Second hand bike buying advice wanted

Ross Gardner

Edited: I posted links to Ebay without realising that's going to affect my chances of getting one. D'oh!

Yeah, so £500 and under gets me the Calibre 2.2. or the Trek Marlin 7 brand new, in line with the reviews on this site, and others. I'm going to look around a little more to get a bigger scope of what is available and what's not.

I'm basically looking for a 10 / 5 star bike (top of the table).

The Rookie

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-58 ... nformation
Pretty much the same and same price but brand new.

"air pumped hydrolic seat" whatever that is! (noting it's a cable dropper).

rockmonkeysc

The Rockhopper is terrible for the money when new an not great used either.

The Rookie

Agreed, not great at that price at all.

There are good buys used, Boardman or Carrera Fury or some of the Rockriders are good second hand buys.

Ross Gardner

How about this:

http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/s ... 650-review

Any good?

Is the entire Rockhopper range completely useless?

The Boardman Comp is close to my price range, but the review is quite old.

The Carrera Vulcan is within my price range, and again, the review is old.

Which Carrea / Boardman would be best?

The Rockrider is out of my price range brand new.

OK, I found the Carrera Kraken as the newest Carrera on this site. It's still more than a year old, though. Any good?

rockmonkeysc

I would avoid all Specialized bikes under a grand. They're terrible compared to the alternatives. I'd say they're only decent value once you get up to bikes like the carbon Stumpjumper, Camber and Enduro.

The Rookie

What is your budget? It seems to keep going up and down!

Ross Gardner

£500 because I'll really annoy someone if it's more. I can afford it, but I want to keep the peace. Once I start showing what I can do (this "someone" thinks I will give it up again), then I can go nuts, and get the best hardtail. I will then give the £500 bike to someone else. All the explaining in the world, won't push that price point up (for now).

If you're wondering what happened to my last bike, it's somewhere in storage, turning to rust dust. I have recently done soft tissue and tendon damage to my ankles and heels (badly spraned playing sport). I'm looking for something to do fitness wise, and it has to be fun. I'll be on a trail A.S.A.P.

supersonic

Try the Carrera Fury:

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... -bike-2015

The Rookie

I'd be looking for a good used bike for about £400 (you'll get some pretty decent bikes) leaving £100 to resolve any issues.

Something like
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kinesis-Maxli ... SwKtlWrl0t

Ross Gardner

The only problem with the Ebay purchase, would be the distance needed to travel to Essex. It looks like it would cost me £114.60.

Is that Carrera an MTB or a Hybrid? It looks an MTB, I'm just making sure.I saw on searching that it was under Hybrid bike on a website.

supersonic

It's an MTB

Ross Gardner

Is the Carrera better than a Voodoo model in the same price range? I have read good things about Voodoo.

The Rookie

You have to compare model to model.

Both built in the same factory in Taiwan, both specced by Halfords (Carerra is their own brand and they have an exclusive deal on the Voodoo and spec them as well AIUI).

Ross Gardner

I've just ordered a Carrera Fury... thanks for the advice.