Budget Mountain Bike

[pincher]

My son (14 but quite short for his age) wants to swap out his BMX for a Mountain Bike and has seen this Carrera in Halfords - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/... but - right at the very top of his budget but I think he likes the idea of suspension and disc brakes

Firstly, are the Carreras any good and secondly, what else is out there that is comparable? Not particularly bothered about it being the very latest model but looking at something between £300-£350.

Edited by pincher on Monday 3rd April 12:12

[ambuletz]

I would hardly call carreras a budget bike. the awful halfords 'apollo' range would be considered budget. I used to own a carrera kraken and loved it. quality bike which I sincerely miss. If buying from halfords it's best to hold out until they do a sale (esp as we are now in spring) or when a model is about to be replaced by a newer one as they're usually heavily discounted (50% or more). Mine was £200 RRP £400. Only thing you have to be careful is they are desirable/common choice for theives so ensure he's got a decent lock.
The one I owned was stolen from my back garden, it was in a dismantled state as I was going to clean every bit of it!

the only bad thing I would have to say is check over it well and ensure whoever assembled it did it properly, I think they offer a free service/check up after afew weeks of owning.

[tr7v8]

Looks good, Hafords give discount for British Cycling so worth joining & then using their discount.

[pincher]

To clarify, I kind of meant budget in that he doesn't have £1000 to spend on one, not that he is at the absolute arse-end £100 range.

[2ky]

What about something from Paul's cycles, they always seem to have good deals on older models:

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p0/Mountain-Bi...

[TwilightJohnny]

If he's a short 14-year old that will probably be too big for him at the moment.

It's a difficult age for buying a bike. Spend decent money on a bike that fits and he might grow out of it quickly. Maybe a second hand bike for now would be a better choice?

[pincher]

2ky said:

What about something from Paul's cycles, they always seem to have good deals on older models:

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p0/Mountain-Bi...

Good shout - thanks. Just got to find something in a smaller frame now

[pincher]

TwilightJohnny said:

If he's a short 14-year old that will probably be too big for him at the moment.

It's a difficult age for buying a bike. Spend decent money on a bike that fits and he might grow out of it quickly. Maybe a second hand bike for now would be a better choice?

I totally agree with what you are saying but some of them do have smaller frames - will have to get down there and have a look at the weekend.

[furrywoolyhatuk]

What about getting a frame of eBay or somewhere, then you can spend some time together building it up. Bit of father son bonding.

[pincher]

Nice idea but I can sense his impatience already - best I can hope for is getting a box-fresh one and straightening the handlebars with him

[hamishg]

I bought a mountain bike for my 11 year old boy from Decathlon at Christmas and another road bike for my 7 year old girl and both have been great. Very reasonable prices and we have had no issues at all with either.

[sjg]

This is absurdly good value at £350 with a Raidon air fork, 1x11, hydraulic discs, etc:

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

There doesn't seem to be anything "womens specific" about it other than the saddle - even the colours are neutral. So I guess it comes to whether you can get a 14 year old boy to ride a girl's bike

[pincher]

He ended up reigning in his budget and went for this - http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bik... Not bad value at £250-odd

All very well have loads of upgraded components but In reality, he will use it for to-ing and fro-ing from football with his mates and a few trips through the local woods, so I think he has been quite sensible not spending all his money

[poah]

Look at the trott mtb in Halfords. Stunning value for £350

[SteveSteveson]

sjg said:

This is absurdly good value at £350 with a Raidon air fork, 1x11, hydraulic discs, etc:

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

There doesn't seem to be anything "womens specific" about it other than the saddle - even the colours are neutral. So I guess it comes to whether you can get a 14 year old boy to ride a girl's bike

I know nothing about the frame but the components seem like good value even at full price.

[Usget]

poah said:

Look at the trott mtb in Halfords. Stunning value for £350

That's crazy cheap - then BC discount to make it £315 and pay with vouchers to make it £283.50. The only thing I can think of is that the frame weighs four tonnes, otherwise it's an absolute steal.