Mountain Bikes!

[Tom_the_great]

thanks for all the responses, i have looked into the ride to work scheme but at present they are only doing it via halfords which is major let down!

like the look of some of these bikes is there any massive stay away froms such as cheap forks etc when im looking on ebay etc im just not sure how good things are?

edit

Would this be any good?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...-bike-ec023874

[maviczap]

Yes, its ok

I just got one of these, I had to buy from Halfrauds as I had £150 worth of vouchers from my employer

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

Specs ok

But the one I wanted was the 2009 Carrera Fury, but there weren't any of my size in a locally branch. This bike got really good ratings from the MTB magazines and puts some £1000+ bikes to shame

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165499

Don't dismiss the Carerra's just because its from Halfrauds, those and the Boardmans are good bikes.

My Hoodoo is the range above the Carerra's now in Halfrauds, but the guy said they've reduced the spec's of the groupsets to keep them at certain price points.

So the 2009 Fury is well spec'd for the price

Cant fault that Carerra!
With exception to the forks but tbh I know nothing of that make/model so they "could" be decent for all I know.

[maviczap]

Here's the BikeRadar review of the 09 Fury. 5 stars

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...-fury-10-35495

Best Buy:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARRERA-UL...item2eb770a699

On Budget:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mountain-B...item2a138ac985

Push the boat out option:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carrera-Ba...item3a699dbe6c

They're my choice ebay finds, for the money I'd pay the extra £200 and get the banshee every day of the week but if £500 is your absolute maximum then I'd go for the Orange.

Carrera is a well known brand in the MTB world. Pitty it is sold in Halfords as that hits their reputation in the UK

The specialized is a good bike but the forks are deffo the first thing on the list to get rid of . Luckily you can get some pretty good forks on eBay for not too much dough that would do a better job than Suntour Forks . As a starting off point it`s a fairly competent spec though . As Owenski has shown you , the second hand market has some cracking bikes , I`ll have a rummage and try and sniff out what I would go for , for £500 in different categories like Owenski did .

Hardtails with decent spec

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-Cube-...item336b49fd2e

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boardman-M...item27bddfbcf9

Full Suspension

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialize...item27bdcac4cc

Fuggin Bargain that one ^


Not the newest , but you can get a lot of bike for the money

[Tom_the_great]

again cheers for all the info guys im really tempted with the full suss above...

any pit falls with a 04 bike ? is fs really going to make a difference ?

Full suspension is slower up the hills as you lose a little power in the action (even with some sophisticated stuff) . It is more than made up with on the descents though . I have ridden hardtail and full suss and they all have their merits and pitfalls . Being old and knackered with sore bones .... I like the full suss

As far as I know , that Spesialized Enduro frametype had no problems . I had my eye on them in the local shops between 05 and 07 before I got an Orange Patriot and they were nice bikes . Saw a lot of the local demo bikes on the hills near me and they were doing well . Now don`t get me wrong , you may need to replace a few pivot bearings here and there as they do wear out , simple enough job and full suss needs oil changing and seals etc when they start to fail a bit .... but I have put absolutely hundreds of miles (probably getting into low thousands) on the mountains near me and as long as you use a good cleaner and are prepared to strip it down once in a while and re-grease stuff then they can last a long time ................ despite me slamming them into trees and stuff as well . I then went to a Hardtail with an On-One 456 Summer Season frame but unfortunately the frame was a tad too big , I sold that and then stumbled across a Cotic "Hemlock" full suss and have been having a hoot on it . From the Orange through the On-One to the Cotic I have used the same forks which are Marzocchi Z1 freeride 1`s with ETA and they have been bomb proof so far . Now don`t get me wrong , I am no Mountain God , no huge expert on the subject ....... but I do enjoy it , and that`s what it is all about , coming home with a **** eating grin on your face and having a great day out



P.S. Welcome to the most expensive and eBay intensive obsession your gonna have (probably)