Back in the Saddle

[nervous]

Hi,

So, after a deeply stressful experience with my Commencal and the shop I purchased it from, I finally have my money back and am therefore looking for a new bike. Again.

I'm currently looking at:

Felt Virtue 1 (£1400)
Felt Redemption 2 (£1200)
Felt Compulsion 2 (£1000)

Does anyone have any experience of any of those, or Felt as a brand? They seem to get good user reviews.

The most expensive in that list is £1400, so if anyone else has any other recommendations at or below that price point please feel free to tell me that's what I should buy. Then I'll go find a shop with one and buy it from there, rather than trust my money to seemingly friendly strangers from the internet who end up leaving me disappointed.

My criteria are:

Less than £1400, preferably a lot less.
Must be really, really good, and compliment my Malt 4 in terms of usability.
Not a Commencal (whilst it wasn't the bike that was at fault, I'm soured to the brand now).
Must be able to be ridden for longer than 100 metres without breaking, and must be robust enough to survive more than being ridden across a tarmac car-park without pieces snapping off.

I'd appreciate any thoughts you have folks, sorry to test your patience with endless 'what bike?' threads. I'm really looking forward to what you find

Best wishes,
Nervy.

[littleandy0410]

Those Felts all look nice, with some good discounts too. If I had £1400 to spend, I'd look at this:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.SPECIALIZED-Stumpjumper-FS...

[Hard-Drive]

What happened with the Commencal then?

[M400 NBL]

I'd be looking at discounted bikes next month/December when 2008 models are cheaper. Or possible 2007 models that were >£2k that you can pick up for less than £1.5k.

They'll still have XTR everything and similar/same spec everything else of a 2009 bike, except colour scheme and price.

[AbarthChris]

Come on Nervy, you can't tease us with that and not tell us what happened!

Oh and I'd say this one http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/pi...

[P-Jay]

That's one more of us, one less of them.

[WildCards]

Here's a tasty mix for you to peruse. Most will leave you with change in your pocket.

09 Focus Super Bud Team
07 Giant Trance 2
08 Mongoose Teocali Elite
08 Giant Trance 2
08 Giant Anthem 2
08 Giant Reign 1

[JPJ]

My riding partner was lent a Felt 1 for the Cape Epic this year. I think his view on it was it was alright, but kind of 'in between' a number of bases and not really ideal at any of them. He was massively soured bythe fact that none of the suspension bolts were threadlocked in so one critical one came loose on the first day, and subsequent ones came loose on other days. Speaking to other owners this seemed to be a common occurence.

For your money, I'm sure there are some 2008 bargains out there. Scott Genius, Giant Trance/Anthem, Trek Fuel Ex etc which have all seen better magazinbe reviews than the Felt.

[nervous]

Hard-Drive said:

What happened with the Commencal then?

feel free to call me and I'll tell you all about it. I cant name and shame on here obviously- its against the rules- however much it's deserved or I want to.

[nervous]

M400 NBL said:

I'd be looking at discounted bikes next month/December when 2008 models are cheaper. Or possible 2007 models that were >£2k that you can pick up for less than £1.5k.

They'll still have XTR everything and similar/same spec everything else of a 2009 bike, except colour scheme and price.

excellent tip, thanks

[nervous]

AbarthChris said:

Come on Nervy, you can't tease us with that and not tell us what happened!

Oh and I'd say this one http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/pi...

trust me, Id love to. And you'd be really interested. And amazed. And disgusted. but I cant break the rules.

You can of course contact me and I can tell you all about it at length

[nervous]

P-Jay said:

That's one more of us, one less of them.

happy to be one less of them, if it means dealing with that.

[nervous]

JPJ said:

My riding partner was lent a Felt 1 for the Cape Epic this year. I think his view on it was it was alright, but kind of 'in between' a number of bases and not really ideal at any of them. He was massively soured bythe fact that none of the suspension bolts were threadlocked in so one critical one came loose on the first day, and subsequent ones came loose on other days. Speaking to other owners this seemed to be a common occurence.

Ive heard this a lot, too. very un-nerving, so to speak.

[nervous]

WildCards said:

Here's a tasty mix for you to peruse. Most will leave you with change in your pocket.

09 Focus Super Bud Team
07 Giant Trance 2
08 Mongoose Teocali Elite
08 Giant Trance 2
08 Giant Anthem 2
08 Giant Reign 1

much lovliness. and near me too. I'll go and have a look tomorrow I think. cheers :thumbsup:

keep them coming tho please, Im far from smitten yet

[nervous]

anyone know anything about the Boardman MTB Pro FS theyre getting in at halfords soon? I cant find any reviews, but my missus is elligible for the cycle to work scheme....

[AbarthChris]

nervous said:

anyone know anything about the Boardman MTB Pro FS theyre getting in at halfords soon? I cant find any reviews, but my missus is elligible for the cycle to work scheme....

Supposed to be pretty good I think. Nothing spectacular with regards to looks, but as a dependable, well-specced bike I believe they're good.

[skibum]

Hows about a Kona?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Kona_Hei_Hei_200...

I think they are a bit of a marmite brand but I've had a Kona Steel Hardtail since 94 that I loved to pieces (and will be recomissioning soon into a fixie) and then bought a Kona Dawg FS bike a year ago to "step up" to FS. The Dawg is excellent and opened up a whole new experience for me that I was shaken out of on a Hard Tail. I like the feel from the bike and it seems to be very well put together. My Dawg is a little chunkier than the Hei Hei in the link above, but I'm a bit of a porker so need it to be a little more robust - plus I got a 2006 for 700 squids so it seemed like a good deal!

[vwsurfbum]

it seems all i ever say on this forum is get yourself a Scott Genius!

[nervous]

vwsurfbum said:

it seems all i ever say on this forum is get yourself a Scott Genius!

I looked at one of them today, and my mate ended up buying a ransom, so impressed was he.

It's an epic peice of kit for sure, but it all seemed a bit clinical somehow. does that make any sense? I mean, sure, everything worked- amazingly, for well over 100 metres in all gears which Id previously been told by an expert is IMPOSSIBLE- but I just didnt love it somehow. I respect it, but I dont love it.

Plus, yknow, it's like fking expensive.

[nervous]

littleandy0410 said:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.SPECIALIZED-Stumpjumper-FS...

looked at one of these today too, albeit the slighter higher spec one with the odd white seat and bars. very impressive. Im slightly disuaded by Neil saying theyre like Audis though, in that theyre bloody everywhere.

Of course, that could be just cos theyre really good, and both Neil and I could be idiots. I wouldnt bet against that.