Mountain Bikes

[Craig]

Hi Guys,

Over the summer i will be spending a little (Read: no more than £250) bit of money on a Mountain Bike! I have absolutly no idea about bikes, but i have been told not to buy a full-suspension bike unless i can get a high end one. I will be using it mainly down the local Dene (Mud trail, etc) and then to ride home on tarmac and sometimes to ride to the girlfriends house. I know one of you (cant remember who!) do alot of Biking, so ive just come to as for a iddul bit of help!

Could you reccomend me a bike please?

Thanks,

Craig

[Angus]

I do a reasonable amount of biking, but haven't picked up a bike magazine for a while now.

I think Shiato does quite a bit as well; I don't know about any others.

I'd get a bike magazine and look at bikes that are last year's models. You can normally get a decent bike at a fair discount (I know it's not as much as you're looking to spend by I got a £2600 GT for £1200 because it was 2 years old).

Main priority when deciding on a bike is the frame really - as everything else can be upgraded fairly easily, next is wheels (lighter wheels mean less rotating mass makes it easier to pedal).

Go to a local bike shop if you don't want to mail order, not someone like halfords they tend to have better deals and you get a more personal service.

Best bike site around at the moment is Bike Magic www.bikemagic.com

Finally when you do get your bike have fun

[Russ]

5lab does also, but ive not seen him on here in ages..

[Flibb]

Actually the £80 full suspension bikes you see in argos are one of the best fitness aides ever invented, this is for 2 reasons.
1. They weigh half a ton, the amount of effort needed to propel them is incredible.
2. After riding them for a mile or 2 you will probably have to push them to the nearest bike shop due to something critical falling off. You will also get plenty of exercise going o the bank to pay the bloke at the bike shop to try and keep it going

As to recommendations well for £250 you can get a really nice front suspension bike. I personally have a Scott, reason for that was it felt comfortable when I had a quick test ride. Not sure what things are like now but I went for top quality V-brakes rather than low quality discs, they aint flash but they work well with a minimum of maintenance. To get an idea of whats available have a look at
http://www.evanscycles.com/
and put your price range in the finder. GT, Scott, Trek and Dawes are all well thought off. Dont really know about Saracen or the others. To actually buy a bike try and find a bike shop near you that stocks a good range of bikes, they will normally give you a free service and will set the bike up for you. Also if you have a Halfords cycle centre near you give them a look, the special cycle superstores can actually be rather good, as the blokes working in the bike side only do bikes not car stuff, prices can be good as well. Try and have a test ride, my local bike shop hires out bikes sp ypu can try before you buy, if it fits well you will use it, if it doesn’t fit you wont.
The above is just what I did buying my bikes, somebody else might have other ideas

[Craig]

Cheers for the help guys, ive been looking through the Evans Cycles website and found a few that i like

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4161 - Scott Voltage YZ 2 2004 (A little out of my price range but im sure i could stretch that far)

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4160 - Scott Voltage YZ 3 2004

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4121 - GT Timberline 2004

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4120 - GT Avalanche 3.0 2004

What do you guys think of the above bikes?

Cheers,

Craig

[Howard]

Certainly don't pay less than £250. I have a Raleigh full suspension bike which was about £230 and it's absolute wonk. Has broken down a hell of a lot.

Although it's working fine now (touch wood) and is fairly effortless to ride when the tires are inflated properly and the saddle is at the right height.

Just don't buy a Raleigh bike. They're admittedly rather poor.

Edited for language - Calm it with the swear words please Howard.

- Cheers, Butuz

[Flibb]

Any of them would be great, but you do need to try before you buy. I find many bikes arent long enough for me (saddle to bars), so to get comfy need a longer frame. A good place for extras like locks, pumps etc is
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/
Go have a look around a good bike shop and ask about discounts, often they will knock some money off if you have seen it cheaper someplace else.

[Angus]

Cheers for the help guys, ive been looking through the Evans Cycles website and found a few that i like

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4161 - Scott Voltage YZ 2 2004 (A little out of my price range but im sure i could stretch that far)

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4160 - Scott Voltage YZ 3 2004

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4121 - GT Timberline 2004

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=4120 - GT Avalanche 3.0 2004

What do you guys think of the above bikes?

Cheers,

Craig

They're all this year's bikes so don't expect to make any savings.

I had a quick look and found these;

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=3564

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=2010

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=3223

But it depends on what size frame you need really - as older models tend to be stock to clear.

you could also try;

www.leisurelakesbikes.co.uk

www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk

www.bikedock.co.uk

there's quite a few links on the left habd side of www.bikemagic.com

[Shad]

I have a '97 GT Timberline with some mods



The '97 model is quite widely renound as being and indestructible frame so hopefully the newer models have similar traits, though mine is CroMo and the news ones obviously are ally. Anyway best rule is spend as much as you can or you will just end up spending it further down the road.

Make sure you ride as many of them as possible, and check sites like www.mtbreview.com for reviews and advice.

Also go for the smallest frame size you can get away with; it's much easier to chuck a bike around if its smaller and you're fully on top of it.

[Angus]

I have a '97 GT Timberline with some mods

I used to have one of those

Great bike - but I didn't think the frame was as good as my Hahanna.

[Stoo]

I've got a Dawes 201 Discovery, about £150 iirc, nothing fancy, does the job when needed

[Dorza]

Have u tried ebay? Ive seen grand+ bikes going for under 300 quid, some people simply dont know what price to advertise.

EDIT: I dont know much about the bike industry as a whole i just like to the cycle but the advice you had about dual suspension in most cases would be correct, your probably talking about 5,6 or even 700 quid (depending on the brand) before you get decent dual suspension bikes from what ive seen.

Also have a look at halfords range of carrera bikes, some of them have a decent spec for the prices listed iirc. I was down there the other week and one of the guys said that kona have bought them out, so mayb they'll be budget konas with the carrera name? who knows. btw kona usualy = good bikes

Another thing which might have been mentioned above is, last years model bikes have huge saveings if you can get hold of them that is. Alot of the time the only major change on the new models are paint jobs and the odd improved component here and there.

[TeePee]

Just remember if you are going to ride it on the roads, get yourself some good lights. Not LED's, not green and not flashing!

[Stoo]

if you're going to be riding on roads a lot make sure you get tyres to suit, if you have massive mud-chucking treads out on the roads not only will it make it harder to pedal, it'll also make it harder to handle the bike in wet weather (not enough rubber on the road, made that mistake once.. ouch)..

[hotpurple]

I run on continental double fighters which are semi slicks and they grip better than you would ever believe off road. In the right conditions they grip better than knobbly tires and they have lower rolling resistance so they are very fast.

If I remember correctly the Carrera Fury is on special offer at the moment for around £250 and that is an excellent bike, with a full deore groupset.

As mentioned above the wheels make a surprising difference to the way the bike rides, but it's best to get wheels that are strong enough otherwise you will be breaking them regularly. I ride cross country so I have a set of deore hubs with Mavic X517 rims laced with DT Revolutions spokes and standard brass nipples. This is a light but strong wheel set and has been very reliable. Also important is finding a good wheel builder. I got mine from a company called merlin cyles do a google for them, based in Lancs I think.

Chris

[Butuz]

For £250 - stick with a hardtail, i.e front suspension only. Full sus is heavy rubbish for anything under £500 IMHO.

Ive got a Club Roost Stinger slalom frame i built up myself. Its a bit old now bit it still turns heads, triple clamps, LX all over, welds and reinforcement that would make the severn bridge proud. Ill post a photo sometime.

Butuz