Whyte vs GT vs Trek vs Lampieer

Sablo

Hello,

I've been bitten by the MTB bug so thought I would treat myself to a new bike. I currently ride a rigid fork Raleigh boulder so it would be fair to say what I know about bikes you could write on the back of a stamp. I have been borrowing my friends full suspension to go off road but I need a bike that can handle a fair amount of commuting so full suspension is not really an option. I've been too a few shops and trialed a few bikes but have been subjected to a lot a spiel, what I really could do with is some impartial advice so of the below three which would be a nice starting block. Although if you have any recommendations for around the £700 mark they would be definite possibilities as, as I said zero idea what I am looking for.

http://whyte.bike/gb/models/crosscountr ... 50b/605-2/
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/1555 ... -bike-2014
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/1716 ... -bike-2015
http://2014.lapierre-bikes.co.uk/mtb-sport/raid-300

Sablo

curto80

Love my Whyte 801

Sablo

Cool, the Whyte would certainly make my life easier as there is a shop that stocks it 10 minutes from my house!

Sablo

The only thing that put me off was hole for the cables to run through the frame seems like it would be a nightmare for gunk to get trapped in

WhyteSky

I love my Whyte but it's a completely different bike to the 605.

The spec you get on a Whyte appears to be inferior to some competitors such as Cube but I was less bothered about spec and more concerned with finding something that's right for me. Spec wears out so if I want better spec I can upgrade when replacing. Frames don't wear out(hopefully).

You don't need to know much about what to look for. The best advice is to try them all out and choose the one that feels right for you. It's you who has to ride it so make sure you're comfortable with whichever bike you buy.

If you're paying outright rather than by a cycle scheme voucher then there are some deals to be had at the moment. Whyte have just released their 2015 models a month or so ago so there will be some places selling reduced price 2014 models so you may get more for your money.

Regards

supersonic

The GT and Lapierre are crap, I can rule those out for you!

felix.london

If you don't mind buying online, this is comes to about £50 over your budget (inc. delivery)

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/radon-zr-team-26-8.0-se-128347/

Or this is well under at about £630 but only available in L/22" (inc. delivery)

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/radon-zr-team-26-7.0-19875/

Both have really good forks, hydraulic disc brakes, Shimano groupsets, decent weights at under 12kg. Obviously buying online isn't for everyone but that's where my money would be if I were you...

rockmonkeysc

Those Radons are so much better than those linked above you would be daft not to.
The Rockshox Reba fork is in a completely different league to anything on the other bikes.