mountain bike for £300?

[2seas]

hi all,

i'm not very knowledgeable about these things so could someone with the know how please advise me on what the best mountain bike i could buy for £300 is? am i being a bit too stingy with the budget? i'm no mountain biking expert i just want to do it for fun off road on occasion and also possibly commute to work (about 10 miles and all road)...

[Vespula]

Can't go wrong with Giant.

http://www.awcycles.co.uk/brands/Giant/Rincon%20Mo...

[tommobot]

I was in a similar position and brought a GT Agressor from Halfords for £300. It was on one of there sales and has gone up again in price now but will probably be back down. Used it quite a bit, and done 16 miles to work on it no problem. Now got some hyrbid tyres on it which appear to have made a massive differnce. If I want to properly go off road on it then i'll just swap the tyres back over, 10 minuite job at worst

[ben_h100]

I'd look for a second-hand bike off ebay - possibly get a decent Specialized Rockhopper if you are lucky.

[NitroNick]

ben_h100 said:

I'd look for a second-hand bike off ebay - possibly get a decent Specialized Rockhopper if you are lucky.

This!
You can get some great value used bikes or even demo models.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

First thing to do is check if your work does a cycle to work scheme, this will give you about 40% off the asking price hence will allow you to buy a £500 bike for £300... If not then you can start your hunt for a £300 bike.

[2seas]

well i get 15% of wheelies direct as a company discount: http://www.wheelies.co.uk/Default.aspx

basically anything that has a 'tribe discount' marked against it. the problem is i don't know enough to know if that is good value on any of the bikes on that website... any ideas?

unfortunately no cycle to work scheme here

[Roman]

2seas said:

well i get 15% of wheelies direct as a company discount: http://www.wheelies.co.uk/Default.aspx

basically anything that has a 'tribe discount' marked against it. the problem is i don't know enough to know if that is good value on any of the bikes on that website... any ideas?

unfortunately no cycle to work scheme here

It would be worth spending £340 (inc. 15% discount) for either a FeltQ520 or Scott Aspect 55 from that store.

[JQ]

If you are geniunely going to also use it to commute to work on the road I'd try get one where you can lock-out the front forks - I've got one and it makes a massive difference on my 15 mile daily commute. Not sure if these are avaiable in your price bracket though.

[ben_h100]

JQ said:

If you are geniunely going to also use it to commute to work on the road I'd try get one where you can lock-out the front forks - I've got one and it makes a massive difference on my 15 mile daily commute. Not sure if these are avaiable in your price bracket though.

Rockhopper has this, light for the money as well.

[R60EST]

tommobot said:

I was in a similar position and brought a GT Agressor from Halfords for £300. It was on one of there sales and has gone up again in price now but will probably be back down. Used it quite a bit, and done 16 miles to work on it no problem. Now got some hyrbid tyres on it which appear to have made a massive differnce. If I want to properly go off road on it then i'll just swap the tyres back over, 10 minuite job at worst

Same here , got the GT Agressor XC3 from Halfords @ £300 ( Check their website might still be on offer online )
I can highly recommend it , plus as per the other post you can lock the front forks if needed.
It is quite light for the money and comes with front and rear hydraulic disk brakes and quick release wheels.
It's worth having Halfords build it for you ( it's free ) as going by some of the online reviews , can be a bit tricky to do it yourself.

ETA , Just checked its gone to £379 . Still worth that IMO

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Edited by R60EST on Wednesday 12th May 14:09

[curlie467]

I dont think you could go far wrong with the Scott aspect 60 for £299, i am strongly considering that model myself.

[mk1fan]

Carrera Subway with gears and the disc brake tabs on the rear (It'll have V-brakes). Just need some knobbly tyres - Specialized Fast Track LK Control seem to be a good compromise between on-road speed and off-road grip. Pump them up hard for the road and leave 'em squishy for the dirt.

No suspension on the Subway but at this price point any suspension will be terrible. If you get into biking you can also get a set of s/h Rock Shox Reba's and fit them to the bike.

[a11y_m]

mk1fan said:

at this price point any suspension will be terrible. If you get into biking you can also get a set of s/h Rock Shox Reba's and fit them to the bike.

Agree with that.

Obviously the best option for VFM would be to buy secondhand but that's a bit of a minefield for the uninitiated. A good alternative would be seeking out an ex-hire bike from a local shop or trail centre. I'm not sure what there is near you, but I bought a Genesis Altitude (inc semi-decent RockShox Tora forks with lockout, plus Shimano hydraulic discs) ex-hire for £410 from the Hub at Glentress. Original price was around £900 IIRC. Had been hired out approx 15 times and was in great condition - new tyres fitted and fully serviced.

[Gooby]

NitroNick said:

I'd look for a second-hand bike off ebay - possibly get a decent (SOTOLEN) Specialized Rockhopper if you are lucky.

EFA
Ebay is awash with stolen kit. Be careful!

[Roman]

mk1fan said:

Carrera Subway with gears and the disc brake tabs on the rear (It'll have V-brakes). Just need some knobbly tyres - Specialized Fast Track LK Control seem to be a good compromise between on-road speed and off-road grip. Pump them up hard for the road and leave 'em squishy for the dirt.

No suspension on the Subway but at this price point any suspension will be terrible. If you get into biking you can also get a set of s/h Rock Shox Reba's and fit them to the bike.

Like the Subway and I'm a fan of Rebas but only on a bike designed to take suspension forks - otherwise it will completely change the riding position and ruin the steering angle.

Rather than upgeading a £300 bike you may as well spend £500 on a Decathlon Rockrider 8.1 and get better quality forks, hydraulic discs, 9 speed transmission and everything else all as standard to begin with.

[2seas]

there seems to be a consensus that £300 isn't much of a budget so what amount should I be looking at for something mid range? as has already been pointed out i don't know enough to buy stuff on ebay - besides i want something shiny new...

so, what's the best & cheapest midrange mountain bike and how much would i be looking at?

[Roman]

£500-£600 is a very competitive price point and should get you a decently specced mid range bike. The Rockrider I mentioned is as good as anything for the price, GT & Boardman offer some good bikes in this price range. Loads of people buy & recommend Specialized also. Rockshox Tora & Dart are good forks at this price range, I doubt you will find anything with Rebas under £750.

[smack]

2seas said:

there seems to be a consensus that £300 isn't much of a budget so what amount should I be looking at for something mid range? as has already been pointed out i don't know enough to buy stuff on ebay - besides i want something shiny new...

so, what's the best & cheapest midrange mountain bike and how much would i be looking at?

£300 is going to get you something that won't fall to bits in 6 months, but is going to be heavy as hell, with forks that don't do much. Considering you actually live in the countryside with trails on your doorstep, you want something that can handle it, and you will enjoy off road, rather than pottering around on tarmac, which most people do with their cheap MTB's so makes no odds to them.

[2seas]

smack said:

2seas said:

there seems to be a consensus that £300 isn't much of a budget so what amount should I be looking at for something mid range? as has already been pointed out i don't know enough to buy stuff on ebay - besides i want something shiny new...

so, what's the best & cheapest midrange mountain bike and how much would i be looking at?

£300 is going to get you something that won't fall to bits in 6 months, but is going to be heavy as hell, with forks that don't do much. Considering you actually live in the countryside with trails on your doorstep, you want something that can handle it, and you will enjoy off road, rather than pottering around on tarmac, which most people do with their cheap MTB's so makes no odds to them.

so 500-600 then? have a look further up the thread at the wheelies direct link - with the 15% tribe discount are there any bargains in there?