Full sus bike for newish rider

[Stupeo]

Hi All,

I recently (about 4 months ago) got into riding - i bought a Carrera Banshee 08 from Halfrauds for a few hundred notes to get me started. I loved the bike and couldnt fault it one bit but unfortunately it got nicked from the front door about a month ago. Gutted.

With Xmas coming up, ive decided to treat myself to a new bike and have been looking at the following bike:

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

Its a Marin East Peak Mountain Bike 2008 - apparently the spec is quite decent, especially the rear shock?? I'll be honest i dont know that much about bikes but is this a good deal for £1k ? That's my maximum budget.

Cheers in advance.

Matt

[P-Jay]

Foxshox are reguarded as the industry yardstick, some might argue with that, but they're rarely beated.

I'm not a huge fan of Marin, mostly because I don't know much about them.

I'd consider this too

http://www.sunsetmtb.co.uk/shop/index.php?product_...

I know it's actually £50 over your budget, but Sunset are nice guys and if you're paying cash rather than on the 0% I'd guess they'll drop £50 off it.

Edited by P-Jay on Monday 14th December 22:21

[mk1fan]

The Marin should ride really well as should the Trek.

I would have a look at the Boardman range in Halfords too. Brilliant spec (better than the Marin and the Trek), sorted geometry. http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_team.html

Edited by mk1fan on Monday 14th December 22:44

[snotrag]

The problem with Marin - as proved exactly by the post above - is they are not cool.

Exactly the same problem as Giant have.

Its an unfortunate situation. Because they are have what I believe are the 2 best suspension platforms going.

Giant Maestro system blows the DW link and both VPP incarnations out of the water.
That Marin is effectively the same frame design as the Mount Vision, which is one of the most accomplished XC bikes ever - they are superb. I'd say thats a great buy with a view to longevity and upgrades if you get into it.

[Master Mischief]

At the risk of being ripped for recommending the same bike every time the Giant Trance X.4 is worth a look for the reasons above and:

It is exactly the same frame (different shock though) as the high spec versions so serious upgrade potential.

There are two choices:

The 2009 version can be got for £1,079.20 and comes with a Fox Shock

The 2010 version can be got for £995 and comes with Giant shock that in a technical test in MBR (not the usual opinion based bks) did very well.

Just found this:

A 2009 Giant Trance X 5 for £750 in medium (£695 in small).

It appears very similar specification to the 2010 Trance X 4 but really cheap. The frame (with a top of the range Fox Shock (£340) admittedly) goes for a grand so that is a serious bargain. Ideal to upgrade over time as and when stuff wears out.

You would have £250 spare to get some associated kit as this is often overlooked but makes riding so much more enjoyable. Shorts, shoes, waterproof, lights, Camelbak, winter tyres etc

The other recommendations are all good bikes.

[Stupeo]

Master Mischief said:

At the risk of being ripped for recommending the same bike every time the Giant Trance X.4 is worth a look for the reasons above and:

It is exactly the same frame (different shock though) as the high spec versions so serious upgrade potential.

There are two choices:

The 2009 version can be got for £1,079.20 and comes with a Fox Shock

The 2010 version can be got for £995 and comes with Giant shock that in a technical test in MBR (not the usual opinion based bks) did very well.

Just found this:

A 2009 Giant Trance X 5 for £750 in medium (£695 in small).

It appears very similar specification to the 2010 Trance X 4 but really cheap. The frame (with a top of the range Fox Shock (£340) admittedly) goes for a grand so that is a serious bargain. Ideal to upgrade over time as and when stuff wears out.

You would have £250 spare to get some associated kit as this is often overlooked but makes riding so much more enjoyable. Shorts, shoes, waterproof, lights, Camelbak, winter tyres etc

The other recommendations are all good bikes.

I like the look of that Giant!

I'll do some more research on all the models mentioned. Cheers chaps.

Matt

[anonymous-user]

if you are a newish rider i would look at a bike with travel around 100mm rather than big 120/140mm as these can be quite difficult to ride unless you are hitting big drops and things. for £1K i would go for the boardman or the specialised fsr comp (both of which are 120mm!.....)

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 15th December 20:23

[Stupeo]

pablo said:

if you are a newish rider i would look at a bike with travel around 100mm rather than big 120/140mm as these can be quite difficult to ride unless you are hitting big drops and things. for £1K i would go for the boardman or the specialised fsr comp (both of which are 120mm!.....)

Edited by pablo on Tuesday 15th December 20:23

Can the travel on the forks really make that much of a difference? I'll have to get down to my LBS and try out a different sized/specc'd bikes this weekend.

Cheers.

[PhilLL]

How about a Gary Fisher? Stretching the budget a bit but

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_gary_fis...

or within budget

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_gary_fis...

Great value IMO, but reviews I've read suggest it's quite lively for a beginner