ninehertz

1. • mamba
   • I know there are at least a couple of 'experts' on here so thought I'd ask.
     
     When I get my bonus next month I'm thinking about getting a cheapish mountain bike. I've been doing a little research but am still pretty much none the wiser.
     
     I haven't had a push bike for about 15 years so am basically a beginner. I can't see me doing anything too crazy on it, for a while anyway. Will mostly be riding on road, tracks and a bit of cross country type stuff I would imagine.
     
     What should I be looking for? Any bike recommendations?
     
     Budget - £300ish
   • [12:59 on 26/06/08]
2. • Jack
   • Ok go for the better makes, forget Raliegh, Carrera etc:
     
     Take a look at:
     
     Specialized
     Trek
     GT
     Giant
     Kona
     Orange etc
     
     Dont be too taken in by disk brakes, if you do want them make sure they are the hydraulic variety as they will serve you well. A cable disk has little advantage over a standard v brake, they may have cut back on other areas just to fit a disk as its a selling point. So hydraulic disks or v brakes should be the choice.
     Gears etc look for Shimano and Shram, both will serve well.
     Forks look for Rock Shox, Marzocchi, Fox, Magura, Manitou. Lock out feature is nice if you can get it, if you want to use the bike on the road as well.
     Aluminium frame is probably what you want though there are also some nice steel frames about.
     
     The companies above should all make bikes in that price range with similar features for that sort of money, best to find a few and compare parts. Some may fit a lower quality fork so they can fit disk brakes for instance but thats all down to preference really.
   • [13:51 on 26/06/08]
3. • Th@ Guy
   • Muddy Fox tend to make bikes around that price range and i had no trouble with mine.... cant remember what model it was but it withstood quite a pounding from riding dirt jumps and a spot of trials style hopping about as well as your general cross country journeys....
     
     I do have to say, i knew a few people with Konas and they always seemed to be built from the same factories as lesser quality bikes..... Carrera for example so i was always a bit wary of picking one up...
   • [14:17 on 26/06/08]
4. • 90dayman
   • Jack Dickinson says:

     
     Ok go for the better makes, forget Raliegh, Carrera etc:
     
     Take a look at:
     
     Specialized
     Trek
     GT
     Giant
     Kona
     Orange etc
     
     Dont be too taken in by disk brakes, if you do want them make sure they are the hydraulic variety as they will serve you well. A cable disk has little advantage over a standard v brake, they may have cut back on other areas just to fit a disk as its a selling point. So hydraulic disks or v brakes should be the choice.
     Gears etc look for Shimano and Shram, both will serve well.
     Forks look for Rock Shox, Marzocchi, Fox, Magura, Manitou. Lock out feature is nice if you can get it, if you want to use the bike on the road as well.
     Aluminium frame is probably what you want though there are also some nice steel frames about.
     
     The companies above should all make bikes in that price range with similar features for that sort of money, best to find a few and compare parts. Some may fit a lower quality fork so they can fit disk brakes for instance but thats all down to preference really.
     
     
     
     That ^^
     
     
     I've got a Specialized Hard Rock Sport. Has served me very well with no problems. If you buy online you can get decent deals. When the '08 models get replaced by the '09 ones (as they are due to be right now) you'll find the '08s at a good discount. Usually the newer ones only have a new paint job and a few minor upgrades. I got mine at 20% off a couple of years ago. I think both Dales Cycles and Evans Cycles have good deals on at the moment.
     Also, allow £10-20 to replace the pedals with better ones like DMRs or something. The pedals they come with are rubbish.
   • [15:10 on 26/06/08]
5. • theadore
   • oddly enough i'm looking for similar. am looking at getting either of these two after pay day.
     
     Genesis Core 10
     Gary Fisher Wahoo
     
     Have looked at a Trek 4300 which was also good... and Claud Butler have a couple of nice ones Cape Wrath/Rock possibly although I wasn't paying too much attention to the names.
   • [15:21 on 26/06/08]
6. • mamba
   • I was just looking at the Specialized Hard Rock Sport. From what I can gather it is £250 for the basic model with V-brakes or £300 with Avid BB-5 mechanical disk brakes. Worth the extra money?
   • [15:21 on 26/06/08]
7. • Jack
   • Not really worth the £50 for the mechanical brakes. I'd say spend that on some other bits you might want after riding it for a bit. Though if you do think you will eventually want nice disk brakes it could be worth it for the hubs in the wheels as you could bolt them straight on. Otherwise adding disk brakes later would mean getting new wheels with disk hubs or building disk hubs into your existing wheels.
     Mechanical disks have improved a lot (tend to be a bit naff in wet weather as they dont have the extra power hydraulic brakes offer. but V brakes are still amazing at bringing the bike to a stop.
     
     Gary Fisher also nice bikes. I know people who have bought Konas that have been great but they have been at the higher price range, so maybe the lower ones they skimp a bit, not sure.
     
     Terry is right about getting last years models, save loads and the specs hardly change. It's still a new bike and unless your obsessed with it being the newest model paintjob etc parts are still the same performance wise.
   • [16:13 on 26/06/08]
8. • 90dayman
   • mamba says:

     
     I was just looking at the Specialized Hard Rock Sport. From what I can gather it is £250 for the basic model with V-brakes or £300 with Avid BB-5 mechanical disk brakes. Worth the extra money?
     
     
     
     I'd say not. Like Jack says, the hydraulic discs are good but the mechanical ones no different to v-brakes really. I reckon you only need discs if you're doing hardcore riding in wet conditions. Plus the discs add weight vs v-brakes. £250 is a great price for the HR Sport. The frame is solid and light so, great value in the long term too if you want to upgrade around it.
   • [16:13 on 26/06/08]
9. • theadore
   • warehouse clearance
     
     apologies if Newbury is nowhere near Gatwick... they are both in the geographical void my brain labels as 'the south'
   • [17:07 on 26/06/08]
10. • Laddeth
    • 
    • [20:31 on 26/06/08]
11. • drewmillward
    • Don't buy an 8 gear down hill bike from you brother, at a very good price, when you live in a partcularly hill part of yorkshire. Especially if you are totally out of shape and haven't cycled for the better part of 7/8 years.
      I speak from experience.
    • [20:45 on 26/06/08]
12. • Podge
    • STOP...
      go here www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ then speak to your work. you could save UP TO 46% by getting it TAX FREE, then if you buy something from the outgoing year at knock down prices, you'll be saving silly amounts of money.
      
      if you are going to mainly do road / light trails then look for something with slick or low profile tyres, you don't need massive chunky ones for the road and they make it hard work
      
      halfords and Decathlon both do a good range of budget bikes. although Jacks suggestions are good, there is an element of paying for the name.
      
      in a similar theme to Jacks V's over discs, look for the most basic bike at that price, it will probably have better components all round as its not cutting corners.
      
      all in all for 300, what ever you pick its going to suit you well
    • [21:04 on 26/06/08]
13. • Podge
    • theadore says:

      Genesis Core 10
      Gary Fisher Wahoo
      
      both look good, though i despise GF because its owned by Trek who buy out small cool companies and then shut them down but keep the name in an attempt to become cool.
    • [21:12 on 26/06/08]
14. • Eggy
    • My bike is still the diamond back i had as a teenager. It's the second DB i've owned, the first one got nicked out of our shed. It wasn't a bad bike in it's day. then the gears started getting fucked up.
      
      I don't have the desire to ride like i used to. Too much traffic on the roads these days for my liking. And too many hills.
    • [23:00 on 26/06/08]
15. • Podge
    • for every up there is a down. hills make cycling more fun
    • [07:03 on 27/06/08]
16. • mamba
    • Podge says:

      
      STOP...
      go here www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ then speak to your work. you could save UP TO 46% by getting it TAX FREE, then if you buy something from the outgoing year at knock down prices, you'll be saving silly amounts of money.
      
      
      Cheers for that podge. Suggestion made on our company intranet. Will see what they say.
    • [08:00 on 27/06/08]
17. • theadore
    • Podge says:

      
      

      theadore says:

      Genesis Core 10
      Gary Fisher Wahoo

      
      both look good, though i despise GF because its owned by Trek who buy out small cool companies and then shut them down but keep the name in an attempt to become cool.
      
      
      
      Thats soured things quite a bit... I liked them for their coolness.
    • [10:09 on 27/06/08]
18. • theadore
    • mamba says:

      
      

      Podge says:

      
      STOP...
      go here www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ then speak to your work. you could save UP TO 46% by getting it TAX FREE, then if you buy something from the outgoing year at knock down prices, you'll be saving silly amounts of money.
      

      
      Cheers for that podge. Suggestion made on our company intranet. Will see what they say.
      
      
      
      I have looked at that before, its a god scheme, but having read the FAQ more losely it is open to all sorts of rubbish if employers wanted to be spiteful.
      
      The bike isn't yours, it is hired from the employer for a set period, and at the end of the period they have no obligation sell you the bike... however if the do sell it to you that cannot charge more than 'fair market value'. Also you are responsible for ensuring it and will have to pay the full value back if it is stolen.
      
      Still good though... I can't imagin even the most spiteful employer refusing to sell you the bike if they have already signed up for the scheme... most I imagine will probably just give it to you.
    • [10:12 on 27/06/08]
19. • noone
    • 
    • [11:23 on 27/06/08]
20. • Podge
    • theadore says:

      The bike isn't yours, it is hired from the employer for a set period, and at the end of the period they have no obligation sell you the bike... however if the do sell it to you that cannot charge more than 'fair market value'. Also you are responsible for ensuring it and will have to pay the full value back if it is stolen.
      
      this is true, but like you say, it should all work out ok, you just have to not call your boss a nob and start pulling wheelies round the office. also i think they are looking to mod the scheme slightly, though no idea when that will happen.
      
      if you are looking to spend about 300 quids, it might also be worth buying it straight away by giving work the 300 (or what ever it works out at) on day 1, this way its yours from the start.
      
      Trek bought the Gary Fisher and Bontrager companies in the early nineties because they were the cool little highly innovative companies that every one respected but had a very small turnover. within 12 months almost every Trek bike had Bonty bits on it that where clearly just re-branded standard Trek parts and Gary Fisher had brought out a range of mass produced bikes that looked surprisingly like Trek ones with new stickers. in doing this both Gary Fisher and Bontrager (who had a hardcore cult following) both lost a lot of fans as the quality and respect had gone.
    • [12:11 on 27/06/08]

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