MTB noob. £400 budget. 3 models.

DoverH

Hi

I am a complete beginner to mountain biking. After reading on these forums, I came to the decision to buy Decathlon's RockRider 560 (which was listed at £339).

Unfortunately, I later got an email saying they were out of stock.

I have just moved next to a forest, and for transportation purposes, the sooner I get a bike, the better. Unforunately this means I can't wait for xmas deals.

My budget is £400. I thought of going with the RockRider 540 (at £300)

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-540-mountain-bike-id_8293149.html

OR

Calibre Two.Two (£379)

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-two-two-alloy-hardtail-mountain-bike-p275612

OR

Mondraker (£399)

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mondraker-phase-29er-mountain-bike-p343087

As I said, I am a complete beginner. Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated. If you think there is another model I should go for within the £400 budget, I would be happy to do that as well.

Thank you very much!

Dover

brianbee

Well not the mondraker that's for sure

Its hard to split the other two, and not sure which sun-tours shock the RR has on it has on ?

The 2/2 looks the best spec the RR the best value if the shock isn't complete rubbish and , if it is ,the 80 quid saving would go along way towards buying a really decent shock for it ?????

bold seagull

Did you look at the Calibre Point.50? Someone posted it the other day who was also disappointed not to get a Rockrider 560 in their size. Looks a good bit of kit.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-point-50-alloy-hardtail-mountain-bike-p275620?utm_source=AWin&utm_medium=Banner&utm_campaign=AffiliateWin&affid=78888&awgid=0&awbid=0&awid=78888&awpid=0&awcr=skim71026X1519955X1847ce9d09b81b09db097e1b90338cad

DoverH

Thank you very much for the responses.

bold seagull I did look at that bike you mentioned. In fact, had it been available, I would have bought it immediately. Unforunately, there are none for delivery and only 1 left to pickup (which is in London). The cost to go to London to pick up the bike adds an extra £60.

oxoman I did contact a Decathlon earlier this week to see if they had any in stock. There were 3 left instore in the entire UK. Unfotunately, all 3 were reserved. I called again to check today, and they have nothing instore, nor do they have anything on the system (warehouse or instore nationwide).

Ideally, I would have liked to ride/test out the bike before purchasing. I have a fairly large Evans and Halfords close to where I live. Having done some research, there doesn't seem to be anything in the £400 price range from either company that comes highly recommended. If anyone does have something they could recommend, I'd be happy to give it a shot.

Thanks again!

brianbee

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19736885#p19736885]DoverH[/url] wrote:

Thank you very much for the responses.

bold seagull I did look at that bike you mentioned. In fact, had it been available, I would have bought it immediately. Unforunately, there are none for delivery and only 1 left to pickup (which is in London). The cost to go to London to pick up the bike adds an extra £60.

oxoman I did contact a Decathlon earlier this week to see if they had any in stock. There were 3 left instore in the entire UK. Unfotunately, all 3 were reserved. I called again to check today, and they have nothing instore, nor do they have anything on the system (warehouse or instore nationwide).

Ideally, I would have liked to ride/test out the bike before purchasing. I have a fairly large Evans and Halfords close to where I live. Having done some research, there doesn't seem to be anything in the £400 price range from either company that comes highly recommended. If anyone does have something they could recommend, I'd be happy to give it a shot.

Thanks again!

Given the value of that bike against the competition it might be worth the trip to London to get it ?. It and the RR are sold out/in short supply because they are such good value against other in that price range that they are nearly giving them away. A comparative bike from the big companies would be in 700 800 quid range. and when the new models come they will certainly be a good deal more expensive ' Another option would be to look second hand, there are some very good bikes available for say 150-250 pounds

jonathanuk

Have to agree with the Calibre Point .50, it looks snazzy, comes with SRAM, FSA, and Rock Shocks parts which are at least well-known brands that you should be able to have easily serviced or find replacement parts for, also comes with a nice looking pair of flat pedals to get you going. Just keep expectations low and it should serve you well. Have a shop around and see if you can find another bike with this kind of kit on it, there must be more than one out there. Pop into your local bike shop if you have one - small independents sometimes have brands you've never heard of or that Evans etc don't stock, but they can be very nicely specc'd for the money - my local bike shop sells Focus which I'd never heard of before, but they are a very good brand; also check out Trek / Bontrager.

A bike at this price point will not be something you'll keep forever, if you get into mountain biking more then you're likely to want to spend 600-800+ on a better bike in a year or two's time, this higher price range will come with smoother gears, better crank, better frame (e.g. internally routed cables), better forks, etc. The parts on any bike at around the £400 price mark will be what I'd consider 'just enough' to get you going.

Looking to the future, rather than upgrading parts on a budget bike such as these I think you would save money in the long run by buying a more expensive bike that came with the parts you're after, then maybe upgrade just the saddle, tyres, small easy things like that.

One thing I would say is if you have a bad experience with one of the branded parts then don't let that put you off that brand, the main brands will make parts to fit bikes for a wide budget range, so obviously at the cheaper end they're not going to be anywhere near the quality or durability as the top end, although they carry the same brand name.

Don't be put off a 29er, they are a good bike size if you're used to road bikes, although a 29er hard tail is more suited to fast flowing stuff rather than tight technical or twisty downhill. Just depends on your riding style and what you want to do, which you may not discover fully until you've been riding a year or more.

Good luck with whatever you choose!