advice

touge_drift

used to cycle quite alot when i was younger, then my bike was stolen from my shed.

looking to get back into mtb'ing again. nothing competitive, just for a bit of fun when when i have a weekend off work and the summer evenings etc. i
used to have a giant xtc i think it was called but that was a good few years ago now.

just in need of some advice, ive visited a few shops around dublin and the brands that kept coming up where, giant, trek, specialised and boardman.
ive a budget of maybe 600-800 euro max. can anybody help me decide which is best for my budget? i want a hard tail and from looking i think ive narrowed it down to boardman or giant. seeing as im not looking to race or anything would i get a decent specc'd giant or boardman for my price range?

ive looked at the tech specs on the shops websites and alot of it is over my head, i wouldnt really know one brand of crank sets and brakes from the other. Ive heard both positive and negitive reviews of the boardman and some giant models.

some models ive considered buying are:

Boardman mountain bike COMP

Giant xtc and a Giant talon.

one thing im sure of is i want a decent bike that the frame wont break on the first trail i hit, but i dont wont a race spec bike lying in the shed wasting away 9-5 mon-fri.

thanks,
Dave.

thebouldwhacker

Hi Dave,
Both will tic you boxes however if second hand is an option, its a good option.
If your heart is set on one of these two I (and this is my personal view not a critique) would buy a bike from a bike shop which can and will help maintain your bike, the boardman though a good bike (opinion from online reviews, I ride a specialized rockhopper (great bike btw)) I just don't trust Halfords as a good shop to deal with.
If the shop selling the giant has a good name for maintenance and repairs I (personally) would go with that....

touge_drift

well ive a few friends that work in halfords so that shouldnt be an issue.
ive been checking adverts.ie and the other usual sites for second hand bikes, bit im a bit picky and i like brand new, or as close to it as possible.

i looked at the rock hopper alright but havent heard much on it before. which model is it, i see there is a few different specs available? what sort of price range do they fall into?

petethedrummer

Cycleways do Rockhoppers.

DaveyDave

Have a look at Lapierre in Cycle Superstore. They have nice hardtails starting from €500 and the bikes are quality. The customer service is much better than anything I've heard from Halfords, I haven't heard of Halfords giving away free parts.