advice on MTB

jeawan

i used to cycle a good bit , but havent in a good while , now im coming back to it , mainly to get fit i live in wicklow , but work in Dublin , now i need advice on mountain bikes im looking at my price range is around €500-700 maybe a little higher , what would you get in that range

i was in halfords the other day and they had carrera bike ( halfords brand i think ) is it any good are should i stick to the trek , Specialized , Giant bikes if possible id like to get a second hand bike for the time being advice would be cool

turbine?

www.paulscycles.co.uk have a good range of clearence mtbs at around that price range, some of them may be a little older (2003/4) models but you should be able to pick up a good deal. postage to ireland is £20 about 30yoyo.
I bought a giant nsr3 2003 model from them for my brother last week. good service, took 4 days for the bike to arrive. Nice bike to, perfect for the bro, hes just getting into mtb.

Morgan

In that price range I'd probably go for a Specialized Rockhopper or Giant XTC.

daymobrew

Morgan wrote:

In that price range I'd probably go for a Specialized Rockhopper or Giant XTC.

I commute on my 6 year old Rockhopper. Some parts have understandably worn out over the thousands of miles but it's a great bike.
I recommend going to a good local dealer. You'll build up a relationship with them and they will give you good advice. They will be able to advise you on what bike to buy. If you are not going off-road then a road bike or cruiser/hybrid might be better.
The Halfords bikes might be good (opinion varies) but I'd be concerned that the staff might not have as much interest in your as a long term customer as a good bike shop.

You have a decent budget so I'd say treat yourself to a new bike. Don't forget to include helmet, gloves, lights, shoes etc in the budget if you haven't got these.

kona

what type of cycling will the bike be used for?? will you want to go off road, do jumps?? commute, down hill, a bit of everything?? what halfords bike were you looking at??? was it the vulcan, kraken or fury?? have you tried kona bikes or gt?? the carrera bikes are very good value, if you read the mountain bike mags they always give them good reviews.

jeawan

ok to answer a few questions i used to Downhill a bit i like in the Woicklow mountains so ill be off road a good bit as i have asscess to all the forest in me area be keys to gate , not that that stops you , ill be doing a bit of road work , yes i have looked at Kona and would love one , but cant find any for me price range , i had a look at the Karken it looked ok , but would it handle the punishment , i plan on cycling most nights as that is what i used to do i have a track i can cycle it off road forest tracks it in are around 20miles i used to cycle this ever night for fitness mostly.

jumping wise not so much , this is mainly for fitness and a bit fun too

nearist shop to me is cycle inn and the lads there are pretty sound

kona

jeawan wrote:

ok to answer a few questions i used to Downhill a bit i like in the Woicklow mountains so ill be off road a good bit as i have asscess to all the forest in me area be keys to gate , not that that stops you , ill be doing a bit of road work , yes i have looked at Kona and would love one , but cant find any for me price range , i had a look at the Karken it looked ok , but would it handle the punishment , i plan on cycling most nights as that is what i used to do i have a track i can cycle it off road forest tracks it in are around 20miles i used to cycle this ever night for fitness mostly.

jumping wise not so much , this is mainly for fitness and a bit fun too

nearist shop to me is cycle inn and the lads there are pretty sound

have you seen the vulcan that should be fine if its just trails and commuting ,it has 100mm forks with mechanical discs and a aluminium frame, with 24 spd sram gears.but my only problem with it is sram they are not as good quality as shimano, for e700 you could get a kona possibly a 05 firemountain or 05 lanai, this years firemountain is **** compared to last years.trek make good bikes but are skanger magnets(not good).
halfords have a 05 gt i-drive for e635(usually 1000+)

Morgan

Definitely drop into the Cycle Inn and see what they have - I expect they'll do you a good deal.

jeawan

kona wrote:

have you seen the vulcan that should be fine if its just trails and commuting ,it has 100mm forks with mechanical discs and a aluminium frame, with 24 spd sram gears.but my only problem with it is sram they are not as good quality as shimano, for e700 you could get a kona possibly a 05 firemountain or 05 lanai, this years firemountain is **** compared to last years.trek make good bikes but are skanger magnets(not good).
halfords have a 05 gt i-drive for e635(usually 1000+)

were you getting your prices for the Kona's for , i didnt see the I-Drive GT in Halfords

also on top on not buying at Halfords i have a 99year Cannondale DL bike very good condition Boxer shox's hydraulic brakes etc so id liekt o trade that in if posible

kona

jeawan wrote:

were you getting your prices for the Kona's for , i didnt see the I-Drive GT in Halfords

also on top on not buying at Halfords i have a 99year Cannondale DL bike very good condition Boxer shox's hydraulic brakes etc so id liekt o trade that in if posible

how much u lookin for the cannondale??? they have the i-Drive in coolock very nice bike.are your hydraulics disc or v-brake??

jeawan

the cannondale has magura Race hydraulic brakes , i wouldnt really call them V brakes , price range €450 ONO .

the Basic gear on it is :

Mavic D521 SUP wheels
Rockshox Boxxer Pro
Magura Tomac brakes
Shamino Deore XT

kona

jeawan wrote:

the cannondale has magura Race hydraulic brakes , i wouldnt really call them V brakes , price range €450 ONO .

the Basic gear on it is :

Mavic D521 SUP wheels
Rockshox Boxxer Pro
Magura Tomac brakes
Shamino Deore XT

is it a hardtail or dual sus?? it sounds like a very nice bike have you tried to upgrage or downgrade to your new needs

jeawan

it duel it has a fox vanilla 4" on the back , it has one ring on the front so it pure downhill are a nice jump bike

i used to race a bit on it Downhill , were i live is idea for downhill bikes as there is nice tracks around my area 3rock etc

kona

ah ye so its too heavy ta commute on, you should try and flog it on ta mtb sites forums, bike shops will give **** trade in on it, ya dont have a spare set of hydraulic discs ya want to part with??or know anybody with some??i am lookin for some for my bike.

jeawan

nope no disk brakes , i used to commute a bit on it was fun jumping off paths and so on , but it not really a city bike

BeardyGit

jeawan wrote:

nope no disk brakes , i used to commute a bit on it was fun jumping off paths and so on , but it not really a city bike

Two things:

1. Cyclelogical on the quays in Dublin, main Kona dealers are having a sale on some bikes at the moment. I saw a Hahanna with a set of Marzocchi's in there yesterday for e450 - I think it's the 2005 model. Nice bike, a bargain at that price.

2. Don't suppose you'd be interested in trading a set of STX RC V-canti's with new pads and LX servo levers, plus some cash for your Magura's, would you? Go on.... You know you want to....

jeawan

hmmmm ill have a think about it

what you reckon on this dink guys it mainly a freeride , but you think it be able for a bit trails too ?

http://www.rscycle.com/s.nl/it.A/id.8045/.f?sc=7&category=55

it a nice bike and not bad price

Morgan

It looks heavy so it would be painful on the climbs. Also appears to have a double chainset (triple would be better). The parts are fairly low-end so there's no telling how they'd last. You'd be better off getting a hardtail with decent parts.