*Newbie* Trail Bike decision

Sphinx_iii

Hello,

I'm very fresh to the mountain biking scene and could do with some advice. I want to spend around £500 - £1000 on a new bike for trails nearby (Llandegla and Delamere Forest). I think a decent hardtail is the answer, and Ive been looking at a few chooses, including;
Carrera Fury
Carrera Kraken
Voodoo Bizango
Trek Mamba
Saracen Mantra Trail
and My favourite right now - Calibre Point.50

Let me know what you think, experience and spec etc.

Cheers

rhext

Would have suggested a Canyon, but they all seem to be sold out (there's a reason for that, I suspect!). Great bikes, great prices! If you can wait for new stock, it's difficult to see how you could get a better deal.

cooldad

Links would help.

JBA

I know you said you'd like a hard tail, but having ridden Llandegla recently I'd suggest a short travel full susser would provide more fun. The top end of your budget, but THIS is a cracking deal.

carlt69

JBA wrote:

I know you said you'd like a hard tail, but having ridden Llandegla recently I'd suggest a short travel full susser would provide more fun. The top end of your budget, but THIS is a cracking deal.

+1

That's a seriously good price :thumbup:

aradoman

agree with the above!

BigAl

+3 for the Anthem

I know I'm biased (I have an Anthem), but that's a whole lot of bike and fun for a grand

croptonboy

I'd be going with the Anthem as well, but if you find your budget cut and the Calibre .50 is the favourite, have a look at Decathlon's Rockrider 8.1

Sphinx_iii

Thank you all for your input. The Anthem looks awesome, but at the top end of my budget and +Vat also so it would be £1200.

I've seen this http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek_mamba_orange.html which has had good reviews and within my budget. I don't want to buy a full suss because I know I'm not getting the quality I want with the money available.

Correct me if I'm wrong, cheers!

JBA

You are wrong.

The price for the Anthem includes VAT.

Sphinx_iii

My mistake. Still top end of budget, but wow. This bike looks awesome. 0% Finance may be an option.

THANKS.

rockmonkeysc

The Anthem maybe cheap for a full sus bike but its a top quality bike and rides extremely well. The frame is one of the best full sus xc frames and the components are all pretty reasonable.
That Trek isn't a particularly great bike, just a very average hardtail. The Giant will be so much better to ride.

paul.skibum

You dont need a full susser for Llandegla (or anywhere else) I personally love my hardtail and wouldnt be without it also the anthem is a less forgiving ride than a slightly slacker headangle hardtail if you are a beginner rider IMO.

mali01

This.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s1p494 ... CE-X3-2013

BigAl

The Trance, above, is a good bike and it's a good deal at £900.

But the Anthem deal is better and it's a better, though different, bike

Have you thought about buying secondhand?

Sphinx_iii

Not thought about second hand really. Don't know what to check etc so could buy something that's knackered. Also would love to buy either of them bikes, but a car problem has slashed my budget now to £400 - £500, any suggestions for this price?

Cheers

cooldad

viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12875967

Sphinx_iii

cooldad wrote:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12875967

I have seen and read this already, but the thread is quite dated so wanted some more up to date info.

croptonboy

Update: The RR 8.1 still represents great value for money!

Sphinx_iii

Wicked, The Rockrider 8.1 is my number 1 choose with the Voodoo Hoodoo a close second, but the degraded fork seems to throw me off a bit. what do you guys think?

Thanks so far btw!

The Rookie

It's still great value for money, the RR is better all round but more expensive, the carreras have a lighter frame but aren't quite as well specced (Kraken or Fury).

Sphinx_iii

OK, so I thought I was set on the Rockrider 8.1, but then halfords has just 1 of these in stock

Voodoo Bizango

http://www.mbr.co.uk/bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-review-2013/

Everyone I know says this is an excellent bike, but what do yo think compared to the RR 8.1

Cheers

Plus I can get 10% off the Bizango, so it would be a tad cheaper.

Ulysses

rhext wrote:

Would have suggested a Canyon, but they all seem to be sold out (there's a reason for that, I suspect!). Great bikes, great prices! If you can wait for new stock, it's difficult to see how you could get a better deal.

This is what I choose after many hours comparing bikes under £1000 - though I was purely after a 29er which narrowed the field a lot.
I tried to get hold of a Bizango 29er but both Halfords and Voodoo were really unhelpful when I tried to find out when they would be stocked. VooDoo bikes are really great spec for the £££'s.
Canyon Yellowstone's are available every now and then, there was none when I went to order one (was got all excited about owning SRAM too) so ordered the Grand Canyon AL 6.9 29er instead, 3 days later there was a Large Yellowstone available ... typical!
I saw another post somewhere which mentioned another make of bike which was spec for spec near idential to Canyon for the same price.

kajjal

I would try test riding a few bikes as just judging a bike on its spec means you miss out on lots of bikes. You may find like I did that the ones that seem best on paper are not the best bike for you. As soon as I test rode my Carve I could tell it was exactly what I was looking for. If I was purely going on price and specs I may never have looked at it.