Forum

Hello everyone,

Been wanting to get into a bit more cycling for a while now, do a bit (not much) road biking and alot of spinning, but I really want to get involved in a bit of "proper" biking in the mud etc! Saw that you guys get involved down at Danbury, which is only a few miles away from me. Wondered when you meet and if you would welcome me along!

Also, any advice on a decent but not too mentally priced moutain bike to invest in?

Cheers,

James aged 28 and a half.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

What would be your budget and riding style (xc, trail, dh, jumping ect)

Hi Matt, like the look of doing some cross country, looking at around the £500-700 mark I guess.

For that sort of money you will be looking at hard tails (brand new) i'm afraid although second hand you could get a good full suser. Lucky for you we live in such a flat and un rocky area. What would you prefer?

Dunno if I would get on with a full suspension, used to riding with just front forks so would tend to go towards a hard tail for my first "proper" bike. Had a look online and a shop near me has some 2011 stock with some pretty good discounts.

I was in a simular situation last year when i was getting back in to mountainbiking (although i had been riding light xc on an old bike before hand for a year), I had a budget of up to £1000. Talking with other people i knew i wanted full sus as i wanted to go Wales where its extreamly rocky in places. Was lucky to find a good full suser in my price range

For the money I would say go hard tail, 100mm travel should be plenty for xcing localy (chris boardman are very good for the money if you can look past the halfords tagg), 120mm for more aggresive xc/trail riding (bredgeberry, swinley ect). Go to lots of bike shops and try different bikes, don't buy the very first one you see. At the lower end of bike range an extra £50 does get you so much more bang for your bucks

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2537
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=75502
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130763266311? ... 500wt_1361
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mondraker-Fac ... 500wt_1361
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-Reign-3 ... 302wt_1344

Here's a few to wet you appetite.

And welcome!

Try to get "u-turn" forks or adjustable height
that way when you want to try some rough stuff you can without feeling under biked

a nice hard tail with adjustable front suspension and a dropper seat post would be my choice like Unityjon has

Cheers guys, will go have a look in a few stores this weekend.

Any decent routes in Witham way?

http://www.visitparks.co.uk/documents/f ... eaflet.pdf

better off scooting down to chelmsford for a lap or two round hylands park

i have been riding the fitch way 2 times a week for the past 4 weeks 15 miles each way (braintree to stansteadish) anyone know any good detours on route???

There aren't any really other than road or a quick spin around the discovery centre. I'm in Rayne if you ever fancy some company on route.

yep sweet im around quite a lot and everyday 5-11 october as wife and kids are away!