New to MTB £650 sub bike

matthewcarberry

Hi

Looking to get back into mountain biking got £650 to spend got my eye on these 2 bikes. Will be used for casual riding and the odd trail.

Voodoo wazoo £590

Frame: Lightweight 7005 Aluminium - Internal dropper post ready
Forks: Suntour XCM32 HLO for a smoother ride down
Gears: 18 speed Shimano Altus gearing for building speed
Brakes: Clarks M1 Hydraulic Disc brakes give tried and tested stopping power
Wheels: 27.5+" wheels and Kenda Havoc Sport K-1184A for perfect grip while riding
Extras: dropper post routing, slack and long geometry

Voodoo Bizango £650

Frame: 6061 Aluminium - Internal dropper post ready
Forks: Suntour Raidon 32 LOR-DS, 1 1/8" steerer
Gears: 1 x 11 drivetrain with Sram NX gearing
Brakes: Shimano M315 hydraulic disc brakes for controlled stopping
Wheels: 29" wheels with Maxxis Ardent tyres
Extras: Reflective camo artwork, dropper post routing, slack and long geometry

Is the extra £160 worth it? Not really clued up too much anymore in the bike front anymore just after some opinions 😊 as I’m unsure 😂

Many thanks again

matthewcarberry

***hoodoo may also be in the mixer at £550

shewy

Bizango all day long, cracking bike

larkim

You can of course take reviews with a pinch of salt, but it got a 10/10 from MBR and "best hardtail under £750" for the Bizango.

https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/voodoo-bizango

I'm biased in that I have one. But it's a 100% rock solid choice.

The Rookie

The fork on the Bizamgo is worth the extra all on it's own (and its the fork that has the single biggest influence on how a bike rides).

bonzo_banana

Bizango seems much better although the £160 difference explains it however your pricing only shows a £60 difference. Whatever if you can afford the difference comfortably I'd go with the Bizango, better components can save you money in the long run. The Wazoo fork XCM32 is a basic fork with thicker stanchions it doesn't compare well with a Raidon to say the least. I think the Raidon is made in the premium Suntour fork factory where they do oem work for Rockshox, Fox etc. If I was buying a bike for £350 or less I'd be happy with a XCM32.

mattyfez

The Raidon on the bizango is worth the extra, I upgraded my fork from a Xcm to a epixon (next model up from Raidon) and it's a huge difference.

Mainly as they are air forks rather than coil forks.
Xct and Xcm are rubbish. Newer Xcr are air rather than coil, but in general avoid suntour xc*, go for suntour Raidon or better.

The range from low end to mid range is basically
Xct-Xcm-Xcr... Raidon - Epixon

mattyfez

At the price point you're looking at, the fork quality is probably the single biggest consideration.

Edit.. as long as it has basic hydraulic disk brakes too.

larkim

Agree with mattfez. In order of priority:-
Fork
Weight
Brakes (hydro far superior to cable discs IMHO)
1x vs 3x etc
9sp / 10spd / 11spd

To a degree that also reflects costs of swapping if you end up not liking your pic too. Fork for mid / entry level bikes will be disproportionately expensive to upgrade to in relation to the rest of the bike if you find you hate the stock equipment, and may also only have limited resale value as a component even if you swap it out when new.

The Bizango has a decent fork, comes in at a decent weight, and is well specced in terms of the rest of the kit.

bartimaeus

At that price I would definitely look at Voodoo and also the Vitus Nucleus range*** e.g. https://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-nucleus-27-vrs-bike-deore-1x10-2020/ If you were aiming to do lots of trail riding then I would go for the Nucleus, but for casual riding and XC the Bizango might be a better choice. And as above, yes, I think it's worth the extra for the better forks in particular.

(*** at this point I need to own up that I work for WiggleCRC and they are 'ours').

larkim

LOL, nice full disclosure barti!

For the same £650 you get Tektro brakes (Shimano on the Bizango), 1kg additional weight, 1x10 (1x11 on the Bizango), with a lower spec fork (XCR air vs Raidon). I'm sure the Vitus is a decent bike, but pound for pound where do you see the "plus points" over the Bizango?

Tyres are better on the Vitus, and its 650b vs 29er if that's a deal breaker I suppose.

Maybe the geometry is "better"?

(***I need to own up to owning a Bizango!)

bartimaeus

@larkim - I'm certainly not going to knock the Bizango - I have not ridden one, but they look great on the shop floor and they get consistently excellent reviews, and have done for several years.

I was indeed referring to 'geometry' - or rather the match of style of bike to style of riding. One bike is a very capable XC 29er while the other is 'UK style' hardtail 650b playbike. If your riding is mostly winch and plummet and mucking about in the woods then I would say Nucleus (and I did choose a Sentier), but for big days of XC then I would choose a Bizango (well, I would take my old Anthem FS!).

I had not seen that the Bizango now has NX 1x11... yes that is a noticeable plus over Deore 1x10 (my Sentier is NX 11 and I am impressed).

Halfords list the Bizango at 13.7 kg and the Vitus is shown as 13.96 so I didn't see much in it weight-wise.

arthur_scrimshaw

bartimaeus said:

@larkim - I'm certainly not going to knock the Bizango - I have not ridden one, but they look great on the shop floor and they get consistently excellent reviews, and have done for several years.

I was indeed referring to 'geometry' - or rather the match of style of bike to style of riding. One bike is a very capable XC 29er while the other is 'UK style' hardtail 650b playbike. If your riding is mostly winch and plummet and mucking about in the woods then I would say Nucleus (and I did choose a Sentier), but for big days of XC then I would choose a Bizango (well, I would take my old Anthem FS!).

I had not seen that the Bizango now has NX 1x11... yes that is a noticeable plus over Deore 1x10 (my Sentier is NX 11 and I am impressed).

Halfords list the Bizango at 13.7 kg and the Vitus is shown as 13.96 so I didn't see much in it weight-wise.

Ok let's cut to the chase - how much discount at Wiggle can you get us?!!

larkim

bartimaeus said:

@larkim - I'm certainly not going to knock the Bizango - I have not ridden one, but they look great on the shop floor and they get consistently excellent reviews, and have done for several years.

I was indeed referring to 'geometry' - or rather the match of style of bike to style of riding. One bike is a very capable XC 29er while the other is 'UK style' hardtail 650b playbike. If your riding is mostly winch and plummet and mucking about in the woods then I would say Nucleus (and I did choose a Sentier), but for big days of XC then I would choose a Bizango (well, I would take my old Anthem FS!).

I had not seen that the Bizango now has NX 1x11... yes that is a noticeable plus over Deore 1x10 (my Sentier is NX 11 and I am impressed).

Halfords list the Bizango at 13.7 kg and the Vitus is shown as 13.96 so I didn't see much in it weight-wise.

They've changed that weight from 12.7kg for some reason - but I think they are overcooking it (agree that 260g difference is not really worth worrying about).

When I got mine I made a point of weighing it in - 13.3kg with all reflectors, pedals etc in place - https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/13102465/just-a-real-world-weigh-in-bizango-and-maji

The Rookie

Declared weight will certainly be without pedals (which aren't really meant to be used).

larkim

It sounds a little trite to suggest it, but the only way to really check weights is to take some scales and head in store! Then at least you can guarantee you're comparing apples with apples.

I'm surprised Halfords have upped the weight of the Bizango on their website - mainly because I can vouch for it's (relative) light weight as both a "real" thing, and a decent factor in helping to decide on a bike. It is noticeably lighter than my old one. Reported as 13.2kg on the Bikeradar review too. It's not mentioned there, but I think the BR review is also with pedals.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-2018-review/