Which bike should I get out of these?

welshyoot
welshyoot Posts: 4
edited September 2015 in MTB buying advice
I'm about to make the switch from road biking to mountain biking (or rather get a mountain bike so I can do both) and if I could get a bit of advice beforehand that'd be great. I hired a bike recently and went around the marin trail in North Wales and loved it - it's the sort of thing I'd be keen on doing regularly.

I will get it through the cycle to work scheme and I'm considering getting a bike for about £1000 although I'm not sure I'd need to spend that much. Firstly, is there a big difference between a cheaper bike for about 5 or 600 and a 1k bike?

I'm after a 29er as I'm fairly tall and have been told I can handle the bigger wheel size relatively easily.
I've had a look at a few bikes and wondered if anyone on here could recommend any or warn me against any that I should avoid - or anything I may have missed. I did want to include the boardman pro but it seems they don't make them bigger than 19" and I didn't think that would be big enough (it says up to 6'1 on the halfords site I'm 6'2).

Some of the others I've considered are:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/ramin-five-2015-mountain-bike-ec071316

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPWX9/on-one-parkwood-sram-x9-mountain-bike

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p73570/Cannondale-Trail-SL-29-2-2015-Mountain-Bike.aspx

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-nine-6-aliviodeore-2015/

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Orange-Clockwork-100-Mountain-Bike-2016-Hardtail-MTB_82082.htm

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/superfly-6-2016-mountain-bike-ec120433

The last one is slightly above the price I would want to pay - I'm including it to see if anyone recommends paying the extra compared with the bikes I've already listed or any others that might be worthwhile looking at?

All help is very much appreciated!

Comments

  • Watch out with the c2w through on one, it's not quite as you would expect. They take 10% of the voucher value off so you would only have £900 to spend.

    "Additional Payments
    An admin fee of 10% applies with cyclescheme.co.uk, On Your Bike and Bike2work vouchers, as well as Salary Extras. A 12% fee applies with Cycle Plus vouchers and a 12.5% fee applies with the NHS SME HCI scheme."
  • Briggo
    Briggo Posts: 3,537

    I did want to include the boardman pro but it seems they don't make them bigger than 19" and I didn't think that would be big enough (it says up to 6'1 on the halfords site I'm 6'2).

    That's a rough guide, go sit on one.
  • Thanks, I didn't realise that about on one - perhaps I'll steer clear of them. I will go to Halfords as well then, see if it fits...
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    On one do that as they run such small margins (why their bikes are so competitive to start with) so don't rule them out.

    Which scheme, as I know of no scheme where you can get the Boardman and the others all in the one scheme!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • On one do that as they run such small margins (why their bikes are so competitive to start with) so don't rule them out.

    Which scheme, as I know of no scheme where you can get the Boardman and the others all in the one scheme!
    It'll be through cyclescheme.co.uk. Ok I'll keep the options open - I saw another site, paulscycles, which operate a similar system - I believe they apply 11% onto the cost if you're using c2w, but their savings seem pretty good.

    I'm slightly confused about how much travel the fork should have. Any advice on that?
  • I would avoid the Felt, Orange and Trek, definitely the worst three.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Cyclescheme means no Boardman (or any it her Halfords bike)

    As for how much fork travel, well the right amount, the amount designed to be used for that frame for it's intended use, and you buy the bike to suite your intended use, circa 100mm for XC use, 120-140 for trail centres and then upto 200+ mm for full on DH use.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.