Full suspension MTB for 1000euro???

c montgomery

Hi everyone,

They have just brought the cycle to work scheme into work and i was lookin at gettin a full suspension MTB for about 1000.
Do a bit of trail riding on my friends spare bike and love it so gonna get my own. In honesty gonna use it more for trails than cycling to work hence the full suspension.

Just looking for recommedations or advice.

Cheers

Paul

kona

c montgomery wrote: »

Hi everyone,

They have just brought the cycle to work scheme into work and i was lookin at gettin a full suspension MTB for about 1000.
Do a bit of trail riding on my friends spare bike and love it so gonna get my own. In honesty gonna use it more for trails than cycling to work hence the full suspension.

Just looking for recommedations or advice.

Cheers

Paul

For a beginner buy a hardtail, you will learn to ride better on one.:)
But if you are hell bent on a full bounce, try looking at somthing along the lines of a carrera Banshee X or the XXX, or if its more cross country the GT i-Drive 5, nothing else id really recommend in the e1000 bracket, unless you want to go 2nd hand, then id definatley push you towards a norco or a kona.

thebouldwhacker

hey Paul,
what part of the country are you in? If your near cork you should pop into rohar cycles on barrick street, they'll sort you out with a solid level custom build for that money:D

TinyExplosions

If you're in Dublin, I'd actually recommend going into Cyclelogical and telling them you you want to get something on the C2W, they've a bit of a sale on a few Kona MTB's that'd do the job

WicklowRacer

Theres a chap on the MTB Ireland forum selling a 2nd Specialized Epic Marathon for 1,000.

These are as good as full sus get and if its in any sort of condition its a steal.

Check it out...

http://www.mtbireland.com/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=6&thread_id=650

Morgan

If you REALLY want a full suspension bike then your best option would be to go second hand with that budget.

I think you'd be better off getting a hardtail. You'll get a much higher quality bike for the money. It'll also be considerably lighter than a full-sus for the same money. Not to mention easier to maintain. If you're relatively new to the sport this is definitely the way to go.

c montgomery

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

The second hand option is not really a runner as i will be buying it through the bike to work scheme and as a result will have to buy it from a shop.

I was thinking about maybe increasing the budget slightly to 1400 as i was looking at this and i have talked to someone briefly who had one and they said it was a great bike for the money.
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=17861

Its a la pierre x control 210 08.
If anyone has any info or testimionials on this bike i would greatly appreciate it.
There is an 09 model too but its 120 euros more although it has much better tyres in its defence.

I know im new to the sport and that maybe a hardtail would be better for starting but i wont be able to afford to ungrade for a number of years so i would prefer to get a good full suspension bike now rather than gettin a good starting bike and then upgrading later.

Thanks again
Paul

Im in waterford by the way:)

kona

c montgomery wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

The second hand option is not really a runner as i will be buying it through the bike to work scheme and as a result will have to buy it from a shop.

I was thinking about maybe increasing the budget slightly to 1400 as i was looking at this and i have talked to someone briefly who had one and they said it was a great bike for the money.
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=17861

Its a la pierre x control 210 08.
If anyone has any info or testimionials on this bike i would greatly appreciate it.
There is an 09 model too but its 120 euros more although it has much better tyres in its defence.

I know im new to the sport and that maybe a hardtail would be better for starting but i wont be able to afford to ungrade for a number of years so i would prefer to get a good full suspension bike now rather than gettin a good starting bike and then upgrading later.

Thanks again
Paul

Im in waterford by the way:)

Id avoid La Pierre bikes if you can, especially the Full Sus, they dont wear well, from the few ive worked on the bushings are ALWAYS gone on them, and the rider wouldt have been doing crazy stuff on it, not somthing id expect off a 2 year old bike with no racing or hard riding done on it.

Buy a Hardtail, seriously, whats the point in buying a full bounce now which will not be as light , durable or as well specced as a hardtail?? the spec you buy now on a hardtail for e1000 wil probably be only on full sussers in 3 or 4 years time. Hardtails are more fun anyways:D

Honestley with e1000 your really only looking at entry level - low mid level full sussers, with 1k and a discount you would get a fairly high spec hardtail.:)

dcRoadie

Agree with Kona - buy a hardtail! Easier to maintain, lighter and will make you a more skilled rider - FACT! I've been MTB'ing for 6 years and I recently gave away my full sus frame as it just wasn't as much fun as the hardtails!

dc

Traumadoc

http://adverts.ie/79676 Dont know if you can buy second hand with the BTW scheme though

kona

Think the cycle to work scheme is done by 1 for all voucher in some stores, you could just give the voucher to the seller if you want to go 2nd hand route.

dcRoadie

In fairness Mr. Montgomery most people on this forum are roadies (from what I can gather - maybe not you Kona and also not Morgan!). There's a thread not unlike this on the Epicmtb forum at the moment, maybe check that out for guidance.

www.epicmtb.com

Enduro

Id avoid La Pierre bikes if you can, especially the Full Sus, they dont wear well, from the few ive worked on the bushings are ALWAYS gone on them, and the rider wouldt have been doing crazy stuff on it, not somthing id expect off a 2 year old bike with no racing or hard riding done on it.

I'd have to completly disagree with this. The LP210 is a fine bike, and is very good value for money as an entry level XC full susser. I own a LP spicy 316, and after a year and a half of hard riding its all beautifully intact. Friends of mine own/have owned 310s, and I haven't seen/heard of any bushing problems. These bikes would have been dragged through 5 day adventure races, along with normal Irish trail usage.

Having said all that, I agree that the OP would be better off getting a quality hardtail for the same money. Tons of options out there.

kona

Enduro wrote: »

I'd have to completly disagree with this. The LP210 is a fine bike, and is very good value for money as an entry level XC full susser. I own a LP spicy 316, and after a year and a half of hard riding its all beautifully intact. Friends of mine own/have owned 310s, and I haven't seen/heard of any bushing problems. These bikes would have been dragged through 5 day adventure races, along with normal Irish trail usage.

Having said all that, I agree that the OP would be better off getting a quality hardtail for the same money. Tons of options out there.

fair enough, But on the basis of what ive seen on a few different bikes with different riders, all with the bushings gone Id avoid them. Maybe they are fine bushes, but the mechanic didnt tighten them before they left who knows??
I still wouldnt touch them, either way.

c montgomery

Enduro wrote: »

I'd have to completly disagree with this. The LP210 is a fine bike, and is very good value for money as an entry level XC full susser. I own a LP spicy 316, and after a year and a half of hard riding its all beautifully intact. Friends of mine own/have owned 310s, and I haven't seen/heard of any bushing problems. These bikes would have been dragged through 5 day adventure races, along with normal Irish trail usage.

Having said all that, I agree that the OP would be better off getting a quality hardtail for the same money. Tons of options out there.

I have just seen the lp x control 210 in the uk for 1050 euro so its looking even better value now.

When i say im new to biking what i should have said is that i have recently returned. I did alot of biking while in australia a few years back and kept it up for about another year when i came back. All this was done on a pretty low level hardtail that cost about 300dollers. That bike is now rotting in the shead.
The only reason i was looking at getting a full suspension was that when i had a go off one before i couldnt get over how smooth the ride was. it just felt alot easier than the hardtail ( granted it was a 300 doller piece of sh*t) and more enjoyable to cycle.

This is sport that i really enjoyed before and i will be fully comitted to it for the next number of years, this is why i want to get the full sus so that i wont have to upgrade in future ( wont be able to afford to).

Again thanks 4 all d replies:):)

Ciaran500

Gonna have to disagree with everyone on this. Start MTBing with an average spec'd Spesh Hardrock, had good fun on it, learned the basics and stuck to simple stuff.

Then I moved onto my full susser (08 Meta 5.5.2) and I got into and enjoyed cycling so much more, I went from going out 1-2 times a month to 1-2 times a week. I also learned far more last summer after I got the bike than I did in the 2 years with my Hardrock. The way I see it, full sussers are constantly getting better at the bottom end and at this stage you won't ever be going back to a hard tail unless you decide to so there is no reason not to learn on a full suss.

EDIT: Also heard nothing but prasie for La Pierre from reviews or any owner I've seen in person or on a forum.

Enduro

Maybe they are fine bushes, but the mechanic didnt tighten them before they left who knows??

that's more than possible of course. I had that problem with a Kona before, as it happens. Nearly lost an entire link in the middle of an adventure race, but a team-mate spotted it coming loose.

Then I moved onto my full susser (08 Meta 5.5.2) and I got into and enjoyed cycling so much more, I went from going out 1-2 times a month to 1-2 times a week. I also learned far more last summer after I got the bike than I did in the 2 years with my Hardrock. The way I see it, full sussers are constantly getting better at the bottom end and at this stage you won't ever be going back to a hard tail unless you decide to so there is no reason not to learn on a full suss.

I wouldn't argue with this. I still think a hardtail is the best starter bike, particularly if the budget is limited. However, for an intermediate rider it can make a big positive difference to switch to a full susser. My own experience is that I did become a faster rider when I got my first XC full susser, and my technical riding improved enormously when I started riding "big bouncy" bikes, like my Spicy 316. The bike allows you to tackle more ambitious stuff, and learn how to ride it. I've seen other riders similarly transformed. However, this was all on very technical terraine. There is no way I'd recommend someone to buy a full-susser for easier trails, like the man-made trails in Balinastoe and Ballyhoura

WicklowRacer

Enduro wrote: »

There is no way I'd recommend someone to buy a full-susser for easier trails, like the man-made trails in Balinastoe and Ballyhoura

That all depends on how fast u ride them

The Elite winner for NPS #2 last Sunday was on a Giant Trance !

Ciaran500

Enduro wrote: »

I wouldn't argue with this. I still think a hardtail is the best starter bike, particularly if the budget is limited. However, for an intermediate rider it can make a big positive difference to switch to a full susser.

But how long does it take to move from beginner to intermediate? This bike will be a few years investment and he can't just think about what's good for a beginner.

petethedrummer

I'm gonna jump on this thread cos I'm looking for a Hardtail MTB around €1000, I had my eye on this (in black) but find reviews of canyon bikes hard to come across.

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/specs.html?b=802

Yay or nay?

Gavin

petethedrummer wrote: »

I'm gonna jump on this thread cos I'm looking for a Hardtail MTB around €1000, I had my eye on this (in black) but find reviews of canyon bikes hard to come across.

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/specs.html?b=802

Yay or nay?

Looks quality, good groupset, good brakes, good forks and good wheels. A few of the MAD lads have canyons I think and seem to recommend em

Enduro

WicklowRacer wrote: »

That all depends on how fast u ride them

The Elite winner for NPS #2 last Sunday was on a Giant Trance !

Indeed he did. But then Robin can ride down Whoa on a cyclocross bike. If a mere mortal tried that they'd be hospitalised. Also, that race didn't go on the purpose built trail (Daffyd's trail), which is what I was referring to. From what I've heard a snowmobile would have been the best bet for Sunday's race.

Morgan

WicklowRacer wrote: »

The Elite winner for NPS #2 last Sunday was on a Giant Trance !

True, but he was being ironic.

CheGuedara

petethedrummer wrote: »

I'm gonna jump on this thread cos I'm looking for a Hardtail MTB around €1000, I had my eye on this (in black) but find reviews of canyon bikes hard to come across.

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/specs.html?b=802

Yay or nay?

Or go a bit stronger and consider this

http://www.roseversand.de/output/controller.aspx?cid=156&detail=1900&detail2=17828

Good company, good bikes with build equivalent to or better than Specialized

Morgan

petethedrummer wrote: »

Yay or nay?

Yay. In green. Awesome colour. Great spec for the money. You can use the Canyon "Perfect Fit" yoke to work out your size.

That "Red Bull" above is hideous. Looks like a supermarket bike.

petethedrummer

Thanks lads, will probably go for the Canyon in black.

Morgan

Green.

petethedrummer

That's the worst of the three options. I used to own a green car and it was referred to as the snot, the frog and ecto-1 so I'm not owning anything green from now on.

Morgan

Fair enough, but the day's going to come when you're cleaning the bike after a mucky ride and you step back and look at it and think "Feck, I should have gotten it in green".

Guaranteed .