Discussion
Hey all,
Right so, for the last 3 years or so i've been riding downhill (well trying to atleast) and i've gotten bored of it, seen as i can't really get out of the yorkshire area to go to any decent trails i'm thinking of buying a xc bike, i tried riding xc on my downhill bike, never again...
What i'd like to know is, What sort of bike should i get? mainly going to be used on the road and the occasional small trail, havn't got a clue about xc bikes so i'm open to any make of bike, also i'm 5 ft 10 and 13 stone.
My budget is about £800
cheers, Austin.
Right so, for the last 3 years or so i've been riding downhill (well trying to atleast) and i've gotten bored of it, seen as i can't really get out of the yorkshire area to go to any decent trails i'm thinking of buying a xc bike, i tried riding xc on my downhill bike, never again...
What i'd like to know is, What sort of bike should i get? mainly going to be used on the road and the occasional small trail, havn't got a clue about xc bikes so i'm open to any make of bike, also i'm 5 ft 10 and 13 stone.
My budget is about £800
cheers, Austin.
No more than 4" of travel on either a full suss or hard tail. The lighter the better generally.
I've got a Commencal Supernormal for XC duties which seems to be ok.
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&prod...
I've got a Commencal Supernormal for XC duties which seems to be ok.
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&prod...
What are they like?
Hardtail will take some getting used to from a FS, but they are great fun.
For the sort of stony tracks you get in the Yorkshire Dales, you will get beaten up over long distances (but you do quickly learn to 'float' the bike over stuff... for want of a better word).
What sort of bike?
Depends what you plan to ride.
Fork travel: I think 120mm (with lockout) would be ideal for general XC. If you can't get this 100mm... or 140mm if you are going to be hitting some seriously big obstacales (both with lockout).
I've ridden a 90mm Stumpjumper hartail many times in the Lakes / Dales etc (incl down Hellvelyn, Skiddaw, Nan Bield etc) and its not a problem, but a longer travel front fork (or short travel FS) is more fun / faster and a lot safer (IMHO). However, for my local trails: the North Downs a 90mm-100mm HT is ideal.
Hardtail will take some getting used to from a FS, but they are great fun.
For the sort of stony tracks you get in the Yorkshire Dales, you will get beaten up over long distances (but you do quickly learn to 'float' the bike over stuff... for want of a better word).
What sort of bike?
Depends what you plan to ride.
Fork travel: I think 120mm (with lockout) would be ideal for general XC. If you can't get this 100mm... or 140mm if you are going to be hitting some seriously big obstacales (both with lockout).
I've ridden a 90mm Stumpjumper hartail many times in the Lakes / Dales etc (incl down Hellvelyn, Skiddaw, Nan Bield etc) and its not a problem, but a longer travel front fork (or short travel FS) is more fun / faster and a lot safer (IMHO). However, for my local trails: the North Downs a 90mm-100mm HT is ideal.
Austin.J said:
Alright, that looks rarther nice, whats it like when it gets abit rough? never ridden a bike with no rear suspension, and how is it at doing the daily commute ect?
It's good, obviously not as comfy as a full susser but goes like hot snot and climbs like a goat. I've done alsorts on it now and while it's not as fast downhill as my FS, it's still very good, you just have to pick your lines a bit better and accomodate the back end a bit more.PhilLL said:
Seems alot of wonga for pap components, pap forks and an unknown (to me) carbon frame.I think BH are better known for their road bikes, but I agree with Wildcards, the spec is rubbish for the money.
I would seriously consider a Boardman for that budget. They've got an extra 10% off at the mo too.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...
I would seriously consider a Boardman for that budget. They've got an extra 10% off at the mo too.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...
forget the bulls
t, nothing rides better than a steel hardtail ion and the Orange P7 is one of the best XC bikes out there for the money (though you will have to stretch to £900 for the 09 bike, there might be some 08 ones around?) http://www.stif.co.uk/shop/mb_bikes_products.asp?m...
Erm..
What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
LRdriver II said:
Erm..
What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
The riding i will mostly be doing would be on road, and the occasional bit of rough stuff, no drops or anything like that, just something thats rideable because a demo 9 with dorado's on the front isn't.What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
Austin.J said:
LRdriver II said:
Erm..
What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
The riding i will mostly be doing would be on road, and the occasional bit of rough stuff, no drops or anything like that, just something thats rideable because a demo 9 with dorado's on the front isn't.What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
Austin.J said:
LRdriver II said:
Erm..
What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
The riding i will mostly be doing would be on road, and the occasional bit of rough stuff, no drops or anything like that, just something thats rideable because a demo 9 with dorado's on the front isn't.What kind of XC riding? if you want to thrash around heavy technical trails and drop offs, then yeah the P7 long travel forked bike will be ok. Do you want all out speed and puking your guts out wearing a heart rate monitor, then you should be looking at hardtails with about 100mm travel.. the lighter the better. Otherwise you could ride a full suspension rig but with 100mm travel all around.
I would be looking at the Cube bikes on Wiggle, shed loads of spec for reasonable money, and you could even go carbon (although lightweight ali might be better for MTB.
if you bought a complete bike you could
do a lot worse than a Scott Scale however...
http://www.chrispaulsoncycles.co.uk/products.php?p...
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