Entry level off roader

[K87]

Hi guys,

I've recently been thinking a lot about getting into off road biking. I used to ride trials when I was a bit younger but always enjoyed a bit of offroading.

I'm on a tight budget though still being a student but living so close to places like Woburn I really need to get into this!

I'll quite happily go second hand, last year I bought an old peugeot road bike and found it great for riding, easily keep up with modern day bikes and only paid about £100 for it!

Looking at prices I don't think il get anything as cheap as that for offroading but what are the main makes or bikes I should ideally be looking out for? I'd probably prefer hardtail as decent rear suspension is likely to cost a fair amount I assume?

Thanks in advance

[Gnarlybluesurf]

Probably best to be looking at this for a starting point... you can always go carbon if you're not going to serious downhill....

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/orangefiv...

[Beyond Rational]

Is a £3k bike now "entry level"?

Very generous 1p off as well.

[K87]

Gnarlybluesurf said:

Probably best to be looking at this for a starting point... you can always go carbon if you're not going to serious downhill....

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/orangefiv...

Did you even read my post?

[Roman]

Maybe you should give people a budget to work to.

[K87]

upto £200

Second hand though, Wouldn't imagine a brand new bike at that price would be upto a bit of abuse

Edited by K87 on Wednesday 6th April 10:08

[shalmaneser]

Just try and find a decent brand second hand bike on ebay...Kona, Trek, Specialized, Giant...Try and stay resonably current (last three or so years) and aim for decent suspension forks (Marzocchi or Rockshox at your budget) and hydraulic discs.

How tall are you?

[paranoid airbag]

I was in a similar situation a couple of months ago (student, slightly higher budget, looking for a road bike so I could compete in the uni club, no decent off-road stuff round here).

My experiences -

going second hand was a great idea - I got a MUCH better bike than I would otherwise. I got mine from a LBS, which helped as you can see things you otherwise wouldn't - mine was a bargain basement schwinn, but it had been well cared for, and significantly upgraded, by its previous owner. The obvious disadvantage is you can't do research into individual bikes beforehand, as you have no idea what's going to be there. You just have to go in and judge an individual bike's condition. Ebay would be closer to new bike shopping, but I suspect it's worth going slightly under-budget, especially for an mtb, so you can budget for replacing at least one part (a LBS might be better for replacing knackered parts on trade-in bikes). I was lucky with mine, the only thing that's not practically new are the tyres, which still life left in them.

[K87]

shalmaneser said:

Just try and find a decent brand second hand bike on ebay...Kona, Trek, Specialized, Giant...Try and stay resonably current (last three or so years) and aim for decent suspension forks (Marzocchi or Rockshox at your budget) and hydraulic discs.

How tall are you?

5"10' I think my road bike is a 55cm frame, which seems comfortable enough, not got anything else to go by though.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

K87 said:

Gnarlybluesurf said:

Probably best to be looking at this for a starting point... you can always go carbon if you're not going to serious downhill....

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/orangefiv...

Did you even read my post?

Sure did it was almost a spit for this post:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

offroad bikes aren't the same as your steel framed peugeot, for £200 you'll get nothing new that you won't want to change within a couple of months and nothing second hand that you can't guarantee won't need another £100-200 spending on it in the first couple of months... you may be better off hiring or borrowing a bike in the short term to figure out what you really need...

[paranoid airbag]

Gnarlybluesurf

OP are you looking to compete or not? And what off-road stuff have you previously ridden? If you've ridden decent stuff before downgrading might be a bit of a bitter taste, and obviously on a cheaper bike you're not going to be winning races. But if you're not used to amazing stuff and just want to have fun, anything with wide tyres that won't fall apart is fine. There's a thread in GG at the moment about how you don't need an M5 or above to have fun (define a PH car or somesuch).

[K87]

Nothing too serious, just a cheapie about 5 years ago which was falling apart. Dont think il be competing anytime soon so thats not an issue

[paranoid airbag]

damn, can't help you there... my cheapie's just about still in one bit

I'd still recommend visiting any nearby independent bike shop, as it's in their interest to recommend the best bike they can, albeit at the top of your budget, and unlike halfords they'll stock second hand bikes. If it is on the bay, you know already to avoid full sus - recent carrera hardtails are worth a shout, as are diamondback, mongoose and a fair few others - but I'll leave it to others who have ownership feedback. Anyways, good luck, if you're anything like me you'll become waaaaaaay too precious about it and refuse to leave it in town: I've accidentally left the cheap one unlocked for 5 hours before (on campus admittedly) and it was ok!

[anonymous-user]

K87 said:

upto £200

Second hand though, Wouldn't imagine a brand new bike at that price would be upto a bit of abuse

Unfortunately £200 isn't much even for a second hand mountain bike.

I recommend a used Specialized Hardrock or the better Specialized Rockhopper but you'll do well to find anything under 3 years old for £200.

Good luck.

[shalmaneser]

K87 said:

5"10' I think my road bike is a 55cm frame, which seems comfortable enough, not got anything else to go by though.

So you'll be needing a 17" MTB frame then...the most popular size unfortunately, meaning that second hand ones will hold their value very well indeed. TBH I think you're going to have to bump up your budget if you're after something that can actually take some off road abuse.

[Roman]

shalmaneser said:

K87 said:

5"10' I think my road bike is a 55cm frame, which seems comfortable enough, not got anything else to go by though.

So you'll be needing a 17" MTB frame then...the most popular size unfortunately, meaning that second hand ones will hold their value very well indeed. TBH I think you're going to have to bump up your budget if you're after something that can actually take some off road abuse.

+1 An extra £50-100 should get you a decent (£5-600 new) lightly used hardtail such as a Hardrock or similar from any of the big brands or maybe a newer Carrera Fury or Rockrider 8.1