The MTB thread

Hello,
I'm Chris.

New here today,bought an SV on friday(dropped it today)
I ride and sometimes race mtb's.Great fun especially in the dark.
Me and the new bike are ok,just need a new brake pedal(doh!)

welcome to the site Chris

Originally Posted by northwind

I'm choosing not to think about it About twice the budget I originally had, anyway, but I got most of the parts either used or in sales so it's probably about 2/3rd the RRP of all the bits. Still too much! Enough for a nice full suss, FSR or something, but I like hardtails. It's actually fairly slack for a HT, 69 degree head angle with the 130mm fork sagged, so a bit tighter than my scandal was, but it was silly slack- I felt like I was sat behind the rear wheel.

My mate has an FSR and loves it. I couldnt justify the price tag at the time (still dont get enough use of the bike) so picked the Rockhopper.

[northwind]

Yeah, I feel a bit bad about the cash I've spent if I'm honest but I figure I'm due a present Just means no summer holiday this year, and the SV'll have to make do with less shiny new parts.

[northwind]

Sorry to go a bit bloggy in this thread, it seems to be half me talking about my rides

Just back from Innerleithen, first big ride on the Soul and, it turns out that Innerleithen red is just a little bit darker than glentress red Or, to put it differently, the chicken runs on Caddon Bank are harder than almost anything on the main lines on glentress red. It is quite, quite mad. I'm not sure I'd have even gone if I'd had any idea what it was like, but very glad I did, it's nice to stretch your limits as long as you don't die in the attempt. I soon formed a policy, "If it's nuts enough to need a chicken run on this route, I'm using the damn chicken run!". Still walked a couple of bits, I don't like double steps.

You know sometimes, you can literally feel yourself get better as you ride? It was that sort of day. Also had a laugh in the car park at being literally the only hardtail in the place, surrounded by a flock of 5s, Metas, etc etc. Gulp.

But it's a brilliant place, I reckon anyone who's done GT red and wants to up the ante a bit should give it a shot. The singletrack's more natural (mostly), it's far less busy, and did I mention it's mad? There's this one bit, which had me laughing out loud, basically there's a huge rolling down-then-up bit, pretty steep, pretty high- like a gigantic bombhole but just bench-cut into the hillside. This made me think "Wow, this is big! I'm not sure I've ever ridden up anything steeper than this!" Then, it's immediately followed by another one, which is about 25% bigger. Then another. Then another. And the first one is a bigger trail feature than anything I've seen at GT, even before you get to the big one. The bombhole at the quarry is the same, the feeling of height and scale is just on a different level. (if it was an actual bombhole, I reckon it'd be a bloody big bomb) It's like a red run designed by an ADD child, or perhaps by a murderer.

Guys need some advice, on a little budget Roughly £200. I manage to break pushbikes pretty quickly...

I've never heard of Dirty as a make http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B2660.html Anyone had any experience with them? Seems pretty good and has the option of a larger frame than some.

There is this, I have a Barracuda at the moment http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B1253.html

Do I need to raise my budget? I like to do a bit of on and off roading. Couple of trails along my way. Any other recommendations are welcome

I've never heard of Dirty either. If your wanting to get a bike that wont break, i'd reccomend sticking to reputable, well known manufacturers.
Something like Specialized Hardrock Sport would come in at about £250. It wont have disc brakes, but the components you get on them are pretty good, and obviously the frames are significantly better than cheaper makes.
Have a look at some other makes such as scott and kona. You may be able to find some in your price range.
Once you've identified what you want, get down you local bike shop, and see what they can knock off the retail for you. Should get a reasonable amount off, credit crunch etc!
Also, you may want to consider 2008 and 2007 models, and possibly second hand...
Food for thought.
HTH

Originally Posted by Jdawg

I've never heard of Dirty either. If your wanting to get a bike that wont break, i'd reccomend sticking to reputable, well known manufacturers.
Something like Specialized Hardrock Sport would come in at about £250. It wont have disc brakes, but the components you get on them are pretty good, and obviously the frames are significantly better than cheaper makes.
Have a look at some other makes such as scott and kona. You may be able to find some in your price range.
Once you've identified what you want, get down you local bike shop, and see what they can knock off the retail for you. Should get a reasonable amount off, credit crunch etc!
Also, you may want to consider 2008 and 2007 models, and possibly second hand...
Food for thought.
HTH

Some true advice. Thanks mate

Looks like it will be a Specialized Hardrock Sport. Cheap, could prob find one within my budget, maybe. Not too bothered about V-Brakes. I do have a disc brake on a spare set of forks so may be able to nick that if really desperate

Thanks JDawg.

[northwind]

Carrera Vulcan is pretty nice too, but the prices have gone up I think. Or, Decathlon's Rockriders are really decent for the money, once you get past the entry level ones, the £300 5.3 is not bad at all.

Buying used can work well but you need to know what you're looking at, an awful lot are knackered... At this price it won't take a lot to make something not worth repairing, so you've got to buy right. I got my old Carrera for bang on £200 (a Kraken, now £400 new) and it was a great buy, but it'd be easy to get ripped off I reckon.