Full suspension bike for €1000?

briN_s

Hi All,

Apologies if this has been asked already, but I have give a search on the forum and still have a few questions. I am going to buy a mountain bike on the bike to work scheme, I plan on spending the €1000 euro but no more. I plan on using it on the likes of Ballyhoura, Balinastoe, Derroura etc. I will be out on it once or twice a month. What would ye recommend for this use on this budget? Full suspension would be my preference.
I have seen the Carrera Banshee in Halfords, liked the look of the bike, but the brake setup looks a little vunerable and the gear change seems strange from what im used to. Anyone have any experience with this bike?
I hope to do some looking around the shops this weekend. Im in the galway area, any recommendations for reputable stores?

Thanks
Brian

Jordan537

the CUBE AMS 100 COMP is a very good mountain bike for 1200 euro (£1,000) can be bought from Chain reaction.

Tenzor07

The Carrera Banshee is a good "fun bike" over-all for the price its not bad, just get all the bolts and cables rechecked after a few weeks of use... And learn how to check them yourself...

Most people on here will tell you to get a hardtail at that price.. but.. if you want a full suss then this will start you off...

rab!dmonkey

There are no full-suspesion bikes worth buying at €1,000 or under that I know of. For the official trails at the places you mention rear-suspension is unnessecary, arguably undesirable. The Carrera Banshee is definitely not built with cruising those trails in mind: its high weight and long, cheap travel will make climbing a chore and the descents are too tame to make full use of the suspension.

You may have heard this before and you'll probably hear it again, but as a beginner, you should probably start on a hardtail. For the same price, a hardtail will be lighter and better specced than a full-susser. Naturally, you'll be in more direct contact with the ground, so your pedalling efforts will be more efficient and you will be forced to shift your weight and lift your rear wheel to negotiate obstacles, improving your skill.

Visit a few local bike shops and see what they have on offer. You'll probably find you're spoilt for choice around the magic CTW €1,000 mark.

Canyon have a bike at little under your limit, which leaves some cash to pick up some essential accesories. Canyon are online only though; it's probably best that you get your first bike and some basic advice from your local bike shop.

C3PO

The Banshee will weigh 15kgs by the time you put pedals on it - that will be hard work to get up hills! It's spec is poor, particularly the fork and shock!
I don't subscribe to the "best to start on a hard-tail" mantra but if €1000 is your max budget then a hard tail will be a much better buy!

dancecatz2000

For €1000 stay away from full suspension bikes, you would be better off going for a 29er, the 29er bikes float over the bumps much easier, they`re like riding a soft tail mtb, Giant do a Talon 0 think price is about €850.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/talon.29.er/9345/49900/

studiorat

The older Banshee is a better spec than the new one. Gears are a regular SRAM system I don't see any reason they should give you hassle. I ride one, (albeit heavily modified), on the trails you mentioned. Bought it 2nd hand without wheels about two years back, and put it back together. Getting it up the hills is a real labour of love, it's a barrel of laughs coming back down and it moves well enough on the flat, although personally, I'd bring a 26" hard-tail to Ballyhoura.

If you are open to the 2nd hand market a good deal can be had in a full-susser.
But I wouldn't fork out the money for a brand new Banshee. And unless you are cycling regularly a Banshee will kill you going up hill.

Tenzor07

OP Bike Radar gave the bike a good review... I doubt you are out to burn up the trails uphill so don't mind the weight, and you will appreciate the suspension on the downhill bits..where i doubt you will want to win races there either...

And that old "start on a hardtail" to improve your skills is not true either...

briN_s

Hi All,

Thanks for getting back to me so soon. The Cube AMS 100 sounds like it might be worth a stretch in the budget, but according to the chain reaction website it is discontinued. I will see if any of the local shops have one, maybe if its a discontinued line, there might be one going cheap Rode a Cube hardtail in Ballyhoura, was pretty impressed with it, and how light it was.

The Banshee sounds like it may be a bit more hassle than its worth, I would have no problems servicing the bike, but would rather not have to be tweaking it after every day of biking, or even half way around the trail when brakes start to loosen! Once I buy a bike I cant see myself updating for a long time, would like a bike to last a few years of biking without needing new shocks, crank etc.

The 29er sounds like it may be a happy medium for me also. I have googled it a bit and I see mixed opinions. Im 6ft so the size shouldnt be an issue for me? Do these bike come with different gearing to allow for the increased wheel size? As Tenzor suggested, im not buying the bike for racing, just want something with a bit of comfort and reliability. Any strong arguments against the 29er? Or is it really a matter of preference and riding style?

Thanks
Brian

Tenzor07

briN_s wrote: »

The 29er sounds like it may be a happy medium for me also. I have googled it a bit and I see mixed opinions. Im 6ft so the size shouldnt be an issue for me? Do these bike come with different gearing to allow for the increased wheel size? As Tenzor suggested, im not buying the bike for racing, just want something with a bit of comfort and reliability. Any strong arguments against the 29er? Or is it really a matter of preference and riding style?

Try get a test spin on one first.. at your height your borderline medium/large frame size... most MTB'ers would go for the medium...
gearing on the 29ers is higher as the wheels require more torque to get them moving in comparison to the 26er..

xxyyzz

Not a bad option here. It's got all the upgrades you'll need for a good while.
I know the owner - he's a lovely guy

Cuddlesworth

xxyyzz wrote: »

Not a bad option here. It's got all the upgrades you'll need for a good while.
I know the owner - he's a lovely guy

He could pick up a brand new one on the Cycle to Work scheme for cheaper.

xxyyzz

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

He could pick up a brand new one on the Cycle to Work scheme for cheaper.

Not with an XTR drivetrain.

briN_s

I dont think i will go for a second hand bike as the 50% off for BTW makes a new bike too competitive. Unfortunately I wont have much time to test out different bikes as the BTW scheme in work closes at the end of this month and will not be run again until august. I have tried a few 26ers? already and a full suspension bike, will just have to see whats available in the shops tomorrow!

briN_s

Hi again,

Gave a wander about the local shops today, general consensus there seems to be also that a dual suspension for €1000 is not worth buying. And there seemed to be very few if any options in that bracket for full sus. I have since found out that Halfords is not in our BTW scheme so that rules out the Banshee. Here are some options I was looking at however:
Hard Tails:
Cube Acid €899 http://www.cube.eu/en/hard/comp/acid-black-white/
Lapierre Raid 500 €855 http://www.lapierre-bikes.co.uk/mtb/leisure-sport/raid/raid-500#onglets
Lapierre Raid 400 €755 http://www.lapierre-bikes.co.uk/mtb/leisure-sport/raid/raid-400#onglets

Dual Suspension:
Lapierre X-Control 110 €1245 http://www.lapierre-bikes.co.uk/mtb/cross-country-marathon/x-control/x-control-110#onglets
Merida One Twenty 800 (2011 model) €1200 (downfrom €1800) http://www.merida.com.au/2011-bikes/mtb-full-suspension/one-twenty-series/one-twenty-800-d.htm

Out of the hard tails the cube seems best value to me, based on the gear that its equipped with. Also the Merida full suspension seems to be a good option if I was going to stretch my budget. Anyone had any positive or negative experiences with these bikes?

Icyseanfitz

a pro race 500 for that kind of money i got a pro race 200 for 1200 last year and that was a decent deal, that thing should be costing between 3-4000 euro

C3PO

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

a pro race 500 for that kind of money i got a pro race 200 for 1200 last year and that was a decent deal, that thing should be costing between 3-4000 euro

I'm guessing the OP is actually referring to the Raid 500?

briN_s

Apologies, it was the raid I meant. I have updated the post now

pump

have a look at cube bikes, good value

RINO87

I was out of mtb for years, had to sell my bike in first year of college to pay for accomodation. Got back into it last year and found a banshee going dirt chep on done deal, bike was barely ridden, owner still had receipt and I got it for 300 beans, think it was the 2010 model. I jumped at it because the spec on the bike was half decent. It did a great job at getting me back into biking and I never had any problems with it (apart from being a BITCH on climbs). I used to always ride a hard tail, and began to miss that connection with the ground, so I got a kona hardtail frame from MBW and transferred over the components, and I've never been happier with a bike.The model I had came with a full x9 drivetrain and avid juicy three's. Maybe i just got lucky??

rcorbet

Can you let me know where the Merida One Twenty 800 (2011 model) is selling for 1200

briN_s

West side cycles in Galway

studiorat

To me the X-control looks like the bottom of the range component-wise. But the frame looks like the best of the bunch there. I think it would be a very good place to start, maybe because it looks a bit like the Zesty. Anyway that's the one I think is the most interesting.

The Merida's good value though. The Cube bikes just leave me cold.


Meanwhile > http://www.adverts.ie/bikes/carrera-banshee-10/740787

rab!dmonkey

studiorat wrote: »

*Snip*
Meanwhile > http://www.adverts.ie/bikes/carrera-banshee-10/740787

That's frame only. I don't think it would be wise (or cheap) for OP to build up his first mountain bike himself.

Quite low spec on the X-Control, especially the fork. The Merida looks nice, decent spec. I'd recommend the Cube Acid though: it's got a nice fork and the price will leave you with enough change to pick up some decent riding gear, tools etc.

briN_s

Hi All,

Thanks for all the advice, just after putting deposit on the Merida Full Sus bike. Couldnt find any bike with same spec for that price

Brian