Halfords a no go, please help

ricgreen

ricgreen wrote:

ricgreen wrote:

Cookeh wrote:

Who cares, so s/he made an error posting some links - how petty.

Ricegreen, have you seen if your scheme is valid at Decathlon - the Rockrider is, as I said before, the logical choice given your earlier conclusions.

Thanks Cookeh, yes my scheme does cover decathalon so I am just on my way to the coventry one now to see it in the flesh
Will let you know how I get on
Thanks

Cookeh. I thought the Rockrider 8.1 was very good and great value, however the appearance of the bike is dull and does not jump out at me. I have found 3 bikes that do take my fancy, tell me your thoughts

http://www.coventrycyclecentre.co.uk/m1 ... _27_5_2014


http://www.coventrycyclecentre.co.uk/m1 ... og_26_2014

http://www.coventrycyclecentre.co.uk/m1 ... ntion_2013

Would be good to get this thread back on track which was , which bike would get you vote

The Rookie

ricgreen wrote:

Would be good to get this thread back on track which was , which bike would get you vote

Indeed, and the answer is the Rockrider 8.1 which is cheaper than - and better than - any of those three.

97th choice

this^^^ + potato

cooldad

+ a whole field of them


And for the doubters

Cookeh

For perhaps the dozenth time, the Rockrider.

ricgreen

Cookeh wrote:

For perhaps the dozenth time, the Rockrider.

Cookeh while I appreciate your comments and the potato pun
I was kind of hoping I may get more than 4 or 5 replies from different members.
Yes so far its strongly looking like the Rockrider 8, 1 and if I get several more saying Rockrider I will be buying it tomorrow
When Im paying up £600 out I want to be certain.
Rockrider hits all the buttons and cant be beaten for spec, only thing that puts me off is it looks dull and boring to look at.

As some people have said lookes dont matter its the spec and value.
My view is I would like both a bike with good spec and a bike that looks a wow.
So I would consider slightly lower spec as im new to biking for the look of a bike.
But thats me, I asked you guys for your advice and bar some sarcasm here and there it points to the Rockrider 8.1
Thanks for all your answers.

97th choice

£600 is very much the lower end, entry level of the mountain biking market, even for a hard tail.

At that level you can make compromises for the sake of looks, if you wish, but they will most likely be significant ones that can have a detrimental impact on your enjoyment of mountain biking.

Plus, if you do it right it will be covered in mud anyway.

The Rookie

I've never really been able to see a bike when I'm riding it, all that matters then is how it rides.

in the £400-600 region there are a lot of good bikes that are less aesthetically pleasing than some from the big name brands, but the bikes themselves are much much better pieces of kit, remember only really the frame is unique to the brand (and then not always!), all the rest is components bought from big name suppliers and while a poor frame can break a bike, a good one is only made good with a good set of components!

ricgreen

The Rookie wrote:

I've never really been able to see a bike when I'm riding it, all that matters then is how it rides.

in the £400-600 region there are a lot of good bikes that are less aesthetically pleasing than some from the big name brands, but the bikes themselves are much much better pieces of kit, remember only really the frame is unique to the brand (and then not always!), all the rest is components bought from big name suppliers and while a poor frame can break a bike, a good one is only made good with a good set of components!

Thanks Rookie for your thoughts I your view are you saying you would rule out the
Cube analog 26 or 27.5.
Or for the drop in spec still consider them ?

Cookeh

He's saying the Rockrider is the best option given it has a better spec, despite the fact it may not have the prettiest frame.

ricgreen, I can appreciate that £600 is a fair chunk of money, but honestly, there isn't a better bike out there for the spec at the moment. To give you an idea of how good the spec of the Rockrider is for the money, one of the only bikes that comes close is this - but its £110 more expensive and retails at £450 more.
For such a budget, fork and drivetrain are the most important considerations and the Cube bikes all have the same, crap, fork and aren't really worth considering - especially as they cost more!!

I mean, you even said it yourself, the Rockrider cannot be beaten for spec.

Angus Young

Rockrider, definitely. And for the price you're paying you should just be grateful you're getting a half decent bike. Wanting it to look good as well (not that I, personally, think the RR looks at all bad) is being unrealistic. And I guarantee you, as your riding develops over the coming months you're going to become far more interested in how the bike rides than how it looks. Sure, we'd all like our ride to look cool, but you're going to have to reach into you wallet for that.

ricgreen

Angus Young wrote:

Rockrider, definitely. And for the price you're paying you should just be grateful you're getting a half decent bike. Wanting it to look good as well (not that I, personally, think the RR looks at all bad) is being unrealistic. And I guarantee you, as your riding develops over the coming months you're going to become far more interested in how the bike rides than how it looks. Sure, we'd all like our ride to look cool, but you're going to have to reach into you wallet for that.

I like to have my cake and eat it.
Ha ha

Angus Young

ricgreen wrote:

I like to have my cake and eat it.
Ha ha

Then buy a more expensive cake.

chrisw333

Ric

It's obvious you want us to say buy the Cube, so despite voting for the RR, I'll say it. Buy the Cube attention (if it fits). It's a decent bike, with pretty good drive train and brakes. The fork is poor, but you know this. It will be perfectly good for your intended use of roads, canals and basic woodland paths.

If your riding progresses to trail centres etc, then you may feel the fork lets you down a bit. This is where it can be counter productive as you may feel you have less control and so you may enjoy the technical stuff less - or be put off completely.

But if getting a good looking bike gets you inspired to get out and riding in the first place and the RR won't, well then go for it. It could be worse, you could have picked a Specialized Hardrock to fall in love with, then you would be in trouble. If you fall in love with the sport you can always upgrade the fork at a later date for £150-£200 quid or so.

So there you go. Buy the Cube. It's not as good as the Rockrider, but it's a bike. And riding bikes is ace.

ricgreen

"chrisreply wrote:

Ric

It's obvious you want us to say buy the Cube, so despite voting for the RR, I'll say it. Buy the Cube attention (if it fits). It's a decent bike, with pretty good drive train and brakes. The fork is poor, but you know this. It will be perfectly good for your intended use of roads, canals and basic woodland paths.

If your riding progresses to trail centres etc, then you may feel the fork lets you down a bit. This is where it can be counter productive as you may feel you have less control and so you may enjoy the technical stuff less - or be put off completely.

But if getting a good looking bike gets you inspired to get out and riding in the first place and the RR won't, well then go for it. It could be worse, you could have picked a Specialized Hardrock to fall in love with, then you would be in trouble. If you fall in love with the sport you can always upgrade the fork at a later date for £150-£200 quid or so.

So there you go. Buy the Cube. It's not as good as the Rockrider, but it's a bike. And riding bikes is ace.

An excellent reply, you are correct about my feelings for the cube, and thanks to all who gave me a truthful report of the Rockrider, I was always hoping the cube would get a 50/50 write up against the Rockrider but cant but face the facts that the Rockrider is the better bike.

Im going to decathalon today to try the Rockrider out again and then onto the coventry cycle centre to try the cubes, will let you know what the outcome is
Thanks Rick.

The Rookie

Good luck.

PS I'm based locally and ride in the Cov/Leamington area, pm me if you want any local suggestions.

ricgreen

The Rookie wrote:

Good luck.

PS I'm based locally and ride in the Cov/Leamington area, pm me if you want any local suggestions.

Thanks Rookie I have PMd you for your sdvice

Cheers.

Antm81

I had a 2012 analog and I quickly wanted to upgrade the fork, it had a suntour xcm which is roughly at the same level as the xc28, both are coil forks iirc and very basic. Coil forks have their place but for the lighter stuff you want to do and progressing on to from there I believe an air fork would be much better, which I believe the recon on the rockrider is, just pump it up to get the correct sag and away you go, where as a coil fork would require new springs to suit your weight.

I ended up buying a whole new bike instead of upgrading the cube further (I'd already changed the wheelset and brakes along with the usual rider specific things such as pedals and grips).

Although you prefer the looks of the cubes, the bug will strike eventually changing parts etc which can alter the looks significantly, as has been previously said, things like pedals, bars and grips are very rider specific and relatively inexpensive to change whilst possibly transforming the look of the bike.

The Rookie

It's not just the spring (which is a smaller issue) it is the quality of the damper fitted and it's capacity for maintaining performance.

Antm81

I agree, just pointing out its a lot harder to change the spring to match your weight than it is to adjust the air pressure