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#newbikeitus can be deadly to wallets

Good advice above, it is all doubly confusing as your XC and trail type riding will probably merge into one another. Hardtails do seem to diverge into short travel XC with 100mm travel which tend to have 29 inch wheels, and trail bikes which now tend to have 120mm-140mm forks and 650b wheels. The latter tend to be more fun and more stable on the downhill and technical bits, but Evans don't tend to stock the more interesting ones. Bird Zero and Whyte 901 mentioned above I think, Orange have the Crush and Clockwork 120S and this might be worth a look
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... prod123522

Whichever type of bike you buy you'll find you want the other one as well later And then a full susser as well.

Thanks all for the advice. Look forward to meeting up

This seems to get good reviews as well. http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... dtail-29er

Have to say Boardman Bikes are totally underrated generally - they are normally a decent spec at good money

All I would say is this is another 'fast xc' mountain bike - really suggest getting out to a demo day if you can ahead of purchasing coz trust me if you want to change it £1000 of bike is worth about £400 used and it's used 5 mins after it rolls out of Halfords or wherever!

And if you do go with a Boardman get it along to Nick Tonks or a local bike shop coz the bike mechanics in Halfords are crap...

Okay thanks Stumpie, Cycle king is the only shop near me and what they know could be written on the back of a postage stamp! Where is and who is Nick Tonks please.

Nick is a mechanic (know it all really) based in Thurrock. It's more a case of if you decide on a Boardman (not bad idea at all) then get it looked over - we've seen forks on wrong way round... bits added to brakes... they really are poor - but bikes are OK.

Okay, many thanks for your help

Popped into Halfords today and must admit the Boardman looks a tasty bit of kit. The only thing I'm worried about is them assembling it!
Also, I'm confused on what size is best for me. Im 5' 6" and was able to sit on the 19" frame but would be looking at the 18". On-one suggest I require size small for my height witch is a 16" frame - Now I'm confused! So a person who is 5' 6" is best with what size frame running on 29" wheels?

Frames are different so 1 18" frame is not going to be the same as another.

If you are 5'6" then I would suggest you are looking at a small to medium frame... a 19" frame may feel comfortable but I'd have to say it's too big for you in reality.

Important thing is to get on a bike and turn the pedals.

If you look at Evans for example you can pay a £50 security deposit and take a bike for a decent spin round. Last one I bought was given to me spotlessly clean and given back rather muddy... I didn't care and neither did they.

And now you got me looking so here's my £1000 wishlist:

Trek Superfly
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/superfly-6-2015-mountain-bike-ec072377

Pinnacle Ramin Five (Really like this)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/ramin-five-2015-mountain-bike-ec071316

And you can go into any Evans Cycles and take one of these for a spin...

Great advice thanks. Funny enough I also popped into Evans and the Gent there showed me the Pinnacle which was also very nice. Trek is also very nice but only has 100mm travel. Does that matter?

BTW - Sorry to get you looking but thanks for the help all the same

Nah, it's what we do...

100mm is cool but 120 is better! Plus I have to say the Pinnacle looks a better bike to me, just doesn't have the big brand name.


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5'6" i would be definitely be going for a 16" frame certainly no more than a 17".
I had a 16" scandal (on-one) and it was too small for me at 5'9", i raced it for a season and sold it on.

at this budget i'd buy the bike that had the best fork/wheel combo.

I'm 5' 6" ish and I would have to say a 19" frame sounds way to big to me, all my bikes have been small or medium that's probably 15"-17" frame depending on manufacture..

Make sure when you stand over the bike the top tube doesn't rub on your man parts..lol ( or lady parts ) you really want about 2" of clearance minimum.

Also as Stumpie says don't use Halfords for setup or work ,you can choose to buy the bike from them boxed and then have it assembled by a REAL bike mechanic it might cost a bit more ,but at least you know it will be built correctly.

Hope that helps

That Pinnacle looks like it would be more versatile than the Trek, less "racy" as the blurb say. Shame they don't do it with 650b wheels. Rockhopper Pro Evo also in budget now its on sale at Evans, but it didn't get a great review in MBR.