I need some advice on a bike to buy for roughly £250

mtbnewbie19 · February 2012

Hi,

I have been looking at getting a new bike for a while now. My budget is roughly £250. I am pretty sure that any bike i get will be better than my apollo fs 26 which i have had for about 3 years now.

I was looking at btwin rockrider 5.2 c3
http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/rockrider- ... 201222958/

and Ridgeback mx3
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/rid ... e-ec032062
as a top price bike

I will appreciate any advice and other suggestions.
The bike will mainly be used for riding in woods and cycling around campus

supersonic · February 2012

The Rockrider is the better bike of the two@ the main reason is gearing. The RR has a good 8 speed set up, and compact crankset, while the MX3 gets a limited 14-28 tooth cassette on a freewheel (more likely to die) and oversized 'touring cranks'. The low gear on this bike is going to be some 50% harder than on the RR!

It also gets better parts elsewhere.

mtbnewbie19 · February 2012

thanks, what do you think about the front forks on both of them? unfortunately there isn't much information about the RR

supersonic · February 2012

They are basic - no damping and not very well sealed, though the one on the Rockrider is smooth and doesn't top out. We reviewed the previous incarnation of this bike, scored very well - and little has changed.

chez_m356 · February 2012

obviously size dependant, but http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... tain-bikes not bad for the money

mtbnewbie19 · March 2012

also, can anyone recommend a bike with a good frame, after doing research i have realised that i do not need very high quality front forks as i am just beginning to go offroad so the type of trails i will be doing will not be extremely hard or stressful on the shocks.

cooldad · March 2012

Any of those mentioned have decent frames. Most aluminium frames are OK - it's the rest of the bits that aren't.
And just starting out means little - you'll be hammering down gnarrly singletrack before you know it.

supersonic · March 2012

If you can stretch to it, the fork is the MOST important part. All frames are at least adequate nowadays.

I need some advice on a bike to buy for roughly £250

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