Buying an MTB on a budget

taha7

Hi All,

So recently I have gotten into mountain biking (and cycling in general) and am looking to getting an MTB for mountain trail use as well as road use for commuting to work (my office is relocating to a closer location which makes cycling an option now as it wasn't before). I've already gone through the threads and the loads of advice out there on going for hybrid instead of MTB however I have my heart set on MTB as i do want to get into the sporting side of things too and dont wan't a hybrid limiting that.

Unfortunately, like most beginners (i hope), my budget is quote low. I think as a one-off cost I would only be able to do £150-200. However, I have seen that Halfords does 0% finance on some of their ranges (until 1st of May) and so would be looking to spend slightly more there. I know there are other places that do bikes on finance as well however I do not wish to pay interest (hence why the Halfords deal is quote appealing).

I am currently considering the following:

Carrera Sulcata
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... iewDetails

Carrera Vulcan
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... iewDetails

Carrera Vengeance
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... bike-black

I know there's some on there that are slightly higher priced than the Vulcan, but even the Vulcan is out of my budget and quite pushing it with the £30/month payments for a year. Moreover, I am also aware of the advice given on other threads on going for the Laura Trott, however how does that one compare to the Vulcan? I'm leaning towards the Vulcan because it has got hydraulic brakes. Here's the link for the Trott: http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... ntain-bike

I've also had a look around on gumtree and ebay and have found this:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/-mou ... 1232716792

I live in South-west London so any potential other good ones close to my budget of £150 would help. I also have to keep in mind costs of accessories that I would be looking to purchase afterwards as well.

Appreciate any advice/guidance on the above as I really want to feel satisfied with the decision.

Thanks guys!

Long_Time_Lurker

At that price point you are pretty limited to what you can get.
Aside from eBay, look on https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/list/?location=193-*-* on 2nd hand - will also give you an indication of what is available on your budget.
You live in South-West London - is your workplace secure? Will you need a lock?
If your current employer is signed up to the 'Bike to Work' scheme, that may be a better option.

Apologies - have come up with no answers and a couple more questions.

taha7

No worries mate!
I'll definitely need a lock as i'll be biking in to central London when i commute. At home the bike will likely be kept indoors so that's no biggie as I don't trust my apartment block's quite exposed cycle rack.

Unfortunately there's Bike to Work scheme and don't think the employer has any intentions of signing up either.

I'm leaning towards the Vulcan but just need some assurance lol

Regards

robertpb

The Trott is by far the better bike on your list, the rest don't come close.

taha7

TBH i don't fully understand the difference between women's bikes vs. men's bikes. I've read that there would be a few things i'd have to buy on top to get it to something I would be comfortable with? I know saddle is one of them and stickers or something to cover up the branding if i want to. Otherwise, is there any difference in size/shape/frame etc?

Thanks

robertpb

Just change the saddle and you will have a decent bike, otherwise once it's set-up properly you wouldn't tell the difference.

taha7

What would I have to do to 'set it up' properly? Terribly sorry but a complete beginner here. I'd be ordering it from Halfords and I believe they do the initial set-up, would that not be the same? or would I have to do something else myself?

I have had a look at this thread: viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=13079121
The discussion revolves around adjusting the suspension which I have no idea about.

Thanks

robertpb

You'll need to set the saddle up, right height, level or just nose down and forwards/backwards to get the riding position right.

Then you can start on the bars and lever positions, there are plenty of videos on line how to do all of this.

taha7

Thanks Roberpb, that all seems straight forward enough.

What about suspension, can I leave it as is from Halfords when they set it up for me?

Regards

philcubed

taha7 wrote:

Thanks Roberpb, that all seems straight forward enough.

What about suspension, can I leave it as is from Halfords when they set it up for me?

Regards

Depends on the staff. When I bought the Trott for my wife, the lad 'set it up' for her by faffing till he let all the air out of the fork, then pumped it to 60 psi and said that was right. Didn't ask her to sit on it to check the sag or anything. I would buy a shock pump as they may set it ok to begin with but you'll likely change it a bit ( or could you borrow one off a friend occasionally? I don't tend to change my fork pressure as I mostly do the same trails all the time)

taha7

philcubed wrote:

taha7 wrote:

Thanks Roberpb, that all seems straight forward enough.

What about suspension, can I leave it as is from Halfords when they set it up for me?

Regards

Depends on the staff. When I bought the Trott for my wife, the lad 'set it up' for her by faffing till he let all the air out of the fork, then pumped it to 60 psi and said that was right. Didn't ask her to sit on it to check the sag or anything. I would buy a shock pump as they may set it ok to begin with but you'll likely change it a bit ( or could you borrow one off a friend occasionally? I don't tend to change my fork pressure as I mostly do the same trails all the time)

Thank you for your advice. This may be a stupid question, but the other bikes i've suggested would also need the shocks adjusting right? so technically i'd need a shock pump for all of them? I'm trying to remain as hassle free as possible which is why I still want someone to say 'go for the Vulcan its not bad' but im not too sure. What's so bad about it in terms of the parts etc. as compared to the Trott? If everyone's saying go for Trott then I might do that - I'm not too bothered with the stickers and colours - just want to be able to make sure it will be comfortable to right so saddle and handle bar position etc I understand. But this whole adjusting the pressure in the shocks thing is new for me


Thanks

robertpb

£15 for a shock pump to set the right pressure in the forks and it's as easy as falling off a log.

Plus you would be daft not to buy the Trott.

philcubed

Of the ones you have linked to, it looks like the Trott is the only one with an air fork, has more modern gearing, Trott and Vulcan have hydraulic brakes, other two are mechanical. Trott is the lightest at 12.6kg.

LittleSkink

taha7 wrote:

TBH i don't fully understand the difference between women's bikes vs. men's bikes . . .
Thanks

Any decent dealer should explain the difference - in my experience women, as a rule, are a different shape to blokes - so women specific bikes tend to be adapted to a longer leg / shorter torso, the handle bar can sometimes be set a little further above saddle height compared to blokes bikes. Often only real adaptation is a short stem and a different "female friendly" saddle - though saddle manufacturers like SMP will argue that male and female pelvis structure is almost identical and there is no such thing

I have 2 daughters and have adapted their bikes for them (from standard bikes) - the only things I concern myself with is low bike weight (Trott looks good!), short reach stem and levers (ditto on Trott) and comfy saddle (who knows, it may take you a little time to find the right now for you). Both of my two actually settled on "male" saddles once they got past the "softer is more comfy" fallacy. Good place to start imo would be Charge Spoon or any SMP if you are more curvy - if you can try other folks saddles it will save some cash

FWIW second hand can be a minefield if you arent familiar with bikes, I have looked at stuff described as "mint" that was fit for a skip and all manner of potentially dangerous bodgery

larkim

You'd only need a shock pump with the Trott as that is the only one you're considering which has an air fork. And that is the main reason that sets it apart from the other bikes in terms of quality, though there are other areas where it is better too.

taha7

LittleSkink wrote:

taha7 wrote:

TBH i don't fully understand the difference between women's bikes vs. men's bikes . . .
Thanks

Any decent dealer should explain the difference - in my experience women, as a rule, are a different shape to blokes - so women specific bikes tend to be adapted to a longer leg / shorter torso, the handle bar can sometimes be set a little further above saddle height compared to blokes bikes. Often only real adaptation is a short stem and a different "female friendly" saddle - though saddle manufacturers like SMP will argue that male and female pelvis structure is almost identical and there is no such thing

I have 2 daughters and have adapted their bikes for them (from standard bikes) - the only things I concern myself with is low bike weight (Trott looks good!), short reach stem and levers (ditto on Trott) and comfy saddle (who knows, it may take you a little time to find the right now for you). Both of my two actually settled on "male" saddles once they got past the "softer is more comfy" fallacy. Good place to start imo would be Charge Spoon or any SMP if you are more curvy - if you can try other folks saddles it will save some cash

FWIW second hand can be a minefield if you arent familiar with bikes, I have looked at stuff described as "mint" that was fit for a skip and all manner of potentially dangerous bodgery

Thank you LittleSink for this. So aesthetics aside, I'm looking at a new saddle and potentially different levers and a longer stem?

larkim wrote:

You'd only need a shock pump with the Trott as that is the only one you're considering which has an air fork. And that is the main reason that sets it apart from the other bikes in terms of quality, though there are other areas where it is better too.

Thanks larkim, would you be able to elaborate a little? I have just realised that the largest frame available may be too small for me so even though it sounds like a good option to go for, I may not be able to. What do you guys suggest?

taha7

Also, just to add, I've been looking into coil vs. air forks and understand that air forks will be much better in terms of full on mountain biking, but there's also quite a lot of 'support' (if you can call it that) for coil as well as they dont need to be adjusted etc etc. But if my usage is primarily (say 70-80%) road/basic trails/commuting, will it make that much of a difference?

Thank you for all your help guys so far!

cooldad

Air is easier to adjust and should be lighter. Coil is often smoother/plusher, but apart from a small amount of preload adjustment, the only way to adjust for rider weight is changing the springs.

mattyfez

The general consensus is air is much better than coil spring at the budget end of the market.

Air forks are dead easy to adjust, but you do need a shock pump, you can pick up second hand rockshox pumps for about £10-£15. Or at least make sure they set it up for you in the shop, the rider will need to sit on the bike to see how far the shock sinks, it depends largely on the weight of the rider.

taha7

Ok, so after putting a little more thought to it with a bit more googling, I'm thinking that with the extras i'll need for the Trott, it will of course push the price higher bringing it closer to the £400 mark - which makes me think about the following additional two options that I would potentially look at: the Voodooo Aizan 29er and Voodoo Bantu.

So the final 4 possible options are:

Carerra Vulcan
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... ntain-bike

Trott MTB1
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... ntain-bike

Voodoo Aizan
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... ntain-bike

Voodoo Bantu
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... ntain-bike

As much as I'd like to keep going northward and potentially look at the Carerra Kraken or Fury, I can't go up that high.

What are your guys' thoughts now? hoping to make the decision in the next couple days and absolutely cannot wait

philcubed

Join British Cycling, you get 10% off on all purchases at Halfords, so buying a bike and accessories, you will save more than it costs to join.

taha7

Yup that's the plan - however in terms of just price comparison, it will be applied to everything so even the Voodoo's would come down in price - hence the addition of them into the equation

Uber_Pod

I have almost no experience, so feel free to ignore me.
Personally, I'd go for the Trott. It's cheaper and has better (as far as I can tell) components.

Shimano bits seem to go Acera -> Alivio -> Deore -> XT -> XTR
Acera is the lowest quality. Quality goes up to Deore with XT and XTR being lighter as their main difference. All as I understand it.

I went slightly left field and bought a Calibre Two Two a month or so ago. If I was choosing again, I'd put the Trott at the top of the list. To be honest it was the colour scheme which mainly swayed me to the Calibre.

taha7

Thanks for that Uber_Pod! I'm leaning more and more towards the Trott now

joebristol

Just on a pure spec basis the Trott looks the best. Better fork and up to date 1x11 NX gearing. The other bikes have very basic forks and low end Shimano gearing. Brakes are all much of a muchness.

You just need to make sure you can get comfortable on the Trott and that's it's not too women specific for you.

larkim

Remember there is "tourney" below Acera too for some of the cheaper bikes!

No matter what the other components (to a point anyway), the front fork is the single most important differentiator between any two bikes in that price range. And that is where the Trott knocks the socks off the others - but it does also have good components which are at least the equal, and in some cases better, than the others in the same range.

TBH I'm not sure I'd notice (on a nice new bike) the difference between a full Deore groupset and a full Alivio (or even Acera) groupset - the brakes would still stop me, gears would still change. And whilst it would have an effect on weight, if you're a novice (like me) you've got no other frames of reference so weight won't be too much of an issue (even though it is self evidently true that less weight is a good thing in principle).

taha7

@Joebristol and @larkim

hmm.. seems like if i can get a decent saddle on the Trott then that's the one to go for really.

anyone know of some nice stickers or methods of covering up the decals? lol

LittleSkink

taha7 wrote:

anyone know of some nice stickers or methods of covering up the decals? lol

never used them but slik graphics have a decent reputation for bike specific graphics, sure there are others too