Which of these MTB's

Author
Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
Hey chaps,

I went with my friends on some red trails on the weekend and really enjoyed it (on a hired Diamond Back)

My wife and I are now looking at getting some MTB's (her through Cycle 2 Work) and myself with cash (although I do get 15% off at Halfords and 10% at Evans)

I have identified these bikes as contenders and wanted your expert opinions if possible, I don't really want to go secondhand although I know there are some bargains to be had

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bik...

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bik...

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bik...

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bik...

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p5483/CANNONDAL...

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/ha...

Any thoughts welcome or other suggestions, budget is 350ish max. I would mainly be using it for riding in the woods (not all Red trails)

Also for the wife, I noticed there are unisex and womens models, is it all much of muchness quality wise with those and just personal preference on bar placement?

deadtom

2,550 posts

164 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
voodoo hoodoo; best spec and by far the best looking bike.

If you really don't want to go over 350 then the carrera kraken is an acceptable second choice.

both 29ers and the cannondale have terrible spec; 29ers you're paying for the fashion victim wheel size *dons flame proof suit*, and the cannondale you are paying for the name.

the vulcan has better spec (but still not as good as the hoodoo or kraken) but still has the fashion victim tax on it

edited to add:

while a certain amount is just paying for the name, the Cannondale frame will probably be better than the others. If you are thinking of upgrading in the future then the C'dale is worth a closer look, but at this price point any aluminium frame will be, like you said, much of a muchness


Edited by deadtom on Wednesday 29th October 18:05

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
Cheers for the info, I do like the Voodoo, I have since been advised that due to my height I may get on better with a 650b wheel size and this is only a 26, can it be changed?

Also see a lot of GT bikes in my price range and Felt. Are they any good?

gazza285

9,779 posts

207 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
deadtom said:
29ers you're paying for the fashion victim wheel size *dons flame proof suit*,
29er for single speed rigids.

Carl-H

941 posts

205 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
26" has worked for years. It still works. You don't need 650b or 29" at all imo.

cailean

917 posts

172 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
If you can go up a bit check out the new Specialized Pitch. It is on 650b and decent all round spec.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
Was directed here by a friend, looks pretty good to me

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/17510/cube-aim-...

deadtom

2,550 posts

164 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
the reason some people will tell you that 650b is better for taller riders is not directly due to the bigger wheel, its due to the necessarily larger frame and fork that you need to accommodate the bigger wheel, so fitting a 650b wheel to a bike designed for 26" wheels won't give you any benefit. On top of this, you probably couldn't do it anyway as the frame will most likely have a cross brace on the seat stays or chain stays and the fork will have an arch that will mean the wheel physically wont fit.

wheel size choice is more down to the intended use of the bike than it is the size of the rider.

how tall are you, if you don't mind me asking?

GT and Felt are good brands, but at this price point you should buy on spec rather than brand name as all the frames will be pretty much on par with each other

deadtom

2,550 posts

164 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It looks nice and stealthy, but the spec is not great and internal cables can be a giant pain in the arse

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
I'm 6'1 Tom, 31/32" inside leg.

My friend said Cube were a good brand, have been looking at the model above that as well

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/17517/cube-aim-...

Its gonna be my Xmas present from the Wife, do bike places do Jan sales?

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Always end of season sales mate. Evans are good for that amongst many others.

loudlashadjuster

5,081 posts

183 months

Wednesday 29th October 2014
quotequote all
Can't comment on the others, but I would think very carefully about the Specialized.

I have a 2012 Hardrock and while the headline specs and components are all OK and even the fork performed better than I expected under pressure, it's the off-speclist stuff and the subsequent (lack of) support from Specialized that mean I'll never buy another.

The freehub went after about 500 miles. OK, these things happen, but it turns out that Specialized might have fitted one of about three no-name pattern parts so that even they couldn't tell me which one might be fitted without inspection. It was also incompatible with common Shimano/Sram/etc. parts so no easy swap.

To compound matters they also refused to supply a part to my local mechanic as he wasn't a Specialized dealer, or even put it on backorder.

Their customer service would tell me one thing ("Sure, no problem, just tell him to call up and order part no. x"), but tell my mechanic to basically bugger off - and I heard it first hand as I listened in!

Result? Without my bike for about 6 weeks and in the end I got fed up and just bought a new wheel and Sram hub.

The bottom bracket is also a bit crap and keeps loosening itself so I'm bracing myself for when it eventually needs replaced too.

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
From your list of links, I'd say the Voodoo Hoodoo was your best bet.

If it helps at all, I have a GT Avalanche 3.0 from 2008. It was £305 new, and I've done over 5,000 mainly off-road miles on it. It's been dropped, abused, and ridden as hard as I can push it. It has suffered periods of neglect, and recently needed about £100 spent on it to refresh the drive train (cassette/chain/rear mech/crankset). I also upgraded the brakes from Tektro cable discs to a Shimano hydraulic set (£60) fairly recently. A new set of tyres (Maxxis Beavers @ £40 for a pair) for the winter and it's riding as well as ever. It's certainly done more than I ever expected it would, and survives still. But. As other posters have suggested, at this price point you need to grab as much spec as you can for your money, and there are plenty better than GT at supplying 'value for money'. I wouldn't swap it for another bike at this price point from 2008, simply because of the sterling service it's given me despite getting a hammering from me in return, but in the current marketplace, there are better value bikes/brands out there.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
Cheers for the info chaps, I'll be keeping an eye out in any sales for stuff that drops into my price range.

As a cheat sheet when I am looking I guess at a minimum I want

Hydraulic Disc Brakes (180 on the front?)
Decent forks (I dont know about model numbers a lot of the bikes seem to have Suntour, I assume more travel = better?)
Coil vs Air on the forks?
As light as possible?
Gearset etc Shimano?

ecsrobin

17,017 posts

164 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I wouldn't worry about the disc size up front as long as you have hydraulics you'll be fine for your needs, I have always considered us tour as the budget, crap end of the market then I went away from riding for 8 years and they are very well regarded, alternates are rock shox, marzocchi, fox.

Air is better if your looking at XC - enduro

I wouldn't worry on weight

If shimano is what you know stick to shimano, personally I swapped over to SRAM and prefer it.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
Cheers chaps

Definitely going to keep an eye on the sales and HotUKDeals to try and grab a bargain

I notice Decathlon have reduced the Rockrider 8.1 to £399 but they don't have my size at the moment, the Calibre 2.2 can also be had in budget by the looks of it, both seem to get good reviews

It seems there is an awful lot of choice out there, its just finding the one thats a step above the others

Beer Man

249 posts

113 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
My two pence worth, for what it's worth.

Don't really like the look of any of them in the first post!

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
Beer Man said:
My two pence worth, for what it's worth.

Don't really like the look of any of them in the first post!
What would be your suggestions? £400 max budget (I get 10% off at Evans and 15% at Halfords)

Beer Man

249 posts

113 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
I was in a similar position in July. Wasn't really sure what I wanted, ended up spending a bit more on a Merida BUT I'd be inclined to look for a very good condition, USED, better bike.

I know it's probably not what you want to hear but that's what I'd do.

Wherabouts in Kent are you?

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 30th October 2014
quotequote all
Beer Man said:
I was in a similar position in July. Wasn't really sure what I wanted, ended up spending a bit more on a Merida BUT I'd be inclined to look for a very good condition, USED, better bike.

I know it's probably not what you want to hear but that's what I'd do.

Wherabouts in Kent are you?
I'm Maidstone way. I do check out the used bikes on Ebay and I can see there are some good deals to be had, but knowing not a lot about components and everything else I'm just risk averse. If I get an £800 bike for £400 its great until something breaks a week in and I find out I have bought a dud.

I do appreciate all the advice but I want a new bike not secondhand. I also wonder whether my abilities are being overstated here, I rode the red runs at bedgebury and it was my first time on a bike in years, I hope to go out more once we both have bikes but it won't always be red runs and I am hardly flying down them. Surely most of the kit I am looking at would be similar to the DiamondBack I rode there?