Best (cheapish) bike

Spudmonkey · 27-05-2009 11:52pm #1

I'm looking for a new bike, something in the region of 500. Whats the best mountain bike I could get for this? It's mainly for road use, but maybe some easy trails too!

Raam · 28-05-2009 8:28am

Will you really use it on the trails? If you want to do road cycling and do MTB, the best solution is to get a road bike and an MTB! That's not really answering your question, but that's what I'd do.

DePurpereWolf · 28-05-2009 8:32am

Is it for commuting? Leisure?

Spudmonkey · 28-05-2009 8:51am

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

Is it for commuting? Leisure?

It's for a bit of both, I'm living close enough to work so i cycle most days it's fine. The bike I have at the moment it a bit old but it does the job, I suppose I could always use that for commuting.

I realise there are probably very high end bikes for trails but I was wondering if there was anything at the bottom of the scale. A lad I met the other day mentioned one (for about 500) but I can't remember the make...

pburns · 28-05-2009 8:55am

Raam wrote: »

Will you really use it on the trails? If you want to do road cycling and do MTB, the best solution is to get a road bike and an MTB! That's not really answering your question, but that's what I'd do.

Yes Raam but you're big into your cycling... Two types of bike are great but not everyone wants or needs two bikes. €500 won't buy two decent bicycles anyway. It'll barely buy one. A hybrid will be better on the road than a MTB and handle very light off-tarmac stuff

The Carrera range from Halfords seem to be the best regarded 'budget' bikes but for not much more than €500 you should also be able to consider the cheaper versions of quality brands like Giant, Trek, Specialised etc. also (?) Specialised are generally regarded as pretty good value in the quality of components you get for 'x' amount.

I'm pretty much a newbie so maybe wrong but that's what I've gleaned from buying a bike recently...

Spudmonkey · 28-05-2009 9:06am

pburns wrote: »

The Carrera range from Halfords seem to be the best regarded 'budget' bikes but for not much more than €500 you should also be able to consider the cheaper versions of quality brands like Giant, Trek, Specialised etc. also (?) Specialised are generally regarded as pretty good value in the quality of components you get for 'x' amount.

I could always stretch to a bit more if I found a good substantial bike, something that would do me for a long time!

DePurpereWolf · 28-05-2009 9:12am

Halfords......

Anyway: Giant CRS 2.0 looks like a good one for you.

Lapierre campus '08

Lumen · 28-05-2009 9:20am

All the bike you ever need.

Random pro-crossbike thought for the day: I was comparing the geometry of the Tricross with a high-end Swiss race bike the other day, and the only significant differences were chainstay length and a tiny bit of fork rake.

Spudmonkey · 28-05-2009 9:41am

Lumen wrote: »

All the bike you ever need.

Thats a nice bike but a bit over my budget, although I'd have to see, I might be able to scrape it together

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

Anyway: Giant CRS 2.0 looks like a good one for you.

Lapierre campus '08

These look like roadbikes or can they also be used offroad? I've never done off-roading before but I'd like to try it!

keith_d99 · 28-05-2009 10:29am

Why not get an MTB - and swap tyres for slicks for road cycling??

I picked up a Trek 4300 for around the €500 a few months back http://www.trekbikes.com/au/en/bikes/mountain_hardtail/4_series/4300disc/

Handles the trails very well - and slicks make a massive difference for the road (15 km daily commute)

Best (cheapish) bike

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