Which of these 3 £400 and Under bikes for a newbie (update)

roxyskinflint

Hi Guys new member here, and total MTB beginer, to be honest its gonna be getting on for 10 years nearly since ive been on any bike and im 30 next year, but im wanting to lose some weight and improve my fitness so i might as well make use of the numerous cycle tracks and trails in my area (county durham/North east)

Ive been having a chat with some of friends who ride and trying to do some research from my limited knowledge but any advice is greatly appreciated. so far these are the 3 ive been looking at

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec042241

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... -4-disc-13

The Carrera got good reviews on this site, the specialized is a brand im familiar with and the Giant was reccomended by a friend who has similar model, although he advised to go with the giant as it was lighter, yet reading the spec the carrera is lighter???

Any advice for a complete newbie is greatly appreciated, the buget is pretty tight, i have around £500 max however that is all to buy things like a helmet gloves,pump,clothing etc and figured £100 would soon dissapear

Thanks

Roxy

astirrup

Was in a similar position myself a few months a go. After listening to the advice of other on here I went for the Voodoo Bantu (available from Halfords, sorry can't put a link as on my phone). I'm sure other people will explain why but from what I've been lead to believe it's the best you can get for your money at this price range.

I've been very impressed with mine so far and has handled everything I can throw at it with ease.

roxyskinflint

Thanks for the reply, so which one of the 4 then lol!!

i see from your thread, you were toying between the vulcan also, i must say im tempted, i know this makes no odds to performance but i really like the looks and colour scheme of that bike, plus its £40 cheaper which is a new helmet,

some serious consideration to be done, and also a trip to some shops to actually try these bikes for size will also help

97th choice

Of the 3 I would say the Vulcan, no contest.

But also look at the voodoo and decathlon rockrider offerings

astirrup

If I remember correctly, and someone can correct me on this, I think the Voodoo has slightly better components but the Carrera has the better frame. This would make the Carrera the better option if you were eventually going to upgrade the components.

I'd say go to Halfords when you can and have a sit on them and see what you feel better on, their specs are much of a muchness. I quite like the matt blue finish on the bantu, but as you said that is of little relevance and of course personal preference.

One think I've just noticed is on the Halfords website they seem to have 10% off bikes at the moment so you might be able to pick the bantu up for £360 too.

The Rookie

The latest Voodoo Hoodoo has taken a big step back in specs from the 11/12 model.

The Carrera frame is about 400g lighter (size for size) than the older Voodoo, don't know if the frame or just paint chanegd for 13/14.

supersonic

The Vulcan frame is heavier than it used to be - no longer gets the butted tubes that the Kraken has.

The best bike here is the Bantu.

roxyskinflint

A guy I know has thrown another offer in, he's had both of his hips replaced and says he won't be back on his bike, he offered me a Marin Mount vision pro mountain bike (2000) he said Just before I put it into storage he replaced both the gear sets (it's a 27 speed), replaced the chain and the front and rear rims,

He wants £100 for it???

supersonic

If it is in good nick and fits, snap his hand off!

cooldad

And if you don't let me know and I will.

roxyskinflint

Will 12 nearly 13 year old bike really be that good? Like I said I'm a total newbie

The Rookie

The only likely weak point is the forks, they may well still be better than the ones on the bikes you are looking at or you'll have a wedge of cash to put something much better on it and still come up cheaper.

cooldad

And potentially the shock - it's a full sus, but again you could pick up a decent shock and fork and still be in budget if you shop carefully, and it'll make a seriously decent bike.

cooldad

But if it's been looked after, and it sounds like it has, a bargain.

roxyskinflint

Haven't seem it yet, can't get over until the end of next week but he's sent me some photos, only difference to the pics are the new rims and he's got semi slick tyres on it, but has a set of "knoblies" he'd chuck in, should hopefully fit me as we're of similar height

3collinso

I've just got a giant revel 1, about £450 but it's well worth it with its adjustable shock and hyrdraulic disk brakes

cooldad

3collinso wrote:

I've just got a giant revel 1, about £450 but it's well worth it with its adjustable shock and hyrdraulic disk brakes

No it isn't.

cooldad

roxyskinflint wrote:

Haven't seem it yet, can't get over until the end of next week but he's sent me some photos, only difference to the pics are the new rims and he's got semi slick tyres on it, but has a set of "knoblies" he'd chuck in, should hopefully fit me as we're of similar height

Looks nice, well worth the money. Even the brakes are XT? parallelogram brake. Forks are OK if they still work, frame is disc ready if you ever want to upgrade.
Basic but bulletproof frame.
Old skool.
You won't get anything as useful for the money.

supersonic

Marin FS frames are still good by todays strandards. Superb bearings, decent geometry, nice simple suspension design with some thought to the pivot position. I'd happily pay £100 for that. I'd pay double to be frank.

97th choice

Is this the next generation orange?

cooldad

Orange could never get welds that neat.

roxyskinflint

thanks for the advice and info guys, the bloke is away for a week, but he's said he'd give it a once over when he got back for me to see it, so hopefully should have it by the end of the month

If the forks are ok and dont need replacing, are disc brakes something i should be considering? they seem to be on all new bikes, how much would i be looking at for a set and is it a job a novice could do???

cooldad

I wouldn't bother, ride it and see. Decent V's work fine. To upgrade you'd need new wheels and brakes, so about £250 for decent stuff. Easy to fit.
As a starter bike it will be great, and it's an excellent base if you want to spend money in future.

roxyskinflint

Thanks for the advice

3collinso

cooldad wrote:

3collinso wrote:

I've just got a giant revel 1, about £450 but it's well worth it with its adjustable shock and hyrdraulic disk brakes

No it isn't.

Adequate for a beginner no?

The Rookie

Adequate, yes, best choise no, fork is cack and found on bikes at £200, brakes are low rent and the Carrera Vulcan is better and about £100 cheaper.

97th choice

3collinso wrote:

cooldad wrote:

3collinso wrote:

I've just got a giant revel 1, about £450 but it's well worth it with its adjustable shock and hyrdraulic disk brakes

No it isn't.

Adequate for a beginner no?

Decent bike, but on an absolute financial basis there are better products out there.

3collinso

The Beginner wrote:

Adequate, yes, best choise no, fork is cack and found on bikes at £200, brakes are low rent and the Carrera Vulcan is better and about £100 cheaper.

I can't imagine me having it much longer after riding some serious rubber in sherwood pines last weekend, managed to get a ride on a 'Whyte T129-s' and instantly fell in love, just need to think about the financial burden it'll cause

roxyskinflint

Hi Guys Quick update,

Eventually Went for the Marin, sat on it and felt ok, i was a bit wobbly testing it out for my first ride in 15 years, took about another 2 weeks before i had any free time (holidays birthday and wedding anniversary) and by the time my helmet came, so in total really ive only had the bike to use for about a week, been on 4 rides this week, did a short trip up my local cycle track to ease myself in only about 5miles there and back, but absolutely loved it, so went out the next day and did 10 miles got a decent cycle route that takes about 50mins or so, but for someone who hasnt does much in the way of exercise for a long time im quite pleased with my progress, found myself actually finishing work early to get out on it, The marin has been great, pumped the rear shock right up for my fat ass and its been great, couple of noises here and there and few times the gears havnt wanted to go in but all in all for £100 the marin has been great, frame size i think is perfect for me, so a bargain was had,

think the next purchase will be a decent multi tool a pump and maybe some lights for when the nights get a bit darker

The Rookie

If you subscribe to MBUK this month you'll get a free multi-tool.....so for the cost of a multi tool, you get one and some magazines for a year!