œ1100 - Full Suss or Hard Tail?

Piemanwmb

Hi Guys,
I am in the market for a new bike. I have around œ1100 to spend-Yippee!!
I ride local trails, bridleways and woods with some trips out to places like Cannock Chase, Thetford etc. I ride once or twice a week.
With the riding that I do, I don't know wether I should stick to hardtails or go for a full suspension machine.
My ultimate HT would be either a Merlin Malt 4 or a Rock Lobster Tig Team SL, but for the same money there is the Halfords GT iDrive 5 XCR.
If I spend a bit more I could go for a Giant Anthem 3 or a Giant Trance maybe.
Is there anything else I should be looking at?
Should I just stick to hardtails?
Any advice would be very gratefully received.
The Pieman

Unknown

Its test time! A HT is typically 4 or 5 pounds lighter, which can make a big difference over some terrain. The terrain you ride doesn't seem too taxing, so I would seriosuly consider a HT.

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Seagull

To be honest, for that money I would get a really nice hardtail. Full sussers at that price as Sonic says are heavy and they have cheaper rear shocks which will dent the experience. If you caould raise your budget to œ1350 - œ1500 then it may be worth starting to look at full suss.

Why not try a steel frame? They have a touch more zing to them which can increase comfort over longer rides. Carbon bars and seatpost can have a similar fatigue reducing effect. If I had œ1100 to spend I would custom spec a really nice custom steel bike, I would get a 130mm frame, but a 100mm would be just as good.

my photos NYM biking routes My full Suss My Hardtail

gbc

For that money i would get the Scale 40...maybe with a good deal, the 30...new models must be coming out soon...

gbc

Piemanwmb

Excellent stuff, thanks for the replies.
Sonic - I agree, it is definately time to start testing, hopefully over the next 2 or 3 weeks.
Seagull - I thought steel would be heavy? My only beef with buying a frame and components separately is my inexperience, my mechanical knowledge isn't great so I would have to get the LBS to do most of the work. Having said that, this is definately something I would like to look at in the future though.

GBC - I do like that Scott, may give that a try!

Pieman

Unknown

Top steel frame, like the Rock Lobster 853 that is available for œ975 (full build) from Merlin weighs 4.25lbs! Reynolds 853 is the 'wonder steel'. Typical alu frame weights: Gaint XTC 3.9lbs, GT Zaskar 3.6lbs. So not much in it, and a different riding experience!

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<font color="red">GT Ruckus</font id="red">
<font color="red">Me!</font id="red">
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Piemanwmb

Cheers Sonic.

Seagull

I'm with Sonic, a good steel frame is as good as a good alu frame. Only a bit of extra weight and in most case steel offers a better riding experience. Its a shame that reynolds 925 bikes aren't out yet, a polished steel frame thats nearly as light as aluminium (overall frame weight i'm talking about) and won't rust.

As well as the rock lobster look at the Charge Duster for a complete bike, they have one for arounf œ1100 thats well specced and its an unusual bike as well.

my photos NYM biking routes My full Suss My Hardtail

Piemanwmb

Cheers Seagull, I think I saw somebody mulling over a Charge Duster in a previous thread. I will have a look back and see what the spec is like.

Don't Genesis do a steel frame?
WMB were giving one away a few months back. Are these the Reymolds 853 frames?

Brightywmb

My moneys recently gone on a steel rock lobster

Reba Team poploc Fork
Full XT gear
XT brakes
XT/717 Handbuilt Wheels
Easton EA50 Bits n Bobs

All for œ925, which is nice[:D]

Brighty

Try not.
Do, or do not.
There is no try

Piemanwmb

Hi Brighty, is that the red Tig Team SL?
Did they give you a bit of a discount, I thought they were œ975.
More importantly, how are you finding it?
Any piccies?

Wolf

Pie, you mean the Genesis Altitude 2. Seems nice, Reynold 853 too.

Marin Eldridge Grade 07
GT Avalanche 1.0 07

Brightywmb

It's a red steel 853 one. Got it off their sale section (was still built to order though). The reba team fork is a steal on a bike of that price, the standard œ975 RL comes with MX comp forks. They now have it in there with magura laurin forks for œ899 or rockshox sid teams for œ899 i think.

Ride is fantastic so far, dual controls need a little more time to get used to though, but i'm starting to get the point.

Posted some piccies on here when i got it.

Brighty

Try not.
Do, or do not.
There is no try

Piemanwmb

Wolf - Thats the one I meant.

Brighty - I have just had a look at your bike, I did se it before and posted a comment. It is a stunner. They don't seen to be doing the deal with Reba's at the minute though. Did you go to Merlin and test the bike before you bought it?
I think I would like to do that as it's such alot of dosh.

Brightywmb

I did nip up (nip, lol, it was 300 miles each way) for a look as i had size issues, glad i did cos everyone was saying i'd be a 19, but as soon as i sat on their demo 17 it was obvious that was the one and any bigger would be a danger to my nads.

Yeah i saw the that the reba deal was gone, they have it with laurin's, but they got a slagging off in wmb, as did the sid's unless you're a super skinny racer type. You can get the standard œ975 build and upgrade to reba sl's for an extra œ60 though = œ1035, good fork, just a smidge heavier and no external floodgate compared to my reba teams.

Brighty

Try not.
Do, or do not.
There is no try

Piemanwmb

Yep, thats a hell of a nip! I've got to travel 160 miles to get up there and I thought that was bad enough! I know the size of frames and the geometry varies on different bikes so thats why I really want to try some.

I might try and avoid the Laurin forks (will read the WMB rating) and try for the Rebas (which i know more of) then.
Going up next Friday all being well, going to look at a Merida Matts TFS 900 D in betwen as they look unusual and cool too.

Brightywmb

It was more like 250 miles actually. I just made an excuse to go and visit a mate in Liverpool for the weekend and then did nip up to Leyland before heading home.

The one with SID's looks like a good buy if you're a skinny racer type, but with a name like pieman you're probably a chunky monkey like myself[:p]

Try not.
Do, or do not.
There is no try

Piemanwmb

How very dare you!![;)]
Yeah, not as trim as I once was. more of a bulky blaster than a skinny racer.[:(]

I like the look of the Rebas though, just gonna see what Merlin can offer when I go up. May get a deal, you never know.