Need help buying a new hardtail!

vulva65

Hi Chaps, I'm new to mountain biking and have been riding local trails around Cornwall and Devon and absolutely loving it! I currently have a Carrera Valour which I do really like but am struggling with the v brakes not being very responsive, I want to upgrade to hydraulic disc brakes and feel I'm probably better off getting a new bike. I'm looking at spending between £400 and £600 and wanted to know your suggestions.

I've been looking at the following so far:
merida matts trail 100-d
Voodoo bizango 29er
Specialized hard rock sport disc 29er

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers!

bailsofhay

Have a look at Ghost SE 2950 Hardtail Bike 2013 or the Sunn Prim S2 Hardtail over at CRC. The Sunn is a bit of a different geometry but the specs are pretty nice compared to what you are looking at.

vulva65

Thank you, that Ghost looks really nice and although the spec is probably better on the sunn I think I would probably sway towards the ghost purely on looks, superficial I know! Thanks again for your help.

Superdon

You can get the Bizango for around £430 using various discounts and vouchers. It's pretty easy and a worthwhile saving.

mickjh56

@ Superdon ...Bizango: £599 in the shop. How do you drop the price by nearly £170. I'd really like to know.

Ah, I found it:

Superdon wrote:

Hawmaw wrote:

How are you managing to get £169 off the Bizangos list price of £599 ?

Ordered the Bizango in the end.

The Halfords £60 off a £600 spend offer has just finished I think, so that's it down to £540.
Then I have British Cycling membership which gives 10% off (cost just over £10 to join) and I also pre purchased Halfords vouchers, with a 10% off offer. So that's a further 20% off. So down to around £432. Finally, around £15 cashback through Quidco. Bit if effort but a good discount so worth it.

Superdon

Yes, that's it. The £60 off thing has just finished, but I think there will be another similar offer again soon.

vulva65

Thoughts on a merida big seven? Just went and saw it in my lbs and it' feels incredible.

kajjal

The bizango gets rave reviews and I would compare other bikes to that.

white999

I am new to the game and am looking for a hardtail in the same price range as you are. I got into road cycling last year but realy want to get into mountain biking this summer.

From what I have seen browsing forums is that for £600 the voodoo bizango is the one to beat. Like I say I am new to all of this so I am wondering what other recommendations people have? I really liked the look of the ghost se 2950 but I am 6" 2 and it looks like the biggest frame they make is 17.25 inches where I would need a 20". [Edit] at least on the CRC site but you can get bigger sizes looking at the ghost site.

Also, I never realised there was such a stigma in the biking community against halfords, kind of strange.

cooldad

Not the biking community, just random elements.

kajjal

The problem with halfords is the very hit and miss quality of service. This shouldn't be too much of a problem as the bikes are fine generally and plenty of guides on the web on how to set things up properly.

bailsofhay

I was talking to a parent when picking my daughter up from brownies when I noticed that the bike she had brought for her daughter to ride home on had the forks installed backwards. When I pointed it out she said that that was how she got it from halfords. I am sure V-brakes are not designed to be used backwards, luckily I had my multitool on me and it was a quick fix.. I'm sure there are some good halfords mechanics out there but if I ever got something from them I would double check it had been put together properly before trusting my life with it.

That's not to say I wouldn't buy something from them if the price was right though.

PBNinja

I had a bizango which went back due to faulty parts. Got a boardman 650 comp instead, seems a better bike all round to be honest.