MTB - Alternatives to RR 8.1 and Hoodoo Voodoo?

ActionVerb

Hi,

I spent the last few days looking at a mountain bike in the £500-ish range, and had decided on having a look at the Hoodoo and the RR 8.1, but then realised that our cycle 2 work scheme does not support those particular retailers, So I'm now looking at options at Evans and Cylesurgery.

My main aim is a half decent mountain bike, that I can also use for a commute a couple of times a week (currently 4miles each way, but will go up to about 9miles each way in 6weeks time) but also be decent on a single trail. This would be my first bike, and only previous experience of mountain bikes is the hire bikes at places like Bedgebury Forest etc.

So I've got no idea what's decent at Evans and Cyclesurgery - as most of the recommendations here talk about either the Halfords or Decathlon options (probably for good reason!). I read that the Specialized isn't well regarded here, so I've not really considered those.

What about Trek or GT? I saw a few comments about the GT's fork not being great (I presume all, or most, front shocks can be locked nowadays, to make commuting easier?). There's this GT for example:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec030575

Would be grateful for any ideas on which brands I should consider given that Halfords or Decathlon aren't an option, and any specific models even more so!

Exact price isn't massively influential, as the idea is to get the bike on the cycle scheme, so there should be a decent reduction.

Also, I intend to get some slicker tires for commuting use. How easy is it to swap tires over on the wheels? Would it be so much of a faff that getting a pair of spare wheels to have mtb/commuting wheels a more sensible option?

cooldad

Nasty fork and very basic components. You want a damped fork as a minimum.

ActionVerb

Cooldad - thanks. With the theory that own brand stuff is better value, how about Pinnacle at Evans? Bikeradar have reviewed the slightly more expensive version - the Jarrah 4,

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... 4-13-47096

It's a fairly good write up, especially about the fork, but the cheaper one has a different fork, a Suntour XCR fork. Google suggests that this might be a coil spring/hydraulic lock, but I have no idea whether that's right, or if that indeed suggests that it's a good fork!

Here's Jarrah 3 spec:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... 0#features

ActionVerb

How about this Trek 4500 D?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... e-ec042071

It seems to be fairly well regarded, but it looks to have the same Suntour fork that most other entry level mountain bikes seem to have.

Without the option of a Rockrider 8.1 or a Hoodoo Voodoo, should I resign myself that I won't be able to get a bike with a good fork from Evans or CycleSurgery within the sub £600 price range?

The Rookie

XCR is coil sprung, not a dreadful fork, but they need TLC to keep in good condition as the seals are poor, most are hydraulically damped, a very few are not, HLO is Hydraulic LockOut, which is part of the hydraulic damper cartridge, so yes it is damped.
Not too badly specced for the money....but not brilliant (better than any Trek/GT/ Spesh though!)

ActionVerb

Thanks – just to confirm, you’re talking about the Jarrah? I think I put the wrong link of Jarrah 2, rather than three. The correct links are as follows:

Jarrah 2: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec044220

Jarrah 3: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec044221

The Jarrah 3 has an XCR rather than an XCM fork, which I understand is (marginally) better.

How about this one Norco Charger? It has a RockShox XC30 fork:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec041239

This Kona also has a RockShox, but the XC28:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... e-ec044018

Am I getting close?

The Rookie

The link I looked at had an XCR HLO......the XCR is better, the lowers are magnesium and lighter and although the internals can be the same the XCR tend to have the better parts.

ActionVerb

Having spent a couple more days looking, I'm not sure that for under £600 I can find anything better than the Pinnacle Jarrah 3:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec044221

or the Norco Charger 6.3:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec041239

With my intention of doing a fair bit of commuting on the bike (about 50minutes each way), are either a decent option (with the addition of some commuting friendly tires).

Or are these two bikes miles off from the RR8.1 / Hoodoo Voodoo in mtb terms, and should I instead get a decent hybrid through the cycle scheme, and spend my own cash on a mtb bike? The cost of this option is rather prohibitive if going from new..

Any ideas or suggestions much appreciated.

supersonic

Both are decent buys - the norco shading it here.