First bike ~£400 - Cyprus

s0crates

Greetings from Cyprus,

Looking to get a bike after a long time (haven't had one since I was a kid). I'm completely new at this so bear with me

My budget is around 400 gbp so what I'm considering now:

1. Calibre Two.Two @ 380gbp (including shipping to Cyprus from outdoorsports)
2. GT Karakoram Sport 29er Hydro (2014) @ 400gbp (from Cyprus)
3. Kelly's Viper 60 @ 290gbp (from Cyprus): I know you probably never seen these so here's a link:
http://www.kellysbike.com/int/bikes-201 ... er-60-vamp

Carrera Kraken was another option I was interested in but it's not available for shipping to Cyprus.

Now, I know trying a bike out before buying is a no brainer, but I was wondering if Calibre is worth the risk, I want to get the best possible for my budget. Also, would spending an extra 80 quid (480gbp) for buying a Trek 4300 be justified, is it worth it's money compared to Karakoram or Calibre?

cooldad

The Kelly has a pointless, rubbish fork, so I would discount that. Same as the GT.
The Calibre is a decent bike at a decent price.

s0crates

Hi cooldad, thanks for the response. Indeed doing some further research on forks and the other specs it seems there's no way I'm going to find anything similar at that price range. There's always a risk when buying something like this without trying out first, but from what I read you simply can't go wrong with the Calibre can you?

The Rookie

The only way to go wrong is buying the wrong size!

s0crates

Haha true. Well I'm 1.74m (5ft8.5in) so size 18 would be the one for me I suppose

supersonic

Possibly! 90% sure it will fit. But to find out - try if you can.

s0crates

Hi again,

Apologies for resurrecting this older topic. Unfortunately, more than a month later, gooutdoors is still giving me problems with shipping the bicycle to Cyprus, and is now offering me a refund. I will make a separate thread about my experience with them, but for now I need your opinion.

I can most definitely not find a similar specs bike in Cyprus for that money, and don't want to be overpriced by shops here, so my options for now:

- Arrange for the Calibre Two.Two to be transported by ship. This will probably cost around 50 pounds and will take about a month to arrive. Total cost: 380+50 = 430GBP
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-two ... ke-p275612

- Trek X Caliber 7 Used. The guy said he used it 6-7 times to go shopping. He's currently selling it for 510GBP but I think he can go as low as 475GBP.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mo ... caliber_7/

I don't know much about the other specs, but we have
(Two.Two vs Caliber 7)
RockShox XC28 vs RockShox XC30
Deore vs Acera M390
26" vs 29"

I believe the Trek is a bit overpriced compared to the Two.Two (RRP: 600GBP) but at 475 it might not be that bad.

What do you guys think? (keep in mind this will be my first mtb since I was a kid)

Long_Time_Lurker

I would take either of those.
If you can get the Trek for £475 all the better. I rode one this summer for a week (it was a hire bike), and I was pleasantly suprised about how quick it was (compared to a couple of other bikes that the hire place had).
It's also a good frame - it is good starting point if you want to upgrade components at a later date.