Im buying my first mountain bike!!! please help!!

[Matthew Batty]

Hi

Im brand new to mountain biking and dont even have a bike yet but im bitting at the bit to get riding

Last week I tested a white e 95 works for a couple of hours it cost 2800, it was great on the ups and and on the down hill but I felt it was slow on the flats.

Im now thinking do I need to spend that much on my first bike, would I be better off spending around 1500.

I wanta bike that is fast on the road and good at climes and on down hill over rocks and roots.

Does anyone have any good pointer so I can make an educated decision? I would appriciate it very much. or even recomend a bike for me

Thanks Matt

[Lowe]

Without being rude, are you sure you're ready to spend that much on a bike? How do you know if you really like riding. Blowing that much on something that you don't know much about seems a bit... daft?

Why not get a more basic entry level bike to start with, see how you get on, then think about upgrading say 3-4 months in?

[wither2000]

You would get a much better ansewer on a mountain-biking forum - one of the biggest in the UK is singletrackworld - google it. Mountain bikes, like computers come in different styles for different things - do you want to ride cross country - need light weight and less suspension, or race downhill - burley components, heavy bike , long travel suspension etc.

[schmunk]

Agree with both Lowe and wither2000.

Unless you've been borrowing someone else's bike and know you love MBing, I would be wary of spending so much at this point.

There are a few MB enthusiasts on this forum, but as wither2000 says, you'll probably get a fuller range of responses on a dedicated MB forum. Stick around here though!

A final point is that you'll get an awful lot of value from buying second hand (or possibly new but an older year model - especially if you're particularly short/tall, they're the sizes that tend to be available..!). Have a look on eBay / bike forums / shop websites.

[Dorza]

I agree with all the above. Though I have to say the main thing here isn't so much the price (although you shouldn't really go wild (£2800) on your first mountain bike), it's getting the right bike for the right purpose. The issue you face is whether or not you stick to it. If you spend a tidy sum of money on a good bike and you end up going off the idea then you have wasted a lot of money.

However have a look at the Kona Coiler range:

Coiler £1500
Coiler Deluxe £2200

I also urge you to take a look at the Carrera Banshee X. Its a very good bike for a VERY reasonable, almost bargain worthy status price. Personally speaking if I was in the market for a bike right now, I would have to place the banshee within my top two choices. I believe Carrera bikes are made for halfords so you won't find them anywhere else, in case you go hunting around for it.

The bikes I've listed sound like the type of bike your after based on your original post. Though be warned if you decide on a dual suspension, it WILL kill you going up hill if you haven't got a lock-out on the rear shock (which neither of the Coilers do looking at them now). In all honesty though you could be better off with something cheaper, it is hard for us to say given we don't know what your riding skills are like or how committed/confident you are with the type of biking you describe above. I will say this though £2800 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a bike unless your an extreme enthusiast. Right now my budget is no more than £1700 for a good bike.


P.S - Just to reiterate what schmunk said at the end of his post, a lot of money can be had off a previous years model if you ask nicely in the store. The great thing with this is that you get nice amount of money off the bike yet your bike will be almost identical the current years model since it is often the case that the only major difference between the old and new model is the colour.

[magicrichard]

Bikeradar.com would get you further with this as well.

You can (as others have mentioned) get some bargains by going for last year's models, particularly at this time of year. Start at Evanscycles as their stock is huge. But don't buy anything withotu going for a ride on it first!

[greenalien]

I agree with the other posters - don't waste your hard-earned cash on a top spec machine as a first bike. The mountain bike industry is horribly fashion-oriented - each manufacturer brings out a newly specced range of bikes each year, immediately devaluing the previous range, so your £2500 purchase suddenly becomes worth only £1000 or so. Best starting point is one of the Halfords range for £200 - £300, or something by a reputable but low-cost supplier like Trek - use that for a year or so and see if you're still enthusiastic - if so, by then you will have a better idea of which area of mountain biking suits you best - cross country, downhill racing, time trials etc - each needs a different spec of bike.

[Matthew Batty]

Fantastic, thanks for all the replies, its been very helpful. But I seem to have read them a bit late in the day,
Ive put a deposit down on a specialised stumpjumper expert for 2000 pound, due in the shop in a few weeks.
Ive just spotted the statment below in the Chain Reaction web site, im going to look into getting a discount so the cost of the bike may not be a problem. It would break my heart to get a cheaper version of the bike I have chosen, but never the less thanks for the advice, even if one of you called me daft!!! ha ha, cant help it, I like to buy the best, and cant wait to get out there and start riding!

"As part of the ‘Green Transport Plan’ the UK Government has introduced the ‘Ride to work Scheme’. This scheme allows an employee to save income tax, national insurance and VAT up to 50% on the cost of a new bicycle to be used for commuting"

[Dorza]

Is this the one or is it this one? I have to say they are nice bikes but never worth the asking price, but thats just my opinion. The main thing though is that you enjoy it and have many years use out of it , I have a bike coming from chain reaction tomorrow as it happens and I simply cannot wait.


PS. I don't think chain reaction sell specialized.

[herulach]

For 2k it wants to be the fsr.

To be honest, id have warned you off a full bouncer completely, especially as youre knew to riding. If you get into it and decide you like the more free ride aspects of it, with that bike youre basically buggered. Where as with a hardtail its a little easier to push it a bit more hardcore (as i did, swapped my 80mm forks for 130mm ones & upgraded to to 8" discs and a bolt through front hub).

If you can get the money back, i dont reckon you can go too far wrong with an on-one scandal. I assume as its spesh you've got it from evans? The big issue there is you cant take it out on trails. Get yourself to one of the trail centres for a weekend (glentress is especially good as the shop there is most helpful) and try out loads of bikes on actual trails. You might find that the thing that felt awesome in the car park is skittish as anything on roots & rocks.

[schmunk]

TBH, I'm calling shenanigans.

[herulach]

TBH, I'm calling shenanigans.

Who're you calling shenanigins?
Also, mulligan

[Russ]

either you have more money than sense or you ahev a lot of money.

buy something cheap, like 300 quid, ride it, if you enjoy it upgrade a bit.

[Mithrandir]

Wow thats a lot of money for a bike.

[Matthew Batty]

Yeah its the FSR full SUSS, (see! im learning the lingo allread he he), thanks for all the advice but Doiza YOU ARE the man i like your attitude "possitivity" is where its at, still waiting for the bike to come in to the shop but im totally looking forward to it, I agree its alot of money and all my friends are like "what are you doing spending that much money", I posted on this site hoping to get some good advice off experienced bikers but I suppose I'd already made up my mind.
The bike is from a local shop, but they told me that they could not get a Demo for me as they dont have any extra large specialised in (im 6'4" tall) and the Demo for the 2008 year are due in a month later and thats too long to wait.
While im here, does any one have any trails they can recommend in the country, I want to get out there as soon as possible, and like schmunk said ill ask the same question on a MB forum,
Thanks again for all the advice, even though I didnt listen to it he he!

[Lowe]

Whereabouts you based? If you're in the Midlands then head up to Cannock Chase and get on the trail called 'Follow the Dog'