101 Questions from a newbie

[Crafty_]

Short version: What MTB do I buy for £500 ?

Long Version: My work will move sometime next year to be 3/4 miles away, that coupled with a need to be doing some exercise and (roughly) a 40% subsidy on a bike (cash buy, not cyclescheme) I've started looking around. I can't buy until next year but I'm trying to get an idea of whats good/bad.

The work commute will be a mix of road and off-road, depending on the route I take. I did consider a hybrid but I've gone off the idea so want to go MTB hardtail. Compared to what I see some of you lot doing with bikes it will get very light use to start with whilst I find my feet, it might not ever get used in anger, think more leisure use at weekends out in the forest.

I've been advised by a couple of people to look at one level above entry, pretty much to get a little bit more quality hence the budget. It seems to be the spec list should include hydro brakes and some sort of lockout on the forks.

I can appreciate I need to look at the components, but I have a scale of budget to expensive, so its difficult, for example I see Shimano Acera, Alivio, Deore, SLX etc whats the budget end and whats the top end ? Likewise with forks, I see suntour XCM/XCR ? and Rockshox XC ?

Quite a few names are new to be - cube, ghost, lapierre and so on.

As I said I can't buy until the new year, which I guess is bad timing in some respects because it seems there are some "end of year" bargains about at the moment, do many shops do January sales?

[Sarkmeister]

The sales tend to start when the new models come out, which is normally September/October. There will still be a few good deals out there though in January.

As for spec, it goes Alivio-Acera-Deore-SLX-XT-XTR for Shimano groupsets.

The usual recommendation at this price range is to look at the Carrera Fury in Halfords, or maybe the similarly priced Boardman. There are so many options though. Just don't focus too much on the spec, make sure the bike actually suits/fits you.

[timbo48]

Specialised Hardrock disc. They're going for approx £350 on net, reduced from approx £460. Slightly heavy but fairly normal at that price range. Not sure if discs are hydraulic or cable. Plenty of reccomendations on this site for this bike and a good starting point to get into mtb'ing.

[anonymous-user]

timbo48 said:

Specialised Hardrock disc. They're going for approx £350 on net, reduced from approx £460. Slightly heavy but fairly normal at that price range. Not sure if discs are hydraulic or cable. Plenty of reccomendations on this site for this bike and a good starting point to get into mtb'ing.

had a hardrock disc for a while, totally bombproof and good fun, dont worry too much about spec, you basically pay more for upgraded forks, shifters and the derailluers at this price. its all good stuff in that it works if you keep it maintained, just remember that the frame will be the same for the hardrock, hardrock sport and hardrock pro. its up to you to decide how much you are prepared to pay for the next model up and how important to you better forks, better shifters etc are.

forks with a lock out are quite useful, the cheaper models will be quite slow to compress and rebound so i do think that for overall riding enjoyment, its worth getting the best model you can afford. yes hardrocks do tend to be quite heavy but only compared to everything else for the same money

there are a billion bikes around this price range as its a good natural limit for people so all the manufacturers will have something for £500.

things like the cannondale trail sl4, gt agressor and the trek 4300

[nammynake]

Mail order only, but Canyon offer the 'best bang for your buck' :

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...

[Allblackdup]

I've got a Specialized Hardrock Pro, think it was approx £550 in 2010. Lockout hydraulic fork and hydraulic disc brakes. Not the lightest but been superb with whatever's been thrown at it.

Sounds perfect for what you need imo.

[anonymous-user]

I've always had the opinion that you should buy the best frame you can, and not worry too much about the components when getting starting in biking. The idea was that as the drivetrain wore out (or got broken ;-) you could always upgrade parts at that time. However, having seen the massive increase in component prices over the last couple of years, i suspect that in the ~£500 bike range, the frame might actually be the cheapest bit on a modern MTB ??

The single biggest issue with the cheaper parts/bikes for me is the quality of the front fork. Once you've tried a good one, you realise how bad some of the cheaper stuff really is!. So, i think i'd get a decent frame and fork, maybe compromise on the drivetrain a bit, with a view that if you really get into the sport then you can upgrade all the h/ware as you go along. (whereas a poor geometry / heavy frame and fork will always be a bit of a millstone figuratively speaking!)

[shalmaneser]

I'd be looking at Genesis, better VFM than Specialized, and sweet handling bikes.

One of the 26.1 Core bikes should do you well, and if theres a bit of scope for budget creep I'd be looking at the 26.2 - the Rockshox fork is a worthwhile upgrade.

[Crafty_]

Thanks for all the input. Genesis is another unfamiliar name, I just checked the spec of the 26.1 and is appears to be very similar to a 2011 specialized hardrock pro in terms of bits, I guess the un-quantifiable bit on paper is the frame.

A vague shortlist is appearing, all 2012 models on the basis that 2011 ones may disappear soon, in no particular order:
Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc
Specialized Rockhopper
Cube Analog Disc
Trek 4500 D
Cannondale SL4
And maybe the Genesis too..

Visited a couple of local shops, one said the Cube was maybe a little behind in the frame stakes, but made up for it in equipment whereas the Cannondale was the other way around. Another said to avoid Marin/Cube/Scott at this sort of budget they are more or less just showing a presence - they are really interested in the £1k+ market.

The hardrock/rockhopper seem to get quite a bit of praise, but I noticed that the 2012 models are £100 cheaper than the 2011, or currently the same price as the 2011 models that are being sold off, so I guess they have dropped the spec a bit.

I'm sort of coming to the conclusion that there isn't a "bad" bike at this budget, its as much personal preference as anything ?
Closer to the time I will probably go and have a little ride and see what feels most comfortable..

[timbo48]

Also, have a look at the Kona Nunu. It normally retails at £600 but Evans have it for £450. Excellent handling bikes but have been let down in recent times by the kit, so the sale price is probably more a real reflection of price. Very good frame, Rockshock Dart fork so you've got a good base to start with. I've just gone back to a Kona after a few years on a Cannondale and wish I'd stayed on the Kona.

[anonymous-user]

Crafty_ said:

I'm sort of coming to the conclusion that there isn't a "bad" bike at this budget, its as much personal preference as anything ?
Closer to the time I will probably go and have a little ride and see what feels most comfortable..

I suspect you're right about that. Much like with modern cars, i think there are no truely "bad" bikes anymore ;-) But that doesn't mean one particular bike won't suit your riding style and conditions more than another. I think you deffinately have to ride them to find out which one you like best and suits you best.

It might also worth it to go to a trail centre on a busy saturday morning etc and just have a look / chat to see what other people are riding and what they think of them?