Forum

Hi all, first off can I say Great site and pics I enjoyed flicking through.

Now the introduction, as you would of noticed my names Carl Jim 47 old-ish and live in Maylandsea (near Danbury for those who dont know Maylandsea) 10 mile to be exact-ish.

Although the subject title says novice, im not a novice to bike riding but am to Trail, XC and the other stuff you guys get up to. To be honest I used to do body building but have in the last 4 years let it slip along with my fitness levels also gave up smoking last year and in my job there is no physical work and as you can imagine a few pounds have crept on, so I thought I enjoyed bike riding years ago so get a bike you fat git and work it off whilst having fun doing it. so here I am and of all the Mountain bike forums/clubs I visited this one stood out to me the most, maybe as it looks as though there are members around my age?

So here we go, as a novice there is a question which has probably been asked a thousand times (apologies in advance) I wanna bike. Having toured around the bike shops I was hit by all the different types, makes and specs there is about these days I thought this aint like it used to be when you just had colour to choose between no suspension etc, you paid your money, no questions asked took it out the shop jumped on and away over belfairs or hockley woods you went. Now I got hit with what type of bike you looking for? "A mountain bike" "Yes what type of mountain bike, what sort of riding are you going to be doing?" "I fancy Trail or XC riding" (coz I had already read about those) "okay, do you want full sus or hardtail?" "what?" "Where you gonna be riding?" "locally I guess, I wanna be able to ride it on the road too" "you want hardtail in this area then" "do I, why cant I have 1 of those?" (points to full sus bike) " you can but no good for riding on the road, a lot harder work" "okay hardtail it is then, full sus look good though" "how much do you want to spend, what make do you want?" "500-1000 dont know what make" " in that price range you got great selection Giant, Scott, Marin, Cube, Dawes, Specialized etc etc" " Raleigh?" But he didnt get the joke. Ow and suspension travel was another question

And that was me same questions in every shop and still I guess at the end of the day its a matter of preference, I'm one that likes to go on recommendations basically as said im a novice when it comes to the modern bikes. I did ride a couple Dawes, Marin and a Scott scale 60, out the 3 the Scott rode the nicest then the Marin very close 2nd, but is the Scott man enough for Trail and XC? I think not?. So here I am confused asking what you guys recommend. ie type make etc Without causing ww3 with the hardtail and full sus die hards. But I did notice there is a lot of full sus bikes in the pics, do you guys ride them on the road too or strictly off road?

cheers carl

Hey Carl welcome to the forum, if you live close to Danbury there's a good mix of XC and some jump runs and bomb holes you can take advantage of. In respect of what bike, buy what you like and feels good. If you want unbelievable spec for your money the Boardman FS Team from Halfords is a good full susser and the Voodoo Wanga is very good for a hardtail, both £999. Cheaper end the Carrera fury £500 is good or look at the canyons direct sales so check on line.

You should be able to get a pretty nice bike for your budget, depends on whether you want good components and an ok frame or poor components and a good frame really.

Hi Carl.... Wow nice long first thread....

I would say go for a HT (hard tail) bike first off. The ones mentioned above are good and the Scot and Marin bikes offer some good HT choices. Your really be looking at 100mm to 120mm front fork travel. As your getting back into MTB a HT will be best to hone your skills on first rather than going straight to a full sus bike. The riding characteristics are different. Plus the money your looking at spending will get you a good specced HT bike.

Others to consider are:
Specialised
Cube
Whyte




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi matey,
i would recomend the scott's, they use the same frames on their entry levels as their higher models (until you get to carbon obviously) also look on line. Mega deals to be had at On-One
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOWHIPSLX ... hippet-slx
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOWHIPALF ... ne-8-speed
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOO29SCST/ ... l-29er-slx
for a £100 over budget, ideal for danbury (but less XC more jumpy/DH
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOO456TR/o ... -trail-slx

Hello mate and welcome -

Deffo go hardtail
140 up front if you can - 120 is a bit xc
Any of the big brands - spec - trek, giant, marin scott etc will do a good bike for the money you want to spend. You really cant go wrong these days with their hard-tail offerings
Deffo get it from a local shop who know their stuff

See you out on some trails!

Well guys i've gone and taken the plunge, good, bad? dont know we will see. Ive gone for a Bianchi Kuma 5500 HT

I guess this is the part you all tell me i made a big mistake lol Except mine hasnt got a red wheel at the front both white wheels and the forks are probably its weak point, room to improve there. Now looking forward to getting out there and putting it through its paces once ive honned my skills a bit.

Well it looks pretty cool and thats the most important thing They're more famous for their road racers than MTBs, and as a newbie myself I haven't got a clue if its any good, but recently bought a Spec Rockhopper with a "tuned" variant of that fork (XCR) and its supposed to be lighter and less rubbish than Suntours lower models but not as good as their Epicon Air.
There is a bewildering choice of hardtails around the £600 (or was it 700?) bracket, I was also tempted by the Boardman Comp and Carrera Fury which have better forks (120mm air) but you can always upgrade it later.

Looks a good XC ride - should be a great bike for the winter mud fest that will no doubt get this year....let us know how you get on with it! its easy to get caught up thinking about the equipment.. in the end it doesn't really make that much difference... just get out and ride it hard!

Hi yes it was around the 700 mark. To tell the truth i looked at so many bikes around this price rangeand it got so confusing in the end and they all felt and rode more or less the same and all had more or less the same spec what one had better another lacked and vice vercer. I went with this bike, not just because of its smooth ride but it felt a nice balanced bike, if that makes sense? The forks i wasnt too worried about as they can be replaced later when the budget permits.

I took it for a blast around Danbury and I was imprest with its sturdyness and ride ability it never lost any traction on the front wheel on the down hill bends and drops I did go down I felt confident with the riding angle where's with the Scott I felt I leaned too far forward, maybe their race origins? And the hill climbs where quite effortless better when fitness levels go up all in all I'm very pleased with it

That's the most important thing, if you love it that's all that matters!