Mountain bike for daily commute

middlep

I'm about to move and planning to get a mountain bike for my daily commute to work (about 5 miles). I'm quite lucky in that the majority of the route is a bridleway and friends/local bike shops have said that it's best to get a mountain bike due to the route.

I haven't ridden a bike for about 15 years, so it's been a bit difficult / confusing! I have a budget of between £300-£500... after much searching online I think I'm down to the following options:

- Vitus Bikes Zircon 29 Hardtail Bike 2013 (£472.99)
- GT Avalanche 3.0 (£384.99)
- Giant Talon 3 (£419)
- Carrera Vulcan (£359.99)
- Voodoo Bantu (£399)

A friend recommends the Vitus since it has the best fork, but I see the Carrera and the Voodoo are recommended in the sticky threads on here... so I guess these may be my best bet? Though I also hear Halfords get a bad rep?...

At the moment it seems to be a toss up between the Carrera (cheapest, recommended on here and currently discounted) and the Vitus (rrp is £600, so possibly most bang for the buck considering the discount & maybe longer life since better parts etc.?).

What are you thoughts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

supersonic

Unless the bridleway has huge boulders and craters on it, a sporty hybrid will be faster and lighter.

rockmonkeysc

supersonic wrote:

Unless the bridleway has huge boulders and craters on it, a sporty hybrid will be faster and lighter.

Mountain bikes are rubbish commuters. Get a hybrid or spend more and get a cyclo cross bike.

middlep

Sounds like I may have had poor advice then!

This is the bridleway I'll be taking...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriott's_Way

I guess based on the conditions a hybrid would be more suitable? Do you have any recommendations for a hybrid in my price range (or is it best to create a new post on one of the other forums?)?

supersonic

Best for this price is this bike:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/fit-5-road-b ... 39798.html

However you might find that the tyres are a bit thin and lacking in knobbles. Is worth a look though, and discussing tyre options with them if you can visit a store.

An MTB will do the job, but will be much heavier. However converting them can be an option ie rigid forks, narrower tyres and so on.

Barteos

Hybrid bikes make little sense.
A rigid mountain bike with high volume tyres like Big Apple or Supermoto will be a much better option, no question.
Just as fast but much more comfortable and versatile.
http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B3745.html?mv_pc=gp1

supersonic

Hybrids vary so much though - is about getting the right one, or customising a bike. The sportier ones are more road oriented, but still handle well and are light with it. Ones with heavy undamped forks, 7 speed freewheels and low rent parts are not so hot.

Clank

If commuting is the name of the game, I'd say go for 29er/700c wheels, just to speed things up, whether it's on a mountain bike, drop-bar or hybrid (which are cool by me)

In my experience, a 26" wheel with a slick tyre is not as fast as a larger diameter wheel (simple mechanics tells you why). A move back to 26" wheels recently has added 4-5 mins to my commute. It may be easier to pedal than an equivelent sized knobbly, but it simply isn't as fast as a 29er size wheel.

Interestingly, when I swapped between my cyclocross bike and a full-sus 29er on Racing Ralphs, my journey time didn't change.

Dandelionclock30

I've got a mountain bike and a CX bike and for that commute a CX bike or a hybrid, like the others say, will be better.
What about one of these?
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... ross-bikes

I'd have got one if they had a small enough size.