Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

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Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

Out of that list I would probably go for the Kona. 500 quid will buy you something pretty decent and if you can get last years model it will be even more of a bargain.

The component on the Saracen and the Carrera will probably be marginally better than the Kona, but the frame won't be as good.

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

Buy a Giant. I love my race spec XtC, cost just over £2k, but worth every penny.

£500 will get you a great bike and Giant along with Merida makes frames for many other companies anyway, including Kona.

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7236821_n.jpg

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

I snapped the frame on my last Saracen. :(

Druid

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

I rate Focus bikes from Wiggle.co.uk.

Thing I hate about most of the big commonly known brands is that they put something like an XT rear mech on, then match it to ungraded shimano components. Group sets are the way forward!

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

I don't know too much about the £500 mark, but generally GTs seem to give the most for your money for this kinda of price.

The last £500 pound bike I had was a Giant XtC too, but that was about 10 years ago so don't know what they're like now.

I'd avoid Kona because you get budget kit compared to other brands. This means the extra you pay for a Kona is either going into the frame, or the name. If you believe it's the frame, and you're planning on building your bike up to something better over the years to come, then do go for the Kona.

The other alternative is to look for last year's lines or some of the more obscure makes on ChainReactionCycles, but like all things off the internet you can't try them on 1st.

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

There's a whacking great "MTB thread" lurking somewhere in IB..... search for it and read through it as there might be some more tips there too.

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

Not sure what you mean by "ungraded". Do you mean "non-series"?

If it's the latter then some Shimano "non-series" components can be every bit as good as the "series" components.

E.g. my Scott road-bike came with a very largely "105"-series groupset (STI levers, front deraileur, 10-speed cassette and chain (Rear deraileur is "Ultegra, i.e. next series up)).

However, the crankset is a non-series FD-R700 Hollowtech II which is better ("Ultegra" class) than the 105 groupset crankset but cheaper. Having riden bikes with both, I know which I prefer. Likewise the brakes which are BR-R560. I can't tell the difference between these and the 105-series brakes - they look identical to me and the numbering system is so similar to make me think that they are the same.

In other words, don't dismiss non-series components without doing your homework - you might be pleasantly surprised :-)

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

If you can squeeze an extra £50 on to you budge then these are great vfm:-

Boardman Bikes

Re: Anyone clued up on Mountain Biking?
 

what u really need is a no nonsense singlespeed with suspension forks, great riding little maintenance and alot easier than u think,,,,it just so happens i build and sell em, got a mint merlin ss here at the mo, with deore xt v brakes(very powerful)..rockshox forks, easton bars etc...tis a 19" meduim...could do u a good price;)...can send pics to email address..

im 42 and ride the peaks,wales etc on singlespeeds, and manage easier than when i had 27 gears lol:D