£1000 MTB budget 20" frame size or bigger??

[MElliottUK]

Hi am looking to replace my felt hard tail mountain bike with something a bit higher spec. The felt is 3 years old now and has a rather rubbish fork and mechanical disc brakes.

I’ve decided on a budget of £1000, I am looking for some suggestions. The complication is I am quite tall, the felt I have is a 21.5inch frame.

So in summary what HT or FS 20”+ bike frame for £1000

These are on the short list:
Cube LTD Race
2010 Boardman FS Team (2011 is 19inch frame max )
2010 Boardman HT Pro (2011 is 19inch frame max )
Specialized Rockhopper comp 2011

Im no expert when it comes to bike specs, which of the above has the best gear fitted?

Any others I should consider? note i am 6'3"

[itsnotarace]

http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/2011/g-series_g...

With a fork upgrade at a later date, that would be an awesome ride

[anonymous-user]

No bike to recommend but all 21.5's will be different and your best to get down to some shops and try them out, I'm 6'2" and my 21.5 trek 6000 is too long especially when it had the stock 120mm stem, I swapped that out for a 60mm and after many plays with the seating position (up & down as well as fore & aft) found somewhere relatively OK.

The main problem I have with the big frame is climbing in the seat when it's getting very steep, even sitting on the nose of the saddle there is still too much rear-ward bias. The long frame is very stable on descents and with the shorter stems not to bad in the twisty sections.

[subsea99]

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/

these have just have an great write up on mbuk

great spec for the money,only down side is you cant try before you buy

[Roman]

A 2010 Boardman FS Team looks pretty unbeatable at £800 to me:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mount...

[anonymous-user]

i would have a look at Charge. The steel frame is lovely and makes a real difference to a hardtail compared to an alu frame. yes its a little bit heavier but they are great bikes.

dont really know the specs of the bikes listed but i would certainly prioritise forks over groupset and try to get something with Fox over Rockshox. shifters and mechs are easy to upgrade, quality forks will set you back 1/2 the price of the bike.

[MElliottUK]

Went for the 2010 Boardman FS Team

Got £200 off as last years model + 10% discount code, dont think i could have done much better for the money

£720 in total

[Gnarlybluesurf]

what's the 10% discount code for the boardmans... do share with us all please!!!

[MElliottUK]

expired on the 31st march im afraid