Want a couple of bikes for me and linz. Dont want shite, but dont want pro stuff either. Must be quite light, and basically decent.

Any recommendations? Not bought a bike in years

 

what price range are you looking at Lee ?


i just bought a Specialized Rockhopper 05 and whacked a set of magura Julie hydraulic disc brakes on it......... stops better than ALL 3 of my cars put together

oh mine cost me £650 all in but thats pretty cheap considering




not my actual bike but identical




some links with bike reviews


http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/

http://www.bikemagic.com/default.asp?sp=&v=1

http://www.mbuk.com/

http://www.whatmtb.com/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/




if you want something a bit cheaper try.............


Specialized Hardrock

GT Avalanche

other bikes under £300 .......

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/Pro...7-efcda3650a6b



hope something here helps m8..










AND BUY SOME HELMETS , you may think you look a tool but you'd look an even bigger tool with your brain spilling out of your head

 

adam..no where near that mate. Around 200 on each bike lol! Might end up being a passing phase

we love going walking etc, and thought we may be able to get to see more by biking

 

You'll love it Lee!

Adam is bang on with the helmet advice - most manufacturers do a cut price (sometimes FREE) replacement policy if you do come off

The amount of times I've binned it and landed on my heed is untrue!

Neil.

 

GT Avalanche then or something similar

£229 all in


http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/Pro...7-efcda3650a6b



have a look at a few of those sites and they have reviews for all price ranges....


but i must say, WHAT MTB just did a review of sub £100 bikes and they didnt last 5 minutes. seriously!

like cars really, you get what you pay for. but the GT is a GREAT bike for the cash

 

raliegh grifter or chopper

 

Try Dave Hinde in Cheshire. He advertises in MBR. If you buy a 200quid bike you'll regret it. The more you spend the more you'll use it and you'll be fitter, your woman will think your hot and you wont be single, fat, lonely and die young. So buy a decent one!

 

i work in a bike shop for a living, and your not gunna get anything "light" for £200, lol. You need to spend at least £650 for a light bike. Like what adam has. The Spec Rockhopper disc is easily the best for the money at the moment, although Magura hydrualics are complete cack after about 3 months! EEEK!

 

ill just have to upgrade to hope 6 pots then


and i think forks will be next on my shopping list too


shit this is gonna get WAY more expensive than cars

 

hope 6 pots are the NUTS! bit OTT for a hardtail though, lol. new avid juicy's look good. They have adjustable thumb wheel like the old hope c2's.

 

get some fox forx mate. the float RLC's are WELL nice to ride, but cost nearly as much as your whole bike, lol.

 

just had a wee look at those juicy's and they look fooking REALLY nice


£100 a piece as well which isn't too bad

 

i bought a kona last year.paid about £600 in the sale i think
to me seams a great bike and will last me years
ill prepare for the slating of kona bikes of the folk who know about them

 

did someone say hope 6 pots





hope 4 pots on the rear



here she is Marin Rock Springs



bit ott for what lee wants tho

 

NOT JEALOUS AT ALL






Absloloueley lovely bike Craig


You must be fooking loaded

 

word of warning dude if your using maguras

my bike came with them

after a couple of weeks i ended up in a tree on a downhill stretch and the brake lever hit the tree and shattered

shoddy plastic design mine were

hopes rock tho

alltho i get free servicing for life with my bike and my forks have been rebuilt once allready in under a year and my hope brake levers have been serviced with new seal kits allready.

depending on what type of riding you do you need to keep it in tip top condition.

Im a fat fook i walk up the hills and go very fast down them

 

the bike next to it is the bike i use on the roads its a trek 6500 ZX older model hardtail.

rock shox indy forks shimano LX allround XTR front V brake tho.

lee what you gonna use bike for ?

if its just along walking / flatish cycle tracks then a halfords GT or kona bike would be fine

 

I didnt like the Marin - the bottom bracket is way too high and its handling isnt so sharp compared with its rivals.
Hope 6 pots are fine on a DH bike but for XC or all-trial bike its a waste of cash and extra weight.
I have Fox 100RL's on my bike but recently tried some Reba teams and I have to say the damping and stiffness of the unit felt better than my Fox (which is almost new) knowing Rockshox though the seals will go to shit very quickly where as the Fox should go forever

 

hey kona make one of the best cross country bike frames for the money

ive got a kona explosif and its the best bike ive ever owned and ive had a fair few

put the budget up to 300 quid and ya will get a decent old model cycle on sale that will suit ya and last, 200 quid is kids bike money to drive to the football pitch and play post to post

have a look in halfords and tell me what ya see ect and ill tell ya if its to avoid or not , avoid any cycle in halfords with carrera in there as there all shit speced and have the worse brakes in history fitted as standard, oh and dont get cable oporated disc's, the v brakes are better than the cable jobbys

speak top boxer as he works with em and a few here use em every day, dave hinde is a nice FRAME to buy but thats all ya gonna get and it will be a tad over 200 quid too

konas are abit pricy compared to GT, marin, trek btw but people will pay the price for em, i payed 700 for my explosive frame a few years ago but it is the bollocks

 

nowt wrong with konas mate. We are a kona dealer, and they are VERY good, although a bit pricey for what you get, bit like marin. You tend to pay for the name. The best value brands are the bigger ones at the moment, like trek and specialized. if you want any help in making a decision, give us a shout. MIGHT be able to sort you something on a couple of specialized Hardrocks as specialized have just reduced most of there bikes as they ordered too many for the summer! lol.

Cheers
Mike

 

Giant do the best bikes in that price range IMO, good light frames for the money.....also do 'proper' sized ladies bikes too, not with a stupid top tube but smaller brake levers/shorter stem/cranks etc....


ps. Gratuitous pic of my ride...excuse the silly tyres they're off it now!

 

Get a bigger frame then !

i ride on a medium and im short

the design is different so i tried a few and got the one ive got.

i also preferred the marin to the Kona equivalent and a much more expensive White model.

Im not a hardcore downhill rider but i got the brakes for a great price so i got them

bigger is allways better

 

boxxer, I'm after a nice bike at the moment, lookng at spending about £1000, what you recon I should go for, I'm thinking GT or Scott , will be using it for bit of everything, xc, bit of trails and d/h, and a bit of a play bike as well, and you recon you be seeing stuff like lx rear mechs for that sort of money?? anything else you can reccomend? cheers m8

 

If yuo cn stretch to an extra £60 or so on each bike it will get more for your money. At the sort of budget you are on I'd be inclined to stick to a rigid bike as you will get a better level of of components on it.

Got my missus a Specialised for just under £300 and it's a nice all rounder. Nothing amasing but perfectly good for some fun on the local trails.

You can always add suspension forks at a later date

 

hello mate. We are not a scott/GT dealer so cant recommend anything by them. BUT, the specialised Rockhoppers are very good for the money. I think the Pro disc is £950 ish and has a bit of XT on it, but they are full on XC. If you want a type of play bike, you need a smallish frame, i.e, 14-17", depending on how tall you are. Giant do some nice freeride bikes, as do a lot of other brands. Have a look around, but dont go for one that looks the prettiest and seems to have "cable discs" on it or something like that as a lot of people fall into the trap of where it looks good, but rides shite.

cheers
Mike

 

I am 6'4, so I need a bigger bike really, I have been out of bikes for about 4 yrs now, whats the best sorta stuff to go for, as in cranksets, headets etc?

 

ok ok ...thanks for the input..

Right...when i said light, i didnt mean ultra lightweight etc. What i meant was lighter than the 90 quid jobs in halfords!

Seriously aint paying more than 500 on both bikes...its not the money, its the fact that we might do a couple of rides and think fook it, and go to the boozer

If we do, and we prob will enjoy, then we can upgrade later. Been looking at diamond backs in the argos.....any views?

 

have you had a look on ebay mate?? some nice GT entry level bikes on there, and from my GT experience they will be really good for the money

 

yeah that one looks nice adam..GT jobbie

 

GT's are nice. Rode a chaps GT RTS1 after a race. Shame I was too knackered to enjoy it properly. Lovelly bike though Always wanted a Pace RC200 with the old RC35's Still get a semi lob on over those

 

i got my trek 4300 for £300 but the trek 3500 was around the 250mark and was a good ride.(i tried both)..i just got back onto a bike an cant recomend it enough.....make sure you buy some proper gloves tho...as they will take the strain off ya siatic(sp) nerve....

 

i got mine for sale on ebay at the mo mate. if ya want to know more pm me

 

how will gloves do that? the sciatic nerve runs down from your back down youre leg

 

and dont forget that cycling fooks the ligament in the top on ya knee and also give ya back problems

but then so does football and running

get a specialised if ya wana pay around the 1k mark on a bike, marin and konas are bikes for very tall people who find the reach on bikes too short

 

Only injuries I sustained from riding is a knackered knee and fooked hip. But that's only co some dippy bitch ran me over in her fooking car

Gained a few cuts and bruises getting jumps wrong. And used my ribs to stop me on a tree And I used to do this for fun

 

broken me collor bone, wrist, ankle, TOE and rode home, handlebars, wheels, frames , chains,


my mate went through a brick wall in wales before that had been there over a hundred years, he wrecked history in 3 mins of going on the first single trak

 

Buy a 2nd hand bike bike

I paid £200 for this and another £75 on a chain,cassette and shifter ive done 500ish trouble
free miles so far


simon

 

well, i already have back probs, and arthritis in my knees, so fook it.

 

hey you climb into the glove!

alright wrong nerve i aint no fucking doctor! its the nerve in the palm of ya......nah fuck ya why should i help dont buy gloves or a helmit and ride into the nearest tree!

 

you mardi arsed coont