Hello, help me choose a bike!

ricardo75

Hi all, first post!

I’m looking to purchase my first MTB in 15 years to replace my old Specialized Rockhopper and am after some opinions/guidance having got myself thoroughly confused.

By way of some background, in ‘my youth’ I was very keen on mountain biking but am ashamed to say that I let it slip and as such my bike lay around gathering dust in the shed with little more than occasional use. However, my little girl (6) learnt to ride her bike without stabilisers over the summer and is now keen to go cycling as a family, that and a visit to Halfords to reward her with a new bike has rekindled my interest.

I am therefore looking for a bike that will be used a lot for reasonably gentle off-road days out (trips along the towpath and through the woods) with the occasional mad blast on a local trail (that will no doubt become more frequent as I rediscover my love of biking!). So the bike needs to be suitable for mixed use, able to last a few years without becoming outdated, and most of all, fun!

The bike that first caught my eye was a 2012 Carrera Fury heavily reduced, but further research has resulted in me looking for something a little more current/futureproof and producing the following shortlist:

Vitus Sentier 275
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitu ... prod107035
Good looking spec with Deore components but only the Suntour xcr fork, the VR model (now unavailable) was voted MBR best £1,000 hardtail and there is also a 29” wheel option;
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitu ... prod107048

VooDoo Bizango
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... in-bike-18
Appears to be universally loved and won MBR best £600 hardtail, any drawbacks? Compared to the Vitus it has some Alivio components and the Deore rear mech is not the Shadow Plus clutch version…

Sunn Modular S2
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sunn ... prod121788
Bit of a leftfield choice this one, massive discount and great spec (X7 components, Rockshox forks) but difficult to find much info, I know that Sunn went bust last year which worries me a little.

So where would your money go? In my position would you go for a 29er or a 650B? Any other suggestions to confuse me still further?!

Thanks in advance.

The Rookie

The Sunn is excellent for the money, even better than the Bizango.

Wheel size is very personal, the larger wheels (29) roll faster but even compared to my Carrera a £4K carbon race bike felt cumbersome in tighter turns, the 26er is more nimble and seems to encourage a more 'flamboyant' riding style, 650B is touted as being the best of both worlds.

The Vitus is better set for trail centre work with the Shadow plus and 27.5 wheels, but the while the fork is OK, it's not as good as the one on the Bizango and even further from the one on the Sunn...but it is the cheapest bike, so you could look at a Fork upgrade, with some luck you can get some great forks for not too much money.

cooldad

The Sunn looks like a good deal, and the only problem you might have is if you broke the frame. In 40+ years of riding, and dozens of bikes, I've only broken one frame, in about 1970, jumping a very unsuitable bike off pavements.
So it wouldn't worry me.

ricardo75

Thanks for the feedback.

The Vitus is probably the one I am leaning towards but am unsure how big a step down the XCR is from the Raidon - looking at the specs it's heavier but does have an air spring, hydraulic speed lock and rebound adjust...? Are you able to offer any insight as to what kind of difference I'd notice between the two?

Forgot to mention that I was also looking at the 2015 Carrera Fury
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... -bike-2015
Seems like a reasonable step up from the previous model but how good are Carrera bikes? Seem to get some good reviews whilst others disagree.

jairaj

I assuming you are in the UK? If so the Sale of Goods Act should cover you for a while in case there were problems with the Sunn frame. The contract is with the retailer CRC who I would think are not about to go bust any time soon? So you may end up with your money back ie back to square one but you shouldn't be out of pocket.

Most manufacturing faults arise quite quickly so if the bikes last the first year, then chances are it should last a few more after that.

The Rookie

The raidon has much better damping than the XCR and is lighter, the RS on the Sunn has better quality damping than the Raidon, but is fairly similar, the RS also have a well deserved reputation for longevity.

The Fury is OK, but has been devaulued in recent years somewhat to keep at it's price point rather than folowwing pr9ces to stay as as good a bike. Fork is the Raidon again, drivetrain similar to the Bizango, but personally I'd take Shimano brakes over the Avid's on the Fury any day.

ricardo75

Thread resurrection time!

After much procrastination I have discarded the Voodoo (rarer than Unicorn poo) and the Vitus (sub-standard fork) and have a final decision to make between the Sunn (linked in first post) and a new contender, the Boardman Comp 650B that I managed to reserve over the weekend with the 10% offer.

I prefer the look of the Boardman (those seamless welds are lovely) and I'm unsure about the 29er wheels on the Sunn (looks and handling) but I can't ignore the spec.

All thoughts/views/opinions gratefully received!

jairaj

I've got an old Boardman HT frame from about 2011 ish and its pretty good. On paper it looks like a XC racing machine but when you ride it, it is much more fun. Its got a good balance of good climbing manners and reasonably fun on the way down. Its not a long travel bike so you can't just point down a hill and hope for the best on technical sections. But on your average trail centre it should be good fun. If the newer bikes are built with similar philosophy then I'm confident it'll be a good bike.