What bike, £500ish, long travel, strong & cyclescheme!
Stebo1111
Posts: 8
Long time lurker, recently registered as I'm fresh out of ideas and need some help! I have read the stickies and searched through the forum, so this isn't just another "what do-it-all £500 bike should I buy"! 
My brother is looking for a new bike and has asked for my advice. He has the following criteria:
- Bought through cyclescheme.co.uk, which rules out Halfords (voodoo hoodoo would have been a great shout otherwise), but most other brands can be found at a cyclescheme shop and price-matched
- He has a budget of about £500-£600
- Bike will mostly be used for trail riding and relatively light downhill / black trail routes. Weight isn't a massive issue but it will be riden up-hill so no absolute tanks. (Appreciate that a strong bike in this price range won't be feather-weight.)
- Something with 120mm+ travel (lockout would be nice) and hydraulic brakes. Would settle with a 100mm fork if it was decent, or the bike was good value.
- More than happy to take a 2011/12 bike to get it a bit cheaper
He'd more or less decided to go with a rockrider 8.1 because of how good value it is, but I don't think the good value outweighs the fact that the rr 8.1 isn't really designed for hard-hitting rides. Looking at it in the flesh the likes of brake levers, bar, saddle, etc look like they'd all need changed sooner rather than later and the geometry isn't geared for jumping, downhill, etc.
Is there anything else out there at the minute that's a bit more heavy duty than the rockrider but equally good value?? I'd pretty much persuaded him to push the boat out and go for this... http://realcycles.com/m1b0s2p4626/GENES ... 2013%29%0A
...but with the cyclescheme they add another 11% back onto the price as an admin fee which pushes it too high for him.
Any suggestions at all would be great. The only other alternative I could come up with is this .. http://realcycles.com/m1b0s2p4698/SARAC ... 2013%29%0A ..has anybody and opinion on that??
My brother is looking for a new bike and has asked for my advice. He has the following criteria:
- Bought through cyclescheme.co.uk, which rules out Halfords (voodoo hoodoo would have been a great shout otherwise), but most other brands can be found at a cyclescheme shop and price-matched
- He has a budget of about £500-£600
- Bike will mostly be used for trail riding and relatively light downhill / black trail routes. Weight isn't a massive issue but it will be riden up-hill so no absolute tanks. (Appreciate that a strong bike in this price range won't be feather-weight.)
- Something with 120mm+ travel (lockout would be nice) and hydraulic brakes. Would settle with a 100mm fork if it was decent, or the bike was good value.
- More than happy to take a 2011/12 bike to get it a bit cheaper
He'd more or less decided to go with a rockrider 8.1 because of how good value it is, but I don't think the good value outweighs the fact that the rr 8.1 isn't really designed for hard-hitting rides. Looking at it in the flesh the likes of brake levers, bar, saddle, etc look like they'd all need changed sooner rather than later and the geometry isn't geared for jumping, downhill, etc.
Is there anything else out there at the minute that's a bit more heavy duty than the rockrider but equally good value?? I'd pretty much persuaded him to push the boat out and go for this... http://realcycles.com/m1b0s2p4626/GENES ... 2013%29%0A
...but with the cyclescheme they add another 11% back onto the price as an admin fee which pushes it too high for him.
Any suggestions at all would be great. The only other alternative I could come up with is this .. http://realcycles.com/m1b0s2p4698/SARAC ... 2013%29%0A ..has anybody and opinion on that??
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Comments
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Suppose a few more details couldn't help!
He doesn't really want 29ers unless they were very good value.
Also (to give you an idea of the kind of riding he'll be doing) I'll likely be doing the same routes on my rockhopper, but he would be a whole lot more enthusiastic / harder on the bike than I would. He's also a lot fitter so wouldn't need a bike as light as my rockhopper.0 -
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http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=83499
A bit of a stinker of a fork but probably the kinda angles he's after?"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
felix.london wrote:http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=83499
A bit of a stinker of a fork but probably the kinda angles he's after?
That's another one I had recommended to him but it's too far outside his price range. He's 16 by the way so not a whole lot of £££ to be throwing about).0 -
97th choice wrote:
Has anybody any experience with these? I would be happy to go with a rockrider frame, but when it comes to forks, etc, I'd get nervous that it's trying to be something it's not. Local decathalon has a 9.1 from last year in his size but they're only knocking £50 off the £800 asking price :?0 -
Even at £800 it is a bargain!0
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The Ramones or the Genesis?supersonic wrote:Even at £800 it is a bargain!
I would have pushed the boat out and spent a few extra quid but I think he physically can only go to £600 :?
I'm starting to think he's looking for too much, for too cheap... but I though I'd check with you all on here first.0 -
Another suggestion I'd made to him was this..... http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p369 ... %282011%29
...which seems really good value, but when you add postage to NI plus an admin fee due to cyclescheme it's £600. Maybe even at £600 it's still a good deal (appreciate it only has 100mm forks too though)0 -
To be honest, getting a 0% credit card and buying a Carrera Kracken might be his best option.0
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Except you can't get one at 16 obviously....making it far from his best option.97th choice wrote:To be honest, getting a 0% credit card and buying a Carrera Kracken might be his best option.
Postage to NI is the same as to the rest of the UK (except Scottish Highlands).Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
No idea, he's in a job if he's using cycle scheme. Buying the wrong bike just to use cycle scheme/c2w always seemed like nonsense to me.0
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Try telling that to places like paulscycles :xThe Beginner wrote:
Except you can't get one at 16 obviously....making it far from his best option.97th choice wrote:To be honest, getting a 0% credit card and buying a Carrera Kracken might be his best option.
Postage to NI is the same as to the rest of the UK (except Scottish Highlands).0
