Which Hard taill

the big bitch

Morning all,

After a long lay the biking game Iam getting my self back in to it.
Last time I had a full sus but it was wasted abit riding it locally as there is no big drops to hit so I am off for a hard tail.
I was thinking of the Cube LTD sl but someone has put the Whyte 901 to my attention.
Both priced the same get or take a few quid.
To me they both seem to be good specs on them.

http://www.jccookcycles.co.uk/epages/es ... -16-red%22

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/whyte-90 ... 90192.html

I will be mostly riding trails around the Lincolnshire wolds, Dolby forest, Notts forest.

Thanks any input will be a great help.

The Rookie

The Cube is the Racier, more XC biased of the two, the Whyte is a slacker more trail orientated bike, so it depends which you prefer, the Whyte is the more all round capable of the two, the Cube the faster and slightly better specced of the two....

if its the more XC bike you think may suite, have a look at the Boardman right now
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... -29er-2014
A Reba on a £750 bike is excellent value.

ArnieB

Hi I have a cube Ltd racer 29er with a Reba fork rather than a fox fork.

As ever with bikes it depends on where you ride as each bike will react differently. I find the cube a really good cross country mile muncher for doing long rides on tow paths, byways and decent bridleways. On rougher stuff its at best okay due to tight geometry, semi slick tyres and only a 100mm of travel. My riding has elements of rough stuff but not enough to put me off it. Its light and a good climber.

Its worth saying that the shimano kit is pretty decent for the price as well - I've had no complaint there. My bike mechanic loathes SRAM kit and says shimano is better lasting and better built.

So if you ride rough stuff then I suspect the Whyte will be a better bike but if you want a XC mile muncher I'd go with the cube.

As others have said I think if you are looking for a sub grand hard tail Halfords are always worth a look. My other bike is a £600 voodoo bizango and that's a better rough stuff bike than the cube, but its heavier and the components are definitely cheaper.

the big bitch

Thanks to you both for your replies.
As for my style of riding Iam not sure as of yet but I will say when I ride locally it will be done on bridle ways, and across country. The cube will be best here.
But in March we are planning a weekend in the Lake District, and I will be going to Dolby forest which is near me. Where the whyte will be a better choice.

I do prefer the componets on the cube, like the fox forks and the xt stuff but I do prefer the look and geometry of the whyte. Decisions decisions.

I can remember last time I bought a bike I had trouble choosing. Ha

Cheers

poah

what size of bike are you after? I personally would rather have the whyte out of those two but there are a few others around that price that you could get.

the big bitch

POAH wrote:

what size of bike are you after? I personally would rather have the whyte out of those two but there are a few others around that price that you could get.

Iam 6'1 so would that be a large??

I was going to have a look at others around the same price.
From my little knowledge I have I want to style of the whyte but eighths components of the cube.
Is there such a bike out there ???

The Rookie

A 100mm XC bike is fine at Dalby I'm told (not ridden there myself but it has come up on here before).

There is plenty of choice around of large wheeled XC to trail bike, Bizango is excellent at the lower end of the scale, On-one Parkwood with the better gearing options, or they may still have the sole Dirty Harry (XC to Trail Lite) left which at £1K (XT and Reba) is a steal, also consider the Rafal from Decathlon (27.5 wheel).

If it wasn't for their current issues the Canyons are worth a look.

poah

bird AM

http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/meta-h ... 2x15147395

buy a dartmoor hornet frame and build one up youself

the big bitch

Thanks, plenty of options to think about

Steve-XcT

the big bitch wrote:

Thanks to you both for your replies.
As for my style of riding Iam not sure as of yet but I will say when I ride locally it will be done on bridle ways, and across country. The cube will be best here.
But in March we are planning a weekend in the Lake District, and I will be going to Dolby forest which is near me. Where the whyte will be a better choice.

I do prefer the componets on the cube, like the fox forks and the xt stuff but I do prefer the look and geometry of the whyte. Decisions decisions.

I can remember last time I bought a bike I had trouble choosing. Ha

Cheers

I have an out and out XC .. XT throughout and carbon everything.
I bought it because ... I didn't know what type of riding I'd be doing at the time and it was on eBay in MY TOWN with no bids @ £690 and no reserve. It was new in March (£3000) and I bought it November .... It seemed rude not to.... though it's way over specced for my needs.

The other week I hired a lower range Whyte (603) at my local Trail (Swinley Forest) £15 for 3 hours.....
You can get a 603 NEW for < £400 (Google shopping shows me £369)

For my opinion.. I had just as much fun on the Whyte and (despite being a completely different class of bike) it was great on the trails with switchbacks and tight spots. Compared to my XtC I missed the XT brakes and the BB creaked.... etc. but the geometry was really very nice for single track.. On the other hand riding the fireroads back the XtC is in another world.

My takeouts
1) You can rent - I pay £15 for 3 hours so you could possibly rent in 1-2 locations
2) You can get bargains on ebay/gumtree ... and even if you pay a reasonable amount you can then always sell to buy another for the riding you do.
3) Wait till you have a god idea of what riding you'll be doing BEFORE buying a new bike

the big bitch

Think I am going to go with the Whyte 901 and change the group set to full shimano XT at some point.

Would this plan be worth it ??