200 for repair.

My dilemma is I don't want to flog a dead horse when I could invest in a new bike. I have got more into mtb since I got the Carrera and want to buy a higher spec bike but the market is saturated and I feel overwhelmed by the bikes on sale on various websites. I have a 500-650 budget (thanks MasterCard) and want everyone's advice on what to do.

One bike that sticks out is the Saracen zen 2 2011 for around £650. It seems good but what do I know? Any other suggestions within my limit?

Thanks all

Saracen Zen 2 Bike (2011)
Frame: Zen lightweight custom butted and formed 6061 alloy tubeset / Power bulge stays / UK-specific design with custom CNC tapered headtube
Rear Shock: N/A
Fork: Rockshox Sektor R Coil / 140 mm travel / 15 x 100 axle
Cranks: FSA Alpha Drive 24/32/44T 170 – 175mm
Bottom Bracket: FSA BB-8420ST Powerdrive
Pedals: Alloy MTB
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore M590
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT M772 Shadow
Shifters: Shimano Deore M590 Rapid Fire 9 x 3 speed
Cassette: Shimano HG61 9-speed cassette 11-32T
Chain: KMC Z99
Hubs: Formula DC51 Alloy Black 32 hole front for 15mm axle / Formula DC22 LW alloy black 32 hole Q/R rear
Rims: Alex SX44 32 hole
Tyres: Schwalbe Nobby Nic Performance 26 x 2.25”
Brakes: Shimano M505 180 / 160 mm rotors
Handlebar: Saracen 318 Alloy OS 680 mm wide / 15 mm rise / 6 degree bend
Headset: FSA Gravity DX
Stem: Saracen 318 6061 / 60 – 90 mm A-Head / 7 degree rise / 31.8 mm clamp
Grips: Saracen Lock-on dual-density grip
Saddle: WTB Rocket V Comp cromo / white
Seat Post: Alloy Micro-adjust / 31.6 mm
Colour: Gloss White

Greer_

This is brilliant for the money - http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p4207/CUBE-LTD-2012

Lewby5

Thanks for looking. Yeah that does look really good too.

supersonic

What sort of bike are you after? That Cube and the Saracen are rather different.

The Rookie

Lewby5 wrote:

Hello all,
I have a 2 1/2 year old carrerra vengeance ultimate that has a few major faults. It needs a new fork, rear hub, chain, rear derailleur etc which has been priced at about £150-200 for repair.

'Needs'? It sounds unlikely it needs all of those, a good service maybe, also rear hub or just a cassette?

Buy used and you coudcould get that lot for less than £50.

Lewby5

Hi I am looking for a hardtail for using on my short commute to work, but more so, using it for fun in the forest etc. it was a trip to Cannock that seemed to finish the bike off so I want something that will cope with that kind of abuse.

A friend who is a bike mechanic has looked at it and said the forks have completely seized and they are beyond repair (well the cost of repair compared to buying new ones). As for the other parts, he said they either need replacing now or in the very near future.