Cheap MTB for lunchtime riding?

markhewitt1978

Just found out at work I'm switching from half hour to hour long lunches, so I'm thinking - right - I'm cycling at lunctimes

I have a decent road bike at home but no way I'm bringing that to work, besides, there's a few bits of off road around Stockton that would be decent to ride, I fancy a go at mountain biking anyway.

So I'm wondering about what bike to get, budget is cheap and cheerful - about £500 max. This is the type of terrain I'm looking at riding on http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/1015 ... 174c_c.jpg (ignore the car!) so I'm guessing full-sus isn't a requirement - I guess just as well at that price, the rest is tarmac cycle path.

Oh and preferably something smallish as it'll be stored in the back of my Fiesta most of the time - not leaving it in the office and no bike parking here.

Edit: Would something like this be ok? Seems cheap http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... e-ec040336

passout

http://www.realcycles.com/m1b0s2p0/Bike ... ails_26ers

Genesis Core would fit the bill - Apple Bikes in Lancs have a 2010 one with a decent spec - end of line - on their website.

Sensa MTBs at Merlin Cycles - great value. One of those is under 600.

The Vitus range from CRC maybe?

You probably don't need suspension & could do it on a cross bike. MTBs are fun though and offer a range of new riding possibilities.

markhewitt1978

A cross bike would be completely ideal, but a decent one would be out of my budget for what I'm looking at using it for. There's also the aspect that I might not take to lunchtime riding so don't want to spend a fortune on it.

passout

This is the cheapest cross bike I know - I think it can take wider tyres. http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... n-cross-13

kajjal

First time anyone has included a picture !!

For a mountain bike you just need a hardtail from any decent bike manufacturer and it will be fine. Find a good local bike shop with a good selection and do some test rides, Evans would be fine as they generally have a good range available.

If you start with test riding a Specialised Hardrock / Rockhopper it gives you a good base to evaluate other bikes against. The increase in quality of bikes from £300 to around £500 is quite noticeable but you may find in test rides it isn't worth it to you.

The only other piece of advice is buy the bike you like the ride of and look of over just going for spec's and price. Better to have a slightly lower spec or higher priced bike you enjoy riding than a great spec'ed value for money bike you can't stand

The Rookie

I'm not sure why Kajjal keeps talking up Lardrocks, they are cr@p......

For your use I'd suggest a 'pre-loved' bike, circa £300 will get you a decent used bike as that is all you need for what you'll be doing.

cooldad

This^^^^^^^^^^
On both points.

pesky_jones

The Rookie wrote:

I'm not sure why Kajjal keeps talking up Lardrocks, they are cr@p......

For your use I'd suggest a 'pre-loved' bike, circa £300 will get you a decent used bike as that is all you need for what you'll be doing.

cooldad wrote:

This^^^^^^^^^^
On both points.

What is happening here :shock:

passout

Yeah, used is an good option - I guess lots of people will be getting rid of 26 inch wheel hardtails as 27.5 and 29 inch bikes are trendy at the mo. Personally I think E-Bay offers fewer and fewer bargains for bike buyers, so I might look on the classifieds on bike radar, local papers and the like.

Still for 400-600 quid new you can still get something which will do the job fine.

rockmonkeysc

Hardrocks are aweful. I made the mistake of buying one as my first bike. A Carrera is much better for the money.

kajjal

Pesky Jones wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

I'm not sure why Kajjal keeps talking up Lardrocks, they are cr@p......

For your use I'd suggest a 'pre-loved' bike, circa £300 will get you a decent used bike as that is all you need for what you'll be doing.

cooldad wrote:

This^^^^^^^^^^
On both points.

What is happening here :shock:

No idea, I suggested test riding a Hardrock to get a point to start from and then test ride other bikes.

Must be PMT

coulddobetter

You could grab a carrera , or boardman hardtail second hand .or this new .
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

markhewitt1978

Don't think I could bring myself to give Halfords money for a bike! I'm also looking at a Trek DS 8.3 - basically a hard tail MTB but more towards the hybrid side of things with 700x38c.

cooldad

Do you suffer from many irrational phobias?

markhewitt1978

cooldad wrote:

Do you suffer from many irrational phobias?

hehe, I do buy things from Halfords, but I wouldn't buy a bike from there when my LBS is very good.