brands to avoid and buying advice

Anonymous
Anonymous Posts: 79,667
edited March 2013 in MTB buying advice
ive decided to work lots of over time this month so ill have more money for a bike for next month besides the normal supermarket crap bikes is there any other brand of bike I should be avoiding. these are ones ive been warned about so far

supermarket bikes
Apollo apparently are crap
Raleigh apparently are crap also
any un branded things.




due to me workings loads more hours I will have a little bit more money not loads because of the tax man being a pain and taking it all my budget is upto £250 (£300) if its amazing I mean EPIC! don't mind buying second as long as the person's can deliver. and the bikes of decent quality

im looking for a hardtail large frame mountain bike im 6'3 ft tall

would settle for full suspension bike but I would have to be of good quality

must haves

atleast 26 inch wheels would be happy with 29'ers
large frame
front suspension would be happy with full aslong as the quality was decent
disc brakes preferred seems I will be doing a bit of off roading and prefer the quality
gear wise not to fussed

I get payed mid april

thank you

Comments

  • I doubt you will find anything better for the price..

    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-53 ... 06682.html
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I doubt you will find anything better for the price..

    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-53 ... 06682.html


    all thou that's looks lovely that's right on the very very very edge of my budget. also im new to this whats a lockout front fork?

    ideally looking for £250 area. do they do any coupons or offers for money off at all
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    You won't get better vfm than that.

    Lockout fork means exactly that, press button fork doesn't move very much
  • I doubt you will find anything better for the price..

    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-53 ... 06682.html


    all thou that's looks lovely that's right on the very very very edge of my budget. also im new to this whats a lockout front fork?

    ideally looking for £250 area. do they do any coupons or offers for money off at all

    yeah lock out just means it turns the suspension off or 'locks' it...if you are on road, on a smooth surface or climbing for example you might find it better with no suspension. Thats why road bikes don't have suspension as it adds weight and uses more energy that you don't need to waste on flat surfaces.

    You might also wanna check out halfords and their Carrera range. the Apollo's might be a heap of sh!t but the Carreras are decent. for £300 though I doubt you will get anything better than that rockrider, not new anyway.
  • tezboy1234
    tezboy1234 Posts: 132
    Hello Andrew.

    A lockout on the suspension means you basically turn the suspension off so it acts like a rigid bike. Your meant to use the lockout when going uphill or when on smoother flatter surfaces like a road for example.

    Sadly Andrew, at that price point your far from being spoiled for choice when it comes to finding quality bikes. The vast majority of bikes purchased brand new at that price point are likely to be poor at best. This is even more so when your looking at full suspension bikes, wich should be avoided at all costs within that price limit.

    There is still some decent bikes in that range, but other than the Rockriders from Decathlon, or a selection of bikes from Halfords, like something from the Carrera or Voodoo range, then quality bikes will be few and far between. There will be some, but knowing wich ones are safe to buy will be a task in itself.

    If you decide to buy new, my advice would be as follows,

    1) Avoid full suspension.
    2) Consider a rigid bike, something like an Isla Beinn 29'er. This was 100 pound over your budget, but that was a year or two ago, it could well be cheaper now, and that's if there still selling of course. There ain't many rigids about nowdays though, so be prepared for lengthly internet searches.
    3) You may not find a rigid, so a hardtail will be the best choice for you. My advice in this case would be stick with either Decathlon or Halfords.
    4) Check the internet thoroughly, look in particular for sales, obviously, but for last years model bikes, more value that way.
    5) Consider building a bike over time. You can get fantastic frames from Bike Discount for 120 euros, thats for last years frames. Then just buy piece by piece as and when you can afford it.
    6) Consider waiting a little longer, so you can save and put a little bit more cash in to it. You'll be surprised at what an extra 1-2 hundred can do fo your options.

    As for buying second hand, there's bound to be bargains, but you really need to be knowledgeable in order to risk it. Ideally, you need to see it and check it over first. Your unlikey to find someone who'll deliver too, unless there very local. Most seem to have a pick up only option, or will charge you for delivery.

    Hope this helps and good luck!
  • Ouija
    Ouija Posts: 1,386
    would settle for full suspension bike but I would have to be of good quality

    Lol. There are no good quality full suspension bikes in the £250 range. Take a good quality full rigid bike and you need to add at least another £200 to get it with a decent front suspension fork. And then you need to add another £250 to get the same model with a decent rear suspension. And even then, it would still be classed as an entry level "doesn't completely suck" full suspension bike and you'd be spending in the £800 range.

    The lockout on the Rockrider simply means you can reach down and turn it in to a rigid fork for climbing. Otherwise, every time you press down on the pedal, the fork compresses slightly taking away (sapping) energy from the drive train, forcing you to puff and pant harder to climb up anything (essentially, some of your forward movement is transferred into vertical movement so that you travel forwards less with each pedal stroke than you would of done). "Remote" lockouts are the same thing, only with the lever placed up on the bars next to the shifters so you don't have to keep reaching down and flipping the switch on the top of the fork.

    As with every body else on this thread, i say get the Rockrider, it's the best specced bike for the money at the moment.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    tezboy1234 wrote:
    Hello Andrew.

    A lockout on the suspension means you basically turn the suspension off so it acts like a rigid bike. Your meant to use the lockout when going uphill or when on smoother flatter surfaces like a road for example.

    Sadly Andrew, at that price point your far from being spoiled for choice when it comes to finding quality bikes. The vast majority of bikes purchased brand new at that price point are likely to be poor at best. This is even more so when your looking at full suspension bikes, wich should be avoided at all costs within that price limit.

    There is still some decent bikes in that range, but other than the Rockriders from Decathlon, or a selection of bikes from Halfords, like something from the Carrera or Voodoo range, then quality bikes will be few and far between. There will be some, but knowing wich ones are safe to buy will be a task in itself.

    If you decide to buy new, my advice would be as follows,

    1) Avoid full suspension.
    2) Consider a rigid bike, something like an Isla Beinn 29'er. This was 100 pound over your budget, but that was a year or two ago, it could well be cheaper now, and that's if there still selling of course. There ain't many rigids about nowdays though, so be prepared for lengthly internet searches.
    3) You may not find a rigid, so a hardtail will be the best choice for you. My advice in this case would be stick with either Decathlon or Halfords.
    4) Check the internet thoroughly, look in particular for sales, obviously, but for last years model bikes, more value that way.
    5) Consider building a bike over time. You can get fantastic frames from Bike Discount for 120 euros, thats for last years frames. Then just buy piece by piece as and when you can afford it.
    6) Consider waiting a little longer, so you can save and put a little bit more cash in to it. You'll be surprised at what an extra 1-2 hundred can do fo your options.

    As for buying second hand, there's bound to be bargains, but you really need to be knowledgeable in order to risk it. Ideally, you need to see it and check it over first. Your unlikey to find someone who'll deliver too, unless there very local. Most seem to have a pick up only option, or will charge you for delivery.

    Hope this helps and good luck!



    I like to do a self build because it would be nice to say I build that. but I live with my family and things are kinda complicated at the moment theres a fair bit of argueing and cant do nothing without someone causing a fight.. to be honest I wish I could afford to move out.

    I probably browse the internet closer to payday link anything that's anything decent hopefully.

    on a totally unrelated subject does anyone wanna flat m8. nearly 24 good sense of humour full time job. etc....
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    I second the Isla bike idea.

    Less suspension the better at this price. I'd go for discs though.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.