What mtb to get

hawksuil

Hi Folks .. member for a while but still a novice to this. I was persuaded by a friend to go mountaining biking yday for the first time and i think im hooked on the danger, speed etc!! I am looking to buy a mountain bike now and utilse the bike to work scheme before it is quashed by the government. Im looking for a few pointers from anyone in the know on what model of bike etc to go for. I live close to Ballinastoe and such places so will prob be using it there mainly. I think I want a hard tail one ... buget around 1k. Any help would be great thanks.

davey101

To be honest there is so much to choose from in your price range and they will all most likely have a similar spec. Personally i would keep an eye on the mtb forums (Mad or Epic) as some bargains pop up but then again i would probably have a better idea of what i want.
Just pop into a decent bikeshop and see whats on offer.
eurocycles
cycle inn
See who is giving the best deal and go from there, brand wise i would go for any of Giant,trek,focus,felt. As i already mentioned the spec will be very similar.

Good luck

kenmc

Personally think the Cube Acid or Cube Ltd Comp are cracking looking bikes, and very well spec'd for the money compared to giant or Lapierre at that price range. Cyclesuperstore have them.

hawksuil

Thanks for the info, i might try call in to a few stores 2mor and have a look. I had a look online and theres such a big range.

angry_fox

If your a novice i think your best bet is to buy from a local reputable bike shop than buying online. There is a huge amount of choice out there for bikes under a grand. Have a look at bikeradar.com/ for reviews on bikes. Even this months mbUK magazine has reviews of hard tails under a grand

Or you can put that grand towards this bike

Lemag

I bought this through the BTW scheme. It was the best bang-for-buck hardtail I could find out there. However, you can only buy them directly from their website and your employer might not allow this.

studiorat

Thing is, some people don't like mountain biking. :eek: It's not what you think it's going to be like, you tend to forget the uphill bit. So even though the work bike scheme is cheap, I wouldn't spend it all first time out. And don't forget you'll need a peaky helmet and a pair of padded shorts and if you decide to stick with it, a pair of clippy shoe pedal thingy-mabobs. That's 200 europes at least. And a camel drinkyback sucky thing, a pump, spare tyre blah blah.

I bought a new bike recently. These days I do weekend trails, (3 rock, balliastoe, ledmines etc) the daily cycle to work and a short road spin midweek on a Carrera Kraken. Lots of bike for €470. It's got mid range gears, mid range brakes, wheels, and controls that were lighter than my previous Giant. (on the kitchen scales anyway!) In fact it's got mid range everything! So it's a bit like a Skoda in that respect!! It's an average bike for an average biker!

Anyway, the Kraken arrived from the shop (halfords) in rag order; gears in bits; it kept dropping the chain on big gear changes on the first off-road gig. But for a €60 service on top of the price of the bike you'll get that sorted and have a decent skoot that most bike thieves wouldn't touch with a barge pole!

So I'd suggest buy a Carrera or similar cheap bike (<€500), get your mate to get his spanners out and sort it out for you, tune the derailleurs etc. and buy some clothes, shoes yadda yadda. So you have a decent Trails bike that you can sell for €300 next year if you want to buy something better. Because the crux of it for me is between 500 and 1000 there's very little difference, until you get up into the full suss XC and CF bikes.

Me, I have 2 cheapo MTB's that do the job of weekend warrior, both great fun and good value. And now I reckon, I'm gonna blow the BTW scheme on this!. No I'm actually hoping for this : Dolan "winter trainer"

C3PO

Have to disagree with StudioRat! In my opinion you should buy the best bike you can afford! Decent forks and hydraulic brakes make a huge difference on a mountain bike! All of the bike shops have good offerings in the €1000 space, as somebody previously said Giants, Lapierres and Specialized tend to have slightly less spec for the money but they are the best known brands! Focus, Cube, KTM and Boardman would all be excellent options.

kenmc

RPL1 wrote: »

Have to disagree with StudioRat! In my opinion you should buy the best bike you can afford! Decent forks and hydraulic brakes make a huge difference on a mountain bike! All of the bike shops have good offerings in the €1000 space, as somebody previously said Giants, Lapierres and Specialized tend to have slightly less spec for the money but they are the best known brands! Focus, Cube, KTM and Boardman would all be excellent options.

I'd agree (with this ^).
you can only use the BTW scheme once per 5 years. Max it out on the bike. you'll pick up bits and bobs of clothing and tools etc as you go along in online sales, clearances etc.
He already said he has been MTBing with someone else and decided he likes it. Doesn't appear to be someone who saw something on extreme tv and thought "oh that it looks like fun - I'll spend oodles of cash to see if I like it"

xyz123

i'd agree with getting the biggest bang for your buck, especially if Mr. Noonan is paying for it. Its more expensive to upgrade later.

if you're near Ballinastoe you could check out Bespoke cycles on the Vevay Road in Bray or the bike shop on Johnstown Road. also Eurocycles have a good re too. for what its worth my advice would be to make sure you get someone who knows mountain bikes and can put you on one that fits your properly.

studiorat

At €470 it does have hydraulic brakes and half decent forks. :cool:
You are paying for it!! It's only a discount you're getting...

I checked it out against stuff at twice the price and really didn't feel the improvement was worth it.
Apart from maybe something with a hollow BB and chainset, two hundred quid.
If I was looking at competing in races I'd be looking at twice that price again!!

I'm saying I think a €1,000 bike for sport is mid range and I don't think the difference
between the lower mid range and upper midrange warrants the extra 500 quid.

Lemag

Whilst bargains can be got secondhand I'd be reluctand to down this route for an MTB due to the nature of the sport. A good MTB will be quite robust but the trails can dish out a fair pounding. Materials can receive damage and weaken without necessarily showing any obvious signs of this. Icyseanfitz bought this bike secondhand a short while back and loves it however it seems like it's pretty every much week that he's posting about having to get it repaired or having to replace parts. With a new bike you can be fairly confident of its condition straight away and you'll be fully aware of its history as you go along.

Lemag

studiorat wrote: »

I'm saying I think a €1,000 bike for sport is mid range and I don't think the difference
between the lower mid range and upper midrange warrants the extra 500 quid.

The difference is probably about 2 kg and much more frequent servicing for the €500 bike.

Icyseanfitz

Lemag wrote: »

Whilst bargains can be got secondhand I'd be reluctand to down this route for an MTB due to the nature of the sport. A good MTB will be quite robust but the trails can dish out a fair pounding. Materials can receive damage and weaken without necessarily showing any obvious signs of this. Icyseanfitz bought this bike secondhand a short while back and loves it however it seems like it's pretty much week that he's posting about having to get it repaired or having to replace parts. With a new bike you can be fairly confident of it's condition straight away and you'll be fully aware of it's history as you go along.

i do love it but its constantly testing every ounce of my patience ive replaced the hubs, entire chainset, handlebar, grips, saddle, shifters, disk brakes (rear one twice), and my shock bushing....oh yeah the derailleur hanger as well :rolleyes:, and im still getting a weird rotational creaking noise whenever im putting pressure on the rear end while pedaling, im hoping it is the bearings in the swingarm pivot and not the frame about to just collapse under me
on topic second hand is great if you know what to look out for (i didnt when i bought this) or have a buddy who knows his stuff while buying, its also a great (but expensive way) to learn how a bike works and where everything goes and what it does

langdang

Pretty much max it out on the bike if you can would be my theory also.
You'll need cycling shorts, gloves, helmet to start - anything else (shoes/pedals, camelback) can be picked up in sales/online etc as state previously.

The suspension on 500-700euro bikes is usually pretty poor Suntour stuff - if you go closer to the grand you should get a better fork + few other incremental improvements

hawksuil

Thanks for all the posts!! - called into wheelworx and hollingsworth over the weekend and seen some nice bikes. the felt Q820 i think in wheelworx looks decent and the rockhopper specialised in hollingsworth also. i am keen roadbiker aswell so have plenty of gear eg shorts, gloves, helemet etc already. think the mountain biking would be great for a change and for the off season during the winter. going to do some more research before i make decsion but i think i will maxing out the budget:)