Please help me save face!

swelsbyuk

My company opens up its annual cycletowork scheme next week.

As I ride a mountain bike my boss has assumed I know all about them and has asked my opinion on what he should buy.

Rather than telling him I haven't a clue, I thought I would would call on the far superior knowledge of you good folk. So, here we go. These are the options (and the only ones, so no Boardman or Decathlon availibility I'm afraid).

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-Roc ... _64809.htm

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Talon-29e ... _66511.htm

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/149603/pr ... wgodQWsAog

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Saracen-Mantra- ... tAodhxgAvQ

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do? ... wgodlhEAWg

Any obviously better / worse than others?

S

cooldad

The Saracen for me, followed by the Rockhopper or Giant.

Cookeh

cooldad wrote:

The Saracen for me, followed by the Rockhopper or Giant.

For once I agree. Saracen is the best specced, its fork edging the Rockhopper Pros marginally.

BigAl

Yep, the Saracen.
The other four are much of a muchness, if I had to pick from them I'd have the Scott

paul.skibum

Saracen or Scott for me I think but only because I am a 29erphobe. And then the Scott has better groupset on it but not as good fork as on the Saracen.

Puk2930

Does your Boss need 120 mm of travel for a work commuter bike with the occasional weekend warrior jaunt? or is he looking at more serious riding?
If not the Saracen isn't going to be the best choice for him. Newish riders/ Commuters benefit more from the better shifting of a higher spec groupset. If needed later on a suspension fork upgrade is relatively cheap compared with a Groupset.
The Scott with it's full XT groupset is definitely superior to the Saracen (Deore/SLX combo).

cooldad

Said he wants a mountain bike, not a commuter.

And the Scott does not have a full XT groupset, just rear mech. The rest is Deore with Acera brakes. Nothing wrong with that, but not a big selling point to me.

The Rookie

Puk2930 wrote:

The Scott with it's full XT groupset

Well it doesn't say that, it says XT groupset, but then....

Rear Derailleur Shimano XT RD-M781 SGS, Shadow Type / 30 Speed
Front Derailleur Shimano Deore FD-M610 / 34.9mm
Shifters Shimano DeoreSL-M610, Rapidfire Plus / 2 Way Release, W/Gear Indicator
Brake Levers Shimano BL-M395 Disc
Brakes Shimano BR-M395 Disc, 180/F And 160/R mm SM-RT54 CL Rotor
Crankset Shimano FC-M622, 2-Piece Design, 40Ax30Ax22T

So of 6 'groupset' line items 1 is XT!

Twelly

SLX and Deore stuff works perfectly fine anyway, I'd go for the better fork

rockmonkeysc

Saracen would be my choice. Best fork and the rest isn't bad.

Angus Young

cooldad wrote:

Said he wants a mountain bike, not a commuter.

A lot of people think they want a mountain bike and then just use them for commuting. And then they wonder why it's all such a hard slog. Need to find out what he's really going to do with the bike.

lostboysaint

Angus Young wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Said he wants a mountain bike, not a commuter.

A lot of people think they want a mountain bike and then just use them for commuting. And then they wonder why it's all such a hard slog. Need to find out hat he's really going to do with the bike.

That.

If it's for a commute then do him a favour and find a cool-looking flat barred commuter bike.

swelsbyuk

It will be used for trail riding - it will not be used for commuting as he already has a road bike for that.

Angus Young

swelsbyuk wrote:

It will be used for trail riding - it will not be used for commuting as he already has a road bike for that.

Shame you can't put Boardman or Decathlon on the shopping list, then.

cooldad

So before you all started acting like refugees from the Commuting forum (which incidentally is a very scary place.)

cooldad wrote:

The Saracen for me, followed by the Rockhopper or Giant.

Puk2930

He said he was buying the Bike on the Cyclescheme, which is to supply bikes for cycling to work. A condition of the scheme is that 50% of the usage is for cycling to work, which is why you get the tax benefit. Hence my assumption that he wanted to cycle to work at least some of the time.

I misread the Scott description and thought it said XT all over~ My bad.

However the point remains, find out what he wants to use the bike for.

The Rookie

Angus Young wrote:

swelsbyuk wrote:

It will be used for trail riding - it will not be used for commuting as he already has a road bike for that.

Shame you can't put Boardman or Decathlon on the shopping list, then.

Decathlon bikes can be bought through cyclesheme

swelsbyuk

Isn't the Saracen running a coil fork and the Giant running an air fork? Always thought the latter was better?

supersonic

Not always - is lighter and more adjustable, but not always as smooth, and more to go wrong.

cooldad

Neither coil nor air are necessarily better.
The Saracen has a better coil fork than the Giant's air fork. Just maybe.

Cqc

Cheap air forks tend to work better than cheap coils forks though, as cheap coil forks are generally too hard and too linear

supersonic

Air costs more though, so for the same price the coil can have a better damper.

swelsbyuk

I 'reported back' to my boss this morning and thank you all for you help in making me look as though I have at least a little knowledge.

As always with these things, he thank me for my help and then stated that he is wondering whether to just buy something outright - for, he said, 'about 500 quid'. I know that the Voodoo Bizango and Rockrider 8.1 as both around this price (I'm sure he could go to £600 for the Bizango).

Are the Bizango and Rockrider anywhere near as good as the Saracen, Giant, Scott etc or, as they are a few hundred quid more, are they far superior?

Sorry to be a pain - last question on this subject, I promise!

welshkev

Puk2930 wrote:

He said he was buying the Bike on the Cyclescheme, which is to supply bikes for cycling to work. A condition of the scheme is that 50% of the usage is for cycling to work, which is why you get the tax benefit. Hence my assumption that he wanted to cycle to work at least some of the time.

.

and how many people actually do that? I know people who have bought forks through cycle to work!

cooldad

swelsbyuk wrote:

I 'reported back' to my boss this morning and thank you all for you help in making me look as though I have at least a little knowledge.

As always with these things, he thank me for my help and then stated that he is wondering whether to just buy something outright - for, he said, 'about 500 quid'. I know that the Voodoo Bizango and Rockrider 8.1 as both around this price (I'm sure he could go to £600 for the Bizango).

Are the Bizango and Rockrider anywhere near as good as the Saracen, Giant, Scott etc or, as they are a few hundred quid more, are they far superior?

Sorry to be a pain - last question on this subject, I promise!

In general, as good.

swelsbyuk

That's great to know - thanks for your input.

swelsbyuk

Hi again

He went for the Saracen Mantra Elite in the end and it turned up on Thursday. Only 'problem' is that the fork fitted to the bike isn't the one on the spec. It is still a rockshox recon, but it' s an air fork and not coil. Is this better, worse or pretty much the same?

cooldad

Not necessarily better or worse. Generally lighter and easier to adjust. Coil is simpler. I'd call it a bonus.

swelsbyuk

Many thanks again for your help.