£300 - £600 MTB advice?

NoahPJCurtis

I could do with some tips for buying a bike and I have no idea what to look out for. I'm 16 years old and I've suddenly decided I want to take more risks in life and I'm pretty desperate to get myself a mountain bike for downhill tracks. I was about to buy a BMX just moments ago but I decided last second I'd rather save myself an extra bit of cash to get a decent mountain bike at a reasonable price. I have little knowledge of bikes but my goals are pretty clear and I want to get some thrills from downhill MTB riding, so if somebody could point me in the right direction I'd be eternally grateful.

Tl;dr, I'm 16 years old and want to buy a MTB for downhill biking purposes. I'd like the bike to be of decent quality and I have £290 at the moment so I'd be looking to spend around £300 to £600 on this bike, perhaps a stretch for £700 if it seemed necessary considering the quality of the bike.

Thanks in advance to anyone that's able to point me in the right direction

cooldad

If you mean actual Downhill, you won't get a new one for that. Second hand maybe.

If you just mean riding down hills after riding up them you will get a decent bike for £600 or a very good second hand one. See the sticky at the top of Buying Advice. A Voodoo would be my suggestion for a pretty tough bike.

NoahPJCurtis

cooldad wrote:

If you mean actual Downhill, you won't get a new one for that. Second hand maybe.

If you just mean riding down hills after riding up them you will get a decent bike for £600 or a very good second hand one. See the sticky at the top of Buying Advice. A Voodoo would be my suggestion for a pretty tough bike.

Well like I said I'm under-experienced :P I don't know a great deal but I'm told that I'm punching above my weight. To give a sort of idea of the terrain I expect to use the bike on, I'd say stuff like this would be the limit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBULlisDYQc

After that I'd likely attain a lot more knowledge by the time I'm ready to buy a new bike. So maybe the terrain in the video would give a slight idea of what I mean, but I'm not sure at all. Any price is fine really, but I was looking to be buying it soon, I'm told these sorts of things shouldn't really be rushed though but I'd appreciate all of the help I can get, and thanks for your two cents, cooldad

buddy_club

For a proper downhill rig, you can't go far wrong with a second hand Kona Stinky (budget but capable) I would have a think about what trails are like near you though, are there places like that where you can ride locally? Or are you thinking you want to do what Syndicate does just because Syndicate does it, if you want to seriously do Downhill then you'd be better off spending more. But for normal trail riding, as has been mentioned before, you cant really go wrong with a Voodoo (brand bias - i own one) but i ride it hard, it goes uphill and downhill easily enough, and I do all the jumps i can find on it and its held up fine. I'm 15 so a similar age as you and it (Voodoo Bizango) was definitely affordable for me and it will hold up for a good few more years until I can buy something better.

rockmonkeysc

For around £700 Specialized Big Hits and Santa Cruz Bullits and Scott Voltage FR are the top choices. Maybe an Orange 224 if you find a tidy one.
Kona Stinkys are horrible things which are very awkward to ride at high speed so not good for beginners.
£700 is about the minimum for a reasonable used downhill bike. Just remember, these are bikes which get a very tough life and you really need good suspension.
You will also need a full face helmet which will cost £60+ and gloves with some protection £30+. Good, grippy shoes are very important to keep your feet in place on the rough stuff, they will cost you £50+ and some armour is a very good idea for a beginner and will cost you around £100.
Unfortunately downhill is not a cheap sport and you WILL break bones and regularly get hurt and break your bike. It will take you a while to learn the basic skills and find some speed.
On the positive side, it's huge fun, a massive adrenaline buzz and addictive.
Have you ever watched any downhill races? It's worth going to watch one to see what you are getting in to.

buddy_club

There you go then, sorry for bad advice

rockmonkeysc

Stinkys are cheap and were revolutionary in the late 90's but never kept up with the competition.
The Kona Stab is a bit better but weighs as much as a cow.
Giant Glory's are ok but weigh as much as a rhino.

Cqc

Tbh unless you want to be constantly pushing, you're better off with a trail bike. I wouldn't say it needs to be too tough because you're only a beginner and won't be going very fast. It's unlikely you'll even manage to break a trail bike for a while yet...

rockmonkeysc

Downhill beginners are much more likely to brake frames with bad riding, cased jumps and crashes.
I have seen a few beginners snap pretty tough frames and even snap the crown of a set of Rockshox Toras.

NoahPJCurtis

RockmonkeySC wrote:

For around £700 Specialized Big Hits and Santa Cruz Bullits and Scott Voltage FR are the top choices. Maybe an Orange 224 if you find a tidy one.
Kona Stinkys are horrible things which are very awkward to ride at high speed so not good for beginners.
£700 is about the minimum for a reasonable used downhill bike. Just remember, these are bikes which get a very tough life and you really need good suspension.
You will also need a full face helmet which will cost £60+ and gloves with some protection £30+. Good, grippy shoes are very important to keep your feet in place on the rough stuff, they will cost you £50+ and some armour is a very good idea for a beginner and will cost you around £100.
Unfortunately downhill is not a cheap sport and you WILL break bones and regularly get hurt and break your bike. It will take you a while to learn the basic skills and find some speed.
On the positive side, it's huge fun, a massive adrenaline buzz and addictive.
Have you ever watched any downhill races? It's worth going to watch one to see what you are getting in to.

Thanks for this advice! I needed some tips on what gear to look for. I probably won't tackle anything too daring at all and I don't even know if "downhill" was the best term to use, but that's definitely where I want to be eventually. This advice will definitely come in handy and I'll take anything you mentioned into account too, so thanks a lot! It's great to get everyone's opinion, especially this sort. I've got around £300 at the moment and I'm owed a loooot of money so I should be able to get myself around £400 - £450 this week and I'll try not to rush this thing. I was checking out a couple of Rockriders and Boardmans on eBay that seemed like good buys but I'll see how that all turns out. I'll probably take a few weeks getting back on the saddle and then when I feel my feet a little I'll likely invest in some more sturdy gear and protection and tackle some more challenging tracks. I'm glad you've given me this sort of help with the gear and whatnot, thanks a lot! Who knows? I could be looking at spending around £700 eventually to get myself a decent bike. I'll try to get as much advice on the sport as I can and which bike I'd want to look at getting. Thanks!

NoahPJCurtis

Cqc wrote:

Tbh unless you want to be constantly pushing, you're better off with a trail bike. I wouldn't say it needs to be too tough because you're only a beginner and won't be going very fast. It's unlikely you'll even manage to break a trail bike for a while yet...

I may be a beginner but I'm pretty tenacious and I'll probably push myself to get a great buzz out of doing this. I'm sure in no time I'll be used to things and taking a lot of risks (that I could likely regret) but nonetheless, I want to invest in something that won't be redundant after a little practice. Thank you for your advice!

NoahPJCurtis

buddy_club wrote:

I would have a think about what trails are like near you though, are there places like that where you can ride locally? Or are you thinking you want to do what Syndicate does just because Syndicate does it, if you want to seriously do Downhill then you'd be better off spending more.

Ha, I guess I did give that impression, but honestly, I was told that Syndicate rode and just checked out some of his videos and thought that was a great example, I'm not really a fan. I know there's a lot of great terrain near me, some a little more risky than the terrain in the video and plenty of terrain that'd suit me as a beginner too. I just want to know if there's any point in getting a full suspension bike really, I'm now looking at the Carrera Vulcan here:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

I don't really know whether it'd be wise to purchase this but I'd always be able to pop back to the store if any issues arise and I just like the bike and what I've heard I guess. If somebody is to prove me wrong then fair enough, I'll definitely check out anything that's suggested though, it's a massive help and with a collective opinion, I'd be able to make a decision based on feedback of others, I just don't really know much of whether I'd need a full suss bike for that sort of terrain is all, thanks for the help and I'll definitely give the VooDoo Bizango a look, as well as a browse for a reasonably priced Kona Stinky!

buddy_club

Carrera Vulcan is okay, but mine had too man issues for me to recommend, the brakes failed, the fork always had trouble, the wheels were out of true and with lose spokes from the factory, shifting was never quite smooth and resulting in a lot of crunching and frustration. I may have just been unlucky but if you want to ride it hard then I don't knowing it would hold up too well. For me, it was a good bike for about the 3 months it lasted, but then Halfords swapped it for the Bizango. I found Halfords okay to deal with tbf, despite what some people say about them. If you've got a decathlon store near you I would definitely recommend going and having a look as well

NoahPJCurtis

I don't think there's a Decathlon store around here but I had a look at the VooDoo Bizango and I've definitely got a new favourite. I've seen enough of it I think and it's really appealing! I got the genius idea of spending any money given to me on my birthday on this bike, so that'll mean waiting until March 25th but I'll get a lot more of a bike that way hopefully. The Bizango is my first choice at the moment

chrisw333

One thing you should bear in mind is the go-pro footage always makes trails seem a lot flatter and easier than they are. I haven't ridden the trail in the video, but whilst it seems pretty easy I suspect it would be very steep and tricky in places .

rockmonkeysc

chrisw333 wrote:

One thing you should bear in mind is the go-pro footage always makes trails seem a lot flatter and easier than they are. I haven't ridden the trail in the video, but whilst it seems pretty easy I suspect it would be very steep and tricky in places .

I have ridden it. It's reasonably easy but the breaking bumps are killers. Pretty boring trail to be honest
This is proper downhill
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&sourc ... t1GU5GJygw
This sort of track is getting less common now, all the new tracks seem to be smoother with huge jumps and big berms and generally less technical.

Jake2.0

Well this thread has helped me come to a decision thanks. So I've decided to go for the Bizango and currently with Code B14BK03 you get 10% off which stacked with the British cycling discount that brings the Bizango down to a bargain £484. On top of that I was wondering if anyone knows if you can stack the discount you receive from the recycle offer Halfords are doing? http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_173014
which could bring it down to a meagre £436 bargain!!!!!

rockmonkeysc

If your long term goal is to ride downhill you would be better on 26" wheels as they are much easier to learn to ride fast on.
29" bikes generally don't steer as well or as quickly and the wheels aren't as strong as the equivalent 26" wheels.
I like 29" bikes for effortless big mile rides but definitely not for harder riding.

Cqc

NoahPJCurtis wrote:

Cqc wrote:

Tbh unless you want to be constantly pushing, you're better off with a trail bike. I wouldn't say it needs to be too tough because you're only a beginner and won't be going very fast. It's unlikely you'll even manage to break a trail bike for a while yet...

I may be a beginner but I'm pretty tenacious and I'll probably push myself to get a great buzz out of doing this. I'm sure in no time I'll be used to things and taking a lot of risks (that I could likely regret) but nonetheless, I want to invest in something that won't be redundant after a little practice. Thank you for your advice!

Fine' but a trail bike will never really limit your DH capabilities unless you are semi pro- in fact it will probably help it as you'll be able to get more runs in as it won't take a year to get to the top of the hill.

rockmonkeysc

Cqc wrote:

NoahPJCurtis wrote:

Cqc wrote:

Tbh unless you want to be constantly pushing, you're better off with a trail bike. I wouldn't say it needs to be too tough because you're only a beginner and won't be going very fast. It's unlikely you'll even manage to break a trail bike for a while yet...

I may be a beginner but I'm pretty tenacious and I'll probably push myself to get a great buzz out of doing this. I'm sure in no time I'll be used to things and taking a lot of risks (that I could likely regret) but nonetheless, I want to invest in something that won't be redundant after a little practice. Thank you for your advice!

Fine' but a trail bike will never really limit your DH capabilities unless you are semi pro- in fact it will probably help it as you'll be able to get more runs in as it won't take a year to get to the top of the hill.

Have you ever ridden a dh bike? They make a huge difference over a trail bike to even a beginner.
True, you won't want to ride up a hill on one but riding down a dh bike will let you get away with a lot more and encourage you to stay off the brakes.
You could get down any downhill trail on any bike but its a much more relaxed experience on a dh bike and being relaxed allows you to concentrate on technique and hitting better lines.

Cqc

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Cqc wrote:

NoahPJCurtis wrote:

Cqc wrote:

Tbh unless you want to be constantly pushing, you're better off with a trail bike. I wouldn't say it needs to be too tough because you're only a beginner and won't be going very fast. It's unlikely you'll even manage to break a trail bike for a while yet...

I may be a beginner but I'm pretty tenacious and I'll probably push myself to get a great buzz out of doing this. I'm sure in no time I'll be used to things and taking a lot of risks (that I could likely regret) but nonetheless, I want to invest in something that won't be redundant after a little practice. Thank you for your advice!

Fine' but a trail bike will never really limit your DH capabilities unless you are semi pro- in fact it will probably help it as you'll be able to get more runs in as it won't take a year to get to the top of the hill.

Have you ever ridden a dh bike? They make a huge difference over a trail bike to even a beginner.
True, you won't want to ride up a hill on one but riding down a dh bike will let you get away with a lot more and encourage you to stay off the brakes.
You could get down any downhill trail on any bike but its a much more relaxed experience on a dh bike and being relaxed allows you to concentrate on technique and hitting better lines.

Yes I have ridden DH bikes and I get what your saying, but I think the versatility of a trail bike would be a better bet if your starting out mtbing as if you end up not wanting to do DH youll not have to do another bike, and getting back up is much easier

rockmonkeysc

But if you get a trail bike intending to get in to downhill then your going to have to buy a new bike or spend a fortune on repairs for your fragile bike.
I don't get why people think that anytime a beginner shows interest in downhill on this forum everyone just assumes that they don't really mean downhill and you can't go straight in in to downhill anyway.
Plenty of people go straight to downhill with no problems and get fast fairly quickly.

cooldad

RockmonkeySC wrote:

But if you get a trail bike intending to get in to downhill then your going to have to buy a new bike or spend a fortune on repairs for your fragile bike.
I don't get why people think that anytime a beginner shows interest in downhill on this forum everyone just assumes that they don't really mean downhill and you can't go straight in in to downhill anyway.
Plenty of people go straight to downhill with no problems and get fast fairly quickly.

Yep, but not on that budget. Especially as a 16 year old with limited funds for keeping it going, or buying cheap and doing up.

supersonic

I don't get why people think that anytime a beginner shows interest in downhill on this forum everyone just assumes that they don't really mean downhill and you can't go straight in in to downhill anyway.

Fair enough... but... most who say downhill don't mean anything of the sort, and the video the op posted would insult an xc track in wharncliffe for technicality. I don't think a DH bike is required.

NoahPJCurtis

RockmonkeySC wrote:

You could get down any downhill trail on any bike but its a much more relaxed experience on a dh bike and being relaxed allows you to concentrate on technique and hitting better lines.

If this is fact then there isn't much need for me to push my budget for a DH bike then, right? I mean I'd want a relaxed experience as a beginner but I'm hoping to be pushing myself as a person with this experience, as well as my bike. Eventually I guess it'd be fair to say I'll need to invest in a DH bike but at the moment I think I'll be fine. It'd be great if I could get some info on some awesome trails (maybe even that you've ridden) in England/Wales

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If your long term goal is to ride downhill you would be better on 26" wheels as they are much easier to learn to ride fast on.
29" bikes generally don't steer as well or as quickly and the wheels aren't as strong as the equivalent 26" wheels.
I like 29" bikes for effortless big mile rides but definitely not for harder riding.

Anyone want to comment on this too? I'd like another opinion and I did consider this myself, I'm fairly in love with the Bizango at the moment, it'd be a shame to have to further the search but whatever's necessary I guess, but I do want to make sure I get what's best out of this. Bizango's definitely pretty amusing to me as far as I've seen though.

NoahPJCurtis

RockmonkeySC wrote:

But if you get a trail bike intending to get in to downhill then your going to have to buy a new bike or spend a fortune on repairs for your fragile bike.
I don't get why people think that anytime a beginner shows interest in downhill on this forum everyone just assumes that they don't really mean downhill and you can't go straight in in to downhill anyway.
Plenty of people go straight to downhill with no problems and get fast fairly quickly.

I like this point too, I'm not sure what to invest in but I'd say this is a valid statement, I feel as though I'll be better at it than I'd usually expect with anything, and after I get riding and feel my feet again I don't see why downhill is unrealistic, I have a funny feeling most of the rides my friends have been on around my area aren't going to suffice, hopefully I'm right, I'm not exactly afraid to go risking a broken bone or two though, it's all in the fun of it I guess!

rockmonkeysc

Have a look at used hardcore hardtails.
I spotted a pretty tidy carbon On One 456 on ebay for £650. That would be a lot better than the voodoo for harder riding

NoahPJCurtis

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Spec-Har ... 258b4802bb

This type, you mean?

rockmonkeysc

I wouldn't. Not a great frame and not exactly a hardcore hardtail. For a little extra cash this is much better
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/171270049085?nav=SEARCH

NoahPJCurtis

Hmmm, £650 now and it's in Cheshire, which I can't imagine is a possibility for me being 16. Even if it were still £450 like it was when I checked earlier and if it were delivery, I'd still probably spend more money upgrading the bike than just buying the Bizango which probably needs minimal upgrades if any at all; besides, I have a BMX that I may be able to take to Halfords to get that recycle discount too, and if not that then I could recycle one of my Dad's old bikes which'd probably be more compatible since the bastard's getting on a bit now and I doubt he'll be jumping on them again. That'd knock the price down a fair bit.

rockmonkeysc

The Bazingo is the wrong bike if you want to learn to ride hard Those big wheels are going to last no time and flex badly and throwing it through tight turns will be hard work. The fork will struggle to cope with aggressive riding and flex like a b*stard.
It's a good bike if you want to do long distance rides for minimal effort.
The best I can think of at your budget will be a Decathlon Rockrider but that's far from ideal.
Much better to save a couple hundred extra and buy a more suitable used bike than a bottom end budget xc bike which is going to make hard riding difficult, unpleasant and expensive.