Sub €1k hardtail

jorry

Hi Folks
I am planning to buy a new Hardtail and have honed it down to either a Specialized Rockhopper Elite or a Trek X-Caliber 7. The best comparison website I have found is 99spokes.com. Would this be the best comparison site ?
I usually cycle canal paths or hilly forest terrain and frankly will probably not notice much performance difference with either bike model, but I thought I'd ask !

covey123

jorry wrote: »

Hi Folks
I am planning to buy a new Hardtail and have honed it down to either a Specialized Rockhopper Elite or a Trek X-Caliber 7. The best comparison website I have found is 99spokes.com. Would this be the best comparison site ?
I usually cycle canal paths or hilly forest terrain and frankly will probably not notice much performance difference with either bike model, but I thought I'd ask !

Another option for you,Vitus Sentier ;

https://vitusbikes.com/collections/sentier?sort=price-ascending

27.5 & 29 wheel options, good geometry on frame too if you thought you might start hitting trails

Wanderer78

My advice never changes, try get a go of some bikes, could be difficult at the moment though, for various reasons

jorry

covey123 wrote: »

Another option for you,Vitus Sentier ;

https://vitusbikes.com/collections/sentier?sort=price-ascending

27.5 & 29 wheel options, good geometry on frame too if you thought you might start hitting trails

Nice bikes, never heard of them really, but would be interested in taking a look if I find a shop that stocks them.

jorry

Wanderer78 wrote: »

My advice never changes, try get a go of some bikes, could be difficult at the moment though, for various reasons

That's exactly it, just can't with everything going on and limited availability it seems also.
I have no choice really to wait till restrictions are eased.

mad turnip

jorry wrote: »

Nice bikes, never heard of them really, but would be interested in taking a look if I find a shop that stocks them.

They are sold online only through chainreactioncycles and wiggle. You can possibly pick up a second hand one from Biking.ie

jorry

mad turnip wrote: »

They are sold online only through chainreactioncycles and wiggle. You can possibly pick up a second hand one from Biking.ie

Thanks for those links, I would prefer the option of a test spin on whatever bike I finally settle for. Interestingly I think you can avail of the bike to work scheme with both those vendors also.

BoardsMember

Any other good deals out there for hard tails? I bought a Kona a couple of years ago, got 60% off, paid £700 for a list price £1700 from Winstanley Bikes in UK. Cant see anything like that kind of deal now, maybe that was a one off, or the demand for bikes is making it a seller market. The Kona was an older model, hence the discount.

Lemming

BoardsMember wrote: »

Any other good deals out there for hard tails? I bought a Kona a couple of years ago, got 60% off, paid £700 for a list price £1700 from Winstanley Bikes in UK. Cant see anything like that kind of deal now, maybe that was a one off, or the demand for bikes is making it a seller market. The Kona was an older model, hence the discount.

I was going to suggest a Marin San Quentin 1 as it's around the £650 mark (so adjust that for the € equivalent) but tbh that Vitus Sentier linked by Covey looks a better spec (better fork, better/more gearing,etc.) for a little bit more. The frame geometry is very similar with perhaps the San Quentin having a marginally more slack head angle but that's about it.

Stark

jorry wrote: »

Thanks for those links, I would prefer the option of a test spin on whatever bike I finally settle for. Interestingly I think you can avail of the bike to work scheme with both those vendors also.

Biking.ie rent out Vitus Sentiers from Ticknock and Ballinastoe. Will cost you €30 but at least you'll get to spend the full morning/afternoon test riding it on actual trails as opposed to round the local car park.
I did it one morning as a treat to myself even though I own two 10 year old bikes as I was curious to see what a modern geometry bike felt like. Lovely bikes imo.

cyclescheme.ie have chain reaction cycles as their online partner so you can use the B2W scheme that way. Not sure if any Irish providers partner with Wiggle. Of course you can get the online shop to invoice your employer directly (mine prefer to do everything through cyclescheme.ie as it's a standardised process for all the salary sacrifice stuff).

BoardsMember

Vitus seem to be all out of stock everywhere.

Stocks of all bikes very low everywhere.

Really not a buyers market!! We now have 3 mountain bikers in the house, and only 2 mountain bikes.

Wanderer78

Stark wrote:

Biking.ie rent out Vitus Sentiers from Ticknock and Ballinastoe. Will cost you €30 but at least you'll get to spend the full morning/afternoon test riding it on actual trails as opposed to round the local car park. I did it one morning as a treat to myself even though I own two 10 year old bikes as I was curious to see what a modern geometry bike felt like. Lovely bikes imo.

Rented a vitus before at ballinastoe, well worth it, lovely bikes

BoardsMember wrote:

Really not a buyers market!! We now have 3 mountain bikers in the house, and only 2 mountain bikes.

Its obvious, someone has to go!

BoardsMember

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Rented a vitus before at ballinastoe, well worth it, lovely bikes



Its obvious, someone has to go!

LOL....the wife has already assigned my lovely Kona to my eldest, suggesting I pick up a 2nd hand banger for myself. Where did it all go wrong??!!

Lemming

BoardsMember wrote: »

Vitus seem to be all out of stock everywhere.

Stocks of all bikes very low everywhere.

As I said on another thread a few months ago in relation to a quote that came out of Australia; "bikes are the new toilet paper", i.e. everyone's been panic buying them for something to do during lock-down.

One of my workmates managed to get a 2021 specialized rockhopper a couple of months ago but she was waiting for months for the shop in question to get stock in to replace the 2019/2020 stock as everything cleared out. Shops are getting stock [eventually], it's just that you'll end up either having to jump on it ASAP or pick a number and get in line so a bit pot-luck alas at the moment.

Wanderer78

Lemming wrote:

As I said on another thread a few months ago in relation to a quote that came out of Australia; "bikes are the new toilet paper", i.e. everyone's been panic buying them for something to do during lock-down.

There has also been a major supply shock in most markets, supply chains are all over the place, some components are hard to come by

Stark

Yeah I ordered a bike from Wheelworx last month and it'll probably be March when it arrives.

Plastik

Biking.ie posted in the last day or two on instagram that they would be selling off their 2020 ex-rentals shortly, might be worth keeping an eye on. Assume they wouldn't be doing this unless they've received strong indication from Vitus that the 2021 bikes, that are all listed on CRC/Wiggle but out of stock, will be coming on stream shortly.

Wanderer78

Plastik wrote: »

Biking.ie posted in the last day or two on instagram that they would be selling off their 2020 ex-rentals shortly, might be worth keeping an eye on. Assume they wouldn't be doing this unless they've received strong indication from Vitus that the 2021 bikes, that are all listed on CRC/Wiggle but out of stock, will be coming on stream shortly.

what kind of money do they tend to go for, particularly the enduros?

Stark

They're quoting 625 euro for the Vitus Sentier VR. I have a Canyon on order but I'll cancel the order if I can get my hands on one of the biking.ie ones.

Wanderer78

Stark wrote: »

They're quoting 625 euro for the Vitus Sentier. I have a Canyon on order but I'll cancel the order if I can get my hands on one of the biking.ie ones.

spotted that on their site, also signed up to their mailing list, those canyons look stunning, which one did you order?

Stark

Grand Canyon 7

@Plastik do you have a link to the Instagram post? I can't find it. Also signed up to the mailing list but haven't heard anything.

Plastik

Stark wrote: »

Grand Canyon 7

@Plastik do you have a link to the Instagram post? I can't find it. Also signed up to the mailing list but haven't heard anything.

Sorry, I don't. I was sent a screenshot on WhatsApp. I think it might have been part of their story a couple of days ago and not a full post.

cmyk

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm also looking for something similar, more for XC type riding though so nothing too mad.

Our local guy is getting in an Orbea Alma H50, (850€) anyone any opinions? A friend of mine had advised to hold out for a nukeproof scout (I think it's about 1300€)

mad turnip

cmyk wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm also looking for something similar, more for XC type riding though so nothing too mad.

Our local guy is getting in an Orbea Alma H50, (850€) anyone any opinions? A friend of mine had advised to hold out for a nukeproof scout (I think it's about 1300€)

The Orbea Alma H50 for 850 is a pretty good price.

You are comparing apples and oranges somewhat here. The Orbea is an XC bike while the Nukeproof is a firm trail bike. If you are new and not sure what your looking for I'd recommend getting a bit more fork travel than 100mm (nukeproof is 140mm).
This change will make the bike feel better and safer while going downhill. The tradeoff being a bit slower going uphill.

cmyk

Thanks Mad Turnip, I nipped into the bike shop this morning and owner almost said word for word the same.

Orbea will more than likely fill all my needs I just don't want to regret not spending the extra money if the nukeproof gives me a bit more flexibility if I get into it.

jorry

Stark wrote: »

Biking.ie rent out Vitus Sentiers from Ticknock and Ballinastoe. Will cost you €30 but at least you'll get to spend the full morning/afternoon test riding it on actual trails as opposed to round the local car park.
I did it one morning as a treat to myself even though I own two 10 year old bikes as I was curious to see what a modern geometry bike felt like. Lovely bikes imo.

cyclescheme.ie have chain reaction cycles as their online partner so you can use the B2W scheme that way. Not sure if any Irish providers partner with Wiggle. Of course you can get the online shop to invoice your employer directly (mine prefer to do everything through cyclescheme.ie as it's a standardised process for all the salary sacrifice stuff).

Thanks for the biking.ie lead, cracking tip. Exactly what I'm going to in December or once the current restrictions are relaxed.