Orange Clockwork 2014

blue123

I still haven't decided on a bike, was struck on a Bizango but seem impossible to find....

Now I have discovered that you can buy bikes on finance I am starting to catch the bug even before I have a bike...

Maybe this means I can stretch to £1000, what are the general thoughts on the Orange Clockwork S 2014???

devbrix

Might be worth waiting a month and there will be lots of discounted 2013 season bikes on offer and you will get something better for the money.

poah

overpriced far eastern made cycles - use the money for a bike with decent components

blue123

Like what

rockmonkeysc

Just about anything is better for the price than an Orange.
What do you want from your new bike. There are many good choices depending on what you want.

blue123

Basically I want something that can go fast on most trails and handle tough routes....

devbrix

Hard tail is probably best for that money. My wife has a Cube Reaction GTC Pro 29, which I bought for her for £1k when discounted as end of season stock last October from Cyclesurgery. Great bike with carbon frame, decent components, light a a feather and tough, I really like riding it myself and she has KOMs at local trail centres on it. Lots of choice of decent hard tails at that price.

cooldad

blue123 wrote:

Basically I want something that can go fast on most trails and handle tough routes....

Most bikes can. question is, can you?

cooldad

Point is my tough route might be someone elses walk in the park.

blue123

So I like the idea of a cube......which cube has better spec than clockwork S

poah

cooldad wrote:

Point is my tough route might be someone elses walk in the park.

it more than likely is

cooldad

blue123 wrote:

So I like the idea of a cube......which cube has better spec than clockwork S

Find the specs and compare them.
Otherwise I would say the blue one.

blue123

As a BEGINNER I went onto Google the other day to see where I could get helpful advice from EXPERIENCED riders before buying a new MTB....bikeradar.com came back as the place to start.

Now I must of clicked on a link for the comedy store by mistake and discovered a struggling comedian heavily reliant on sarcasm, by the name of cooldad.

Moron!

Thanks to all those of you that have been very helpful.
PS How would you suggest a BEGINNER was to compare forks etc?? Oh yes, Colour!

rockmonkeysc

Calm down. You need to give some info before anyone can help you.
Post a link to the Orange and tell us what sort of riding you want to do, maybe what trails you ride and what your budget is.
Its no good just saying hard trails, depending on you're idea of whats difficult that could be anything from red graded xc trails to double black graded downhill trails.

poah

blue123 wrote:

PS How would you suggest a BEGINNER was to compare forks etc?? Oh yes, Colour!

forks should have adjustable rebound damping and air sprung models allow you to set up sag easily compared to coils. lock out is handy but not really required. stay away from bikes that have the basic forks as these are really quite awful. getting a last year model is a good way of saving a couple of hundred pounds for not much of a difference.

cooldad

My apologies if I sounded sarcastic, but that's how I sound in real life as well.
But my point is valid, as has been suggested by others.
Without any info about you etc it's impossible to comment.
I ride like a pussy compared to some of my friends, but compared to others I am a gnarly riding god (I'm not, but everything is relative).
So mention where you want to ride, your riding experience and post some links to the bikes you are looking at and you'll get sensible suggestions from people.
Otherwise the sticky at the top of the section is a good place to start.

blue123

Thanks. I appreciate that.

As i said being a beginner, we generally do not know what you guys need to know from us in order to advise?

There is lots of 'ooh dont buy this or that' and not as much 'yeah this would be good'......now I realise you need more info...

well I have upped my budget after listening to guys like yourself and the help of finance and am looking at the following

http://www.justmountainbikes.co.uk/Item ... lockwork_s

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p4 ... Sport-2013

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ghos ... -prod83101

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fuji ... -prod93939

Now these may be random but based on my lack of knowldege thats it, size would be 18"....

Riding, trails xc anything just want something fun!

Thanks, (and also apologise for previous impatient response)

Jomox

You can get better bikes than that for the money.

blue123

Genius!

chrisw333

Assuming your're happy with a 26" wheel hardtail, at that price I'd go for Boardman Pro from Halfords.

You get very good spec & 120mm travel air sprung forks - which I think far preferable to a more xc 100mm travel bike, particularly if by 'hard trails' you mean progressing to black runs at uk trail centres and / or more testing natural routes like the lakes / Peaks.

You may find 'discounted' bikes with higher RRP's, but you'll be unlikley to find anything of better spec for the money.

Alternatively, if you're happy to buy mail order then you could look at Canyon which are very good value for money.

Jomox

chrisw333 wrote:

Assuming your're happy with a 26" wheel hardtail, at that price I'd go for Boardman Pro from Halfords.

You get very good spec & 120mm travel air sprung forks - which I think far preferable to a more xc 100mm travel bike, particularly if by 'hard trails' you mean progressing to black runs at uk trail centres and / or more testing natural routes like the lakes / Peaks.

You may find 'discounted' bikes with higher RRP's, but you'll be unlikley to find anything of better spec for the money.

Alternatively, if you're happy to buy mail order then you could look at Canyon which are very good value for money.

Yup, much better for money then the ones he was looking at. Could also look at the Cube LTD Race 26 from tredz.co.uk.

rockmonkeysc

Here you go.http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b4s1p443 ... EM-X4-2012
Giant Anthem. Full suspension, good fork, great frame and under budget.
Its a very capable bike despite the short travel suspension, I have one and regularly hammer it down black trails. The frame is solid (I can't break it and I have broke a few frames) the geometry is really nice. Its a great ride for the money.

cooldad

If the medium fits, (and I reckon it would be fine for most average people between about 5 foot 8 and 6 foot), that is a seriously nice bike for the money. 100mm travel is enough for most things.
My main bike is 100mm and manages anything from flat twisty singletrack to Welsh blacks.

Anyway when I was a lad we had stone tyres and the closest we got to supension was a well padded arris.

chrisw333

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Here you go.http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b4s1p443 ... EM-X4-2012
Giant Anthem. Full suspension, good fork, great frame and under budget.
Its a very capable bike despite the short travel suspension, I have one and regularly hammer it down black trails. The frame is solid (I can't break it and I have broke a few frames) the geometry is really nice. Its a great ride for the money.

Yep. That is a great option.

blue123

Hi again,

Big thanks to all of you that have contributed to this post......

Have been to my LBS today and was lucky enough to try several of the bikes mentioned above..

From a person that knows zero about MTBs and had my heart set on the Orange Clockwork 2014 I tested it and felt massively disappointed, nothing much to say but was quite bored after 2minutes!

eventually it was narrowed down to 3 bikes after a great deal of patience from Gary the owner and great advice....

The Giant X4 you guys recommended, the GHost SE 2990 2013 and a Specialized rockhopper comp 29er 2014....

All three were amazing from my point of view but overall the Ghost SE 2990 made me feel a bit like a madman on it so when he could do it for £965, it arrives on Wednesday next week!

Maybe not the choice of experts but just felt good!

Cheers again

tobamory

a lot of people get these, they ride very well

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FBOOC456V2/ ... ntain_bike