The MTB thread

Good starter bike , as you know the Suntour Forks are the bare minimum of a suspension fork setup and the brakes are mechanical disc ones (these could easily be replaced for hydraulic ones quite cheaply if you feel the need to stop quicker when you go off road) ...... but do not let that put you off . Over time you will get a chance to modify a bike to your taste and finally achieve the ride you like . I would rather buy something like this and adjust bits as I go along than spend £900 on a bike with good kit and then realise that MTB`ing is not for me . The addiction (little as you realise it) has started ...... just the mere fact that you are doing research means many a night eyeballing eBay for pimpy goodies , the joy of getting and installing them and the satisfaction from a good ride knowing that the kit you bought has served you well . Most of all , have fun and enjoy the ride mate

On a side note , does your employer participate in the "Ride to Work" Scheme ? , it can save you a massive discount and be paid monthly from your wages ........ also Drew , don`t rule out last years models , sometimes they can be reduced and actually have a slightly different spec such as brakes or rims being different .

Aaaah , and for an extra £50 you get slightly better brakes and a Suntour Fork that has Lockout

http://brothertoncycles.com/catalog/...roducts_id=213

[Drew Carey]

Thats actually the one Lily said to go for and I probably would, as need lock out forks for the commuting part.

Quick couple more Q's....

1. If I was to look at a set of forks too, second hand or new, with a budget of up to £180, what would you get?

2. Lily has a decent Specialised hybrid. How much would you expect to get a set of wheels, with hubs, tyres etc for?

If you wanted a set of forks then you would have to keep to forks designed for the geometry of the bike so your probably talking around the 100mm travel area . A set of Rock Shock Reba`s could be found second hand in that range easily .

I wouldn`t take a hybrid offroad to be honest but if you wanted wheels for it then you have to first see what wheels it has , some come with 26" Wheels and other Hybrids come with 700c wheels which are a slightly larger diameter and the sort you find on Road Bikes . You can get some very solid wheelsets for around £140 .

[Drew Carey]

Cheers badger for all the help...

She has 26" wheels on hers.....but to be fair, it is basically a specialised mtb frame, but with road running gear. SO yes the forks won't be great, but its just a case that I didn't think treaded road tyres would be suitable for gravel, plus the rims seem quite thin.

As for forks, are the Rock Shox darts ok? As they seem to have a massive price range to them. Or are the Rebas that much better?

Dart 3 is ok for what you are requiring if you want them new , or risk it and go for a better fork again at second hand price ... and remember , most forks can be serviced if they get a bit tired . You can still get a good MTB tyre for thin rims . And I wouldn`t worry too much about rims , by the time you are brave enough to do the sort of things where you run the risk of damaging a rim then you will be getting a bit more hardcore and probably looking for the next type of bike . I have a set of Mavic rims here that are straight and true and under my cupboard as spares , yet on my bike I have Halo Freedom Disc rims and I managed to flare the rear rim slightly ....... and that was a monumental jump with a lacksadaisical landing that was my own fault ......... complacency and not paying attention caused that . The rim is still rideable and still on my bike and I go out and hammer it most weeks .

[northwind]

What size are you? Halfords still has these from last year...

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...1&iozone=PDPz1

This year's model is slightly more expensive, and has a few spec differences... But either one is better than most bikes costing 50% more.

There's also this

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_51 5339_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

Which is a lovely bit of kit, a wee bit more cross country maybe. Between these 2, they completely clean-sweeped all the "£500-ish" bike tests this year, the Voodoo won the MBR one this year and last (they didn't include the Fury) while the What Mountain Bike one had the Fury clear top in a test that went up to £750.

Same link twice there Northy . The Carrera has got some good kit on it for the money , but I reckon Drew is gonna need a bigger frame than a 16

[northwind]

Oops, fixed it. The newer model is about £50 more, still a good buy, they had last year's down to £360 last week which was ridiculous.

For that money , yeah