New bike advice / thoughts please - Hardtail up to £900

haywain

Hi,

This is my first post and I only discovered the forum a few days ago. I'm in the market for a new bike after discovering a crack in the headtube of my faithful 2001 Specialized Rockhopper A1 Pro FS Disc, which is now consigned to the scrapheap.

As a result, I need a new bike fairly quickly. I'd like to get something of a similar standard and have had a good look around on the net, but haven't bought a bike for years - since 2001, obviously! I would be interested to know what your thoughts are about the Giant Talon 27.5 0, which has the advantage of being available from an almost local bike shop. My riding is mostly around the bridleways in the local countryside.

Thanks for any help.

JGTR

Best start with your budget as this will determine what bikes people can recommend

cooldad

And links to the bikes as not many people memorise specs.

haywain

Sorry. Link to the Giant: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bi ... 031/90573/ but it's available for £879, and the spec of the 2001 Rockhopper is here: http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... +A1+Pro+FS although mine is the disc braked version with Shimano BR-M525 hydraulic brakes.
My budget is up to around £900.
Happy to provide more information if it helps.

woodboy76

Already a thread on this see above yours

haywain

Thanks, I am aware of the other thread. However, I was hoping to get a view of the Giant bike that I linked to.

chrisw333

Hello
The general feedback on this forum is usually that at this price range the big brands do not offer anywhere near the bang for your buck that you can get from the likes of Decathlon, the Boardman range (from Halfords) etc (and the brand name means very little as most frames made in the same factories)

With that said, the Giant you link to looks like a decent bike and would be perfectly good for the riding you describe and probably a significant upgrade on your current bike. If you want the very best specification for your money then it is probably best to consider other options. But if you are happy with the price, want to buy local and don't want a different style of bike (for example a more trail oriented bike with longer fork travel etc) then this will be fine.

If you would consider a 29er it may be worth taking a look at this?
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... e-pro-29er