Brand New Bike Choices Choices Choices!

simong88

unfortunately our CTW scheme is only with evans. Will mainly be going on off road routes and a bit of cycling in a few different nice routes within the UK with the old man, not necessarily for smashing about woods 24/7 though i might happen to end up in a wood or 2. Im looking at either 650b or 29er which is my first decision and I'm just not too sure. Trying to get a bike I wont need to change instantly or upgrade straight away.

Current choices (1 is outside the scheme)
2018 Norco Fluid 2 HT 650b
2018 Voodoo Bizango 29er
2018 Scott Scale 980 29er Or 970.
2018 Trek Roscoe 8 650b
2018 Cube Reaction Pro 29er

Thats also in order of my current preference. Its really a swing between the bizango and scale for a 29er, never really heard of cube. Or stick with the Norco 27.5. For a day/weekend out and about on a bike would i miss the 29er and its ability to roll easily compared to a 650b.

Appreciate all advice.

JGTR

Jamis Dakar

steve_sordy

The Norco Fluid has "mid-fat" tyres. They are very much bigger than most you have seen, at 2.8" wide, vs a more normal 2.1 or 2.2. They are designed to be run at lower pressure to provide a bit of suspension that certainly the rear does not have and improved grip on rough ground. Some say that they roll just as well as narrower tyres. I can see how they might on rough trails, but not smooth ones. They will weigh more as well and the weight is in the worst place for a weight on a bike to be. I don't have a problem with mid-fat tyres, I just don't believe that they are right for your stated use.

From your stated use, dump the Norco Fluid, go for the Bizango. have not done a detailed analysis of all the bikes you have listed. But I know that the Bizango has consistently achieved very high marks in comparison tests, frequently coming top.

JBA

The Bizango is a great bike for the price and get consistently good reviews. The current price of £520 at Halfords will leave you with plenty of extra spending money on the CTW voucher for some goodies - helmet, gloves, Camelbak, etc.
However, that may all be academic if you can only use Evans!

The Pinnacle Ramin 4 2017 looks good at the sale price, but only available in Medium.

As pointed out above the Jamis Dakar A2 is a nice full suspension bike if you fancy the extra boinginess.

The Rookie

simong88 wrote:

unfortunately our CTW scheme is only with evans. .

JBA wrote:

The current price of £520 at Halfords will leave you with plenty of extra spending money on the CTW voucher for some goodies

Not sure how he thinks he'll get a Bizango from Evans......

The Rookie

Of the four bikes you've listed that you can get from Evans, 2 are very XC orientated racy hardtails and one (the Norco) is very much more of a trail bike, wider smaller diameters wheels and tyres and a significantly slacker head angle, the Trek bridges the gap between the two.

So if you want a Trail orientated bike its the Norco if you want an XC style bike then the rest are much of a muchness with subtle differences, the Cube is the only one with multiple chainrings but is back up to date with the latest Shimano side swing derailleur, although personally I'd go 1x myself it's not for everyone. the Roscoe falls between and would work better on trails than the XC bikes and better as an XC than the Fluid.

simong88

The Rookie wrote:

Of the four bikes you've listed that you can get from Evans, 2 are very XC orientated racy hardtails and one (the Norco) is very much more of a trail bike, wider smaller diameters wheels and tyres and a significantly slacker head angle, the Trek bridges the gap between the two.

So if you want a Trail orientated bike its the Norco if you want an XC style bike then the rest are much of a muchness with subtle differences, the Cube is the only one with multiple chainrings but is back up to date with the latest Shimano side swing derailleur, although personally I'd go 1x myself it's not for everyone. the Roscoe falls between and would work better on trails than the XC bikes and better as an XC than the Fluid.

thanks for all the replies! My idea with the Bizango was to scrap the ctw scheme and go get that instead. But at the chance of getting a £1000 for £680 does really appeal. Yes mostly XC will be what im resorting to which is why the 29er would be a no brainer, I think. But unsure how much of a difference that will actually make.

Looks like now I'm looking at the 650b Roscoe 8 or the Scott Scale 980. i do love the look of the Norco though! Ahhhh.

The Rookie

Will it be £680 by the time you’ve paid the final payment? I couldn’t get close to that saving.

simong88

The Rookie wrote:

Will it be £680 by the time you’ve paid the final payment? I couldn’t get close to that saving.

Gross
Monthly £83.33
Weekly £19.23
Fortnightly £38.46
Four weekly £76.92

Net
Monthly £56.67
Weekly £13.08
Fortnightly £26.15
Four weekly £52.31

Total cost of hire through salary sacrifice:
£680.00 Total savings: 32.00%

Total savings £320.00

billycool

I wouldn't get too hung up on wheel size.

29" cover the ground well and can iron out a few bumps. On the flip side, they can take longer to get moving and more of a challenge for low spec technical stuff. 650B is a good middle ground. I still run 26" and ride a lot of technical, stop/start XC and like the smaller wheels. The bike is very easy to manouvre and accelerates really well.

Lots of valid points about getting the right bike for what you ride. Try not get too distracted by what you like, but go for what is most appropriate for what you want to ride.

1se7en

im also using cycle to work and looking at a bike, but I read somewhere the final payment depends on the length of the cycle to work scheme, on 12 months, you have a 25% payment at the end on the value of the bike. So if its £680 + the final payment of £250 (on a £1000 bike) thats £930 total cost of the bike. Not quite the 32% its made out to be, but still 7% saving is better than nothing.

simong88

1se7en wrote:

im also using cycle to work and looking at a bike, but I read somewhere the final payment depends on the length of the cycle to work scheme, on 12 months, you have a 25% payment at the end on the value of the bike. So if its £680 + the final payment of £250 (on a £1000 bike) thats £930 total cost of the bike. Not quite the 32% its made out to be, but still 7% saving is better than nothing.

Having a quick read I believe you can pay a small amount £40 at the end of the 12 months to transfer the rental to yourself and keep the bike for a further 3 years, no monthly payments

The Rookie

simong88 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Will it be £680 by the time you’ve paid the final payment? I couldn’t get close to that saving.

Gross
Monthly £83.33
Weekly £19.23
Fortnightly £38.46
Four weekly £76.92

Net
Monthly £56.67
Weekly £13.08
Fortnightly £26.15
Four weekly £52.31

Total cost of hire through salary sacrifice:
£680.00 Total savings: 32.00%

Total savings £320.00

Yes, so that's one year hire, at the end of that its not your bike, if you want to keep it you have to pay more depending on the scheme, usually a months extra payment to 'hire' to cover the bike until it has no value at which point its yours, so that's £320 reduced to £263.33, Evans may be different.

I'm amused by the alleged saving, hiring a bike for a year and paying 68% of its new price and it still being worth circa 50-60% would be a crap deal.

The Rookie

From Evans FAQ https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/help/faqs ... es-it-work

Transfer ownership
When the Hire Agreement and salary sacrifice ends, you can keep your Cyclescheme Package by making a final payment.

It's a small amount, however. For a Cyclescheme package under £500, you'll pay 3% of the original value; for a package over £500, it's 7% – so a maximum of £70 on a £1,000 package. The bike remains ‘hired’ for a further 36 months, but with no more monthly payments. Ownership can then officially be transferred to you at no extra cost.

This method of transferring ownership is why you save a minimum of 25% rather than a minimum of 32%. Many Cyclescheme participants will save more.

For a personalised savings figure, visit our calculator and enter your details.

jamski

The Roscoe 8 is a cracking little bike. Would be a pretty good all rounder for XC rides, and will be capable to more trail routes too.

Phil-wh

Got myself the roscoe 8 the other week, really enjoying it so far. The dropper post is a great feature

johnboy183

Just to throw this into the mix also - https://www.formbycycles.co.uk/forme-ri ... -bike.html

I'm struggling to decide between this, the Roscoe or a upgrading my wheels for a cross bike. Really struggling to decide what to do

The Rookie

simong88 wrote:

unfortunately our CTW scheme is only with evans. .

Evans don't sell Forme.

flanners1

Having been out of the game for a good few year's....been road riding. I fancied dabbling infrequently especially given the hot weather, I have just bought a Bizango 29er, read the review on MBR 10/10 on Wednesday morning, best bike under £750 then I went for it picked it up Thursday.

I have ridden it about 45km in the South Downs, Thursday and Friday this week and it is absolutely awesome, lots of climbs and DH, I kept one MTB on the garage wall my On One, the Bizango is on another level to that, riding the On One felt pretty awful tbh heavy unwieldy and very slow uphill, the Bizango handles so well, 29" wheels are a revelation it descends at speed and climbs well, I am very impressed and for £500!!!! MBR roasted the main brands the Spesh, Kona etc at this price point.....crap spec, old frame tech etc.

I have spent £££'s on MTB's since 1990 with a break from around 2007-2018, FS and HT; Marin, Gary FIsher, Cannondale's, Spesh M2, M4, M5 Stump and Enduro's, Big Hit's, Kona.... obviously the MTB World has moved on so much I love the new frame angles, wide bars, 1x11, Suntour Raidon's (who'd have thought that!), it is probably the best HT I have ever owned for the lowest price I have ever paid, what a bargain bike.

Lydia-Hines

I've recently bought a Voodoo Bizango, recently being not got to it's 6 week free service yet. Enjoying it and no complaints.