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Hi all

Second post on the forum and now looking for some advice on bikes and were to start riding.

Im after a bike for both trail riding with maybe a local group when i get to meet some other riders and also for getting out with the Mrs and Daughter for fun rides, so i need to sort a bike that will cover my needs without bankcrupting me lol

Right my budget at the moment for the bike is about £500 max but would like to spend £3-£400 if possible, im 43, 5'7'' and about 13-13.5 stone and fairly well built, from what ive seen a full suss bike for my budget isnt really and option so guess its hardtail for me. im thinking of getting a cheaper bike to start off with and have some fun and then if i get more serious selling and buying better or keeping and upgrading spec....

Heres a few ive looked at, first one i quite like the look of and it felt pretty good and is defo the cheaper end of the budget
and to be honest im going on looks rather than spec as i dont really understand the good form the ok
Fuji Nevada 2
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuj ... e-ec024668

Cannondal SL4 top end of budget
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec025261

GT avalanche 3.0 in either Hydro or standard disc
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec026167

Happy to also listen to other recommendations of new bikes or offers of used bikes that may come up for sale, size wise was told by Evens that a small will suit me best 15-16 but ive also sat on mediums that seem ok and i guess have better re-sale value as more common size..

Regards
Festa

Welcome to the forum mate.

Yes, you are correct that you would not get a worthwhile full suss in your budget, but you can get some decent hardtails for you money.

Have you thought about buying second hand as you will get so much more for your money?

Hi, The dale is the better buy but all the wrong sizes.
The GT is good, Some Small GT's are very small but if you sat on one and it felt ok. For the money cant go wrong.

Try looking on "http://paulscycles.co.uk/" Ok most are last years models or older but who cares when they are new and have massive disscounts.
"http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3692" 2011 £399 looks good
Or
"http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s1p1748" yes proper full sus, decent forks, and decent gears!!!!

Good luck

Thanks for the reply

yep pretty happy to buy used if i could get a decent bike and not a shed on its last leg. would be happy to buy from a forum member if a bike comes up..

also need advice on what other kit to buy, obviously ill need a lid and gloves but knee pads camel pack etc plus i guess on ride outs a spare tube or 2 would be a good idea ? i used to ride motorcross and still have a decent lightweight 661 pressure suit but i dont intend doing anything to mental not for a while anyway

Thanks for the links Martyn, there both nice bikes and as you say a full susser, ive been watching a SL5 on ebay thats a 15.5 inch
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160648887704? ... 500wt_1156

i was thinking better to buy local so easy to return if theres a problem when new and also warranty work if needed or under warranty can the bike go to any dealer that stocks the range of bikes?

although Pauls in Norfolk so not that far compared to other mail order shops ive seen..

Defo no worried if bikes not the latest model, not when theres big discounts on last years models..

most people use a camelbak or somthing similar , can pick cheap packs up from decathlon,

Knee protection is your option but the majority wear knee pads, search 661 Kyle knee pads

Yes innertubes are recommended, and it will also pay to have a pump, decent multi tool, Puncture repair kit. But if not, someone would normally have some tools in their bag

Hi and welcome, have you seen this, it might be of interest?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialized-R ... 3a6a39b50d

Thanks will look into it, it says full suss but dosent look like it. Must be a miss print.
To be honest I'm a bit blown away with the amount of choice and don't no what to do lol. Pauls bikes has some great deals but again spoilt for choice. I'm not going to be ridding overly hard but I don't want a bike that's gonna full apart soon as it goes off road. Head wall bang lol

I like you have just got back into mountain biking and found it all too confusing, gone are the days when you went into a bike shop and the only choice you had was what colour you wanted. The advice i did get from every dealer was what am i going to be using it for, and like you i am just happy to do a bit of XC and trail riding nothing extreme and their advice was for the area's around here and a bit of road riding a hard tail is the way to go, easier riding on the road than a full suss bike, so that is what i opted for, nothing too expensive £700 Bianchi hard tail reasonable entry level bike. As for the Specialized they are a respectable brand obviously the more youy spend the higher up the scale the bike is going to be. The Specialized RockHopper is a respectable entry level bike, on evans site the 2011 model is retailing at £999.99. I think i would of considered that bike and saved a few quid, you can always upgrade the bike as you go and i think its a good starting point.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... ery=hybrid

Hi. have a look at these. i can recommend the gary fisher's.

The best of the bunch is the HI-FI Deluxe the first link and at that price £550, it's superior to any £500 hardtail (tempted to buy this myself !) . i have the 2009 HI-FI PRO and can't rate it highly enough.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gary-Fisher-H ... 2a13e0c2e6

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-MONGOOSE ... 9758124309

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gary-Fisher-C ... 2a13b76ac9

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gary-Fisher-S ... 27be008618

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gary-Fisher-B ... 45fcea8167

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gary-Fisher-W ... 415d0cd04e

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GARY-FISHER-H ... 1c1eb1091d

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GARY-FISHER-M ... 256753029d

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gary-Fisher-W ... 23141ff1c9

Cheers.

Thanks for the reply, I agree a hard tail is prob best for me that specialised does look good but out of my budget as really trying to cap it at £500, evens did offer me the fuji Nevada for 330 and I would think it's upto a bit of trail riding and looks nice, but has suntour forks and it seems Rockshock etc are the way to go :/

cheers shouldgetoutmore I'll check them out

I think you miss understood me? I was refering to the ebay specialized bike i showed you, the Evans link is a reference to how much that ebay bike would retail at in 2011 ie £400 on ebay (or what ever you won it at) for a bike that retails at £1000

Festa
where are you located? If you like the look of the Hi-Fi on ebay you could have a go on mine.

I got a £550 scott aspect 45 just over a year ago and it came with Suntour forks, granted there maybe not the best, but for the riding you describe I don't think you'd have many problems with them. Sure rockshox and such are better but from when I was looking there wasn't a massive amount of bikes in the prize range you've said that don't have RST or suntour. I think in the last few yrs suntour have managed to improve their products ad now offer some pretty competitive "cheaper" forks. I've seen other threads which have the suntour XCR rated over equivalent rockshox.

I can see you getting just as confussed on here lol

decide on 2 or 3 makes and models and stick with looking for those. I personally wouldnt buy a new bike at the lower end of the market as your not going to get the best of equipment on it. But that might just be the snob in me, I would rather buy a higher quality second hand bike for the same money at least it will have better components on it.