timb551

Does anyone know much about the below bike?


http://www.pscycles.co.nz/2003/marin...rail-spec.html

thanks

It's Czech Mate

Yup

Shock and Forks are well outdated now even on £800-£1000 bikes

Single pivot on the chainline will remain fairly active in all conditions, will give slight lockout when pedalling very hard and will also stiffen under braking due to lack of Horst type link

Great simple do anything bike, well proven frame design, could do with better forks IMO. Middle of the road relaible gears and brakes and finishing kit by the looks of it.

Dependable if not slightly dull. Good VFM if you can get a nice deal

timb551

ta

jumpin jack crash

u could prob get a better spec for that that price imo. look around especially on flebay etc....

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Agree. Had 2 full suspension bikes and they're a pain in the arse unless you go for a real top notch one. Get a hardtail (fixed frame) but suspension up front. I've got 2 Kona's and swear by them, but my expensive one was a tad more than £1500. You can get a nice hardtail Kona for £1500 though.

As mentioned - Ebay.

timb551

ta, what is classed as an expensive one?

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

How far do you want to go ??!! You can pay £5k + if you want to..............my 'expensive' one to build again would cost about £2.5k

timb551

dont want to spend that much!! You said only get a full suspension bike if its expensive.

Just thinking, if there is one on ebay going for £500 and was £1500 new is it worth getting a full suspension then??

rauri

ive had 2 marins,one i snapped the frame on when i stacked it but the other was shit hot (both were hardtails) and i would agree that unless you are going for a top notch full susser i wouldnt bother and get a hardtail....you should get a better specced one for that money no probs

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Personally mate if I was going to buy a full susser (new) i'd spend at least £2k and get a Kona / Scott or something like that.

Tell us what the bike is and I'll give you my views if you want........

rauri

what is the bike going to be used for?

timb551

Mostly road and slight off roading, but hope to do a bit more intensive off roading at one point so need a bike which can cope well enough. But dont want to buy new as i havent got a bottomless pocket

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

As long as you not going into competitive downhilling I'd still buy a decent hardtail mate.

Off the top of my head decent brands: Kona, Scott, some GT's (some are a bit cheap), Specialized, Orange (very expensive). There are others but without trawling through books which I can't be arsed to ! The ones mentioned are the usual suspects.

Be careful if buying used - check the frame very carefully for hairline cracks and fractures. Difficult and can be expensive to repair properly.

rauri

have to agree with mr s1,unless you are going hardcore downhilling get a good hardtail

timb551

thanks for the advice, what about brakes, hydraulic disks, normal cable discs or v??

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

I run hydraulic 4 pots on mine (use actual brake fluid). Cables are better now then they used to be, the best are probably Hayes for cable operated. I use Shimano though. Not cheap....

rauri

i see your in essex....now im not sure how close this place is to you coz im about 600 miles away but it might be of use


http://www.wadescycles.co.uk/shop/as...ikes&showtop=1

have a browse throught them,theres some decent ones in there.as for the brake question i had magura hydralic rim brakes on my last 2 bikes...not everyones cup of tea but i liked em

timb551

Saracen ok then?

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Cheap one mate.............personally I wouldn't. If you want to ride round the park with the Mrs on a Sunday it'll do fine but won't take any real riding.

rauri

defo a no,have a look further thru

Alps Pacino

I have a marin dh-frs for sale i have had i a few years and cant tell you the last time i was on it. Great bike and cost in the region of 2k to build back in the day.

Its the same frame as the Marin DH team use so is the bollox.

Might sell it if you interested

timb551

Depends on the money mate

pm me what your after.

thanks

timb551

what about this....

http://www.merida.com/s0_global/main...port&bikeId=31

Can get it new from a mate who works there for about £450

It's Czech Mate

Timb551 Not ignoring your pm, searching a good deal for you and i'll post one up tomorrow or PM you back


Mr S1 I totally disagree, a good solid full susser with decent equipment and shocks that will be durable and will outperform a similar priced hardtail in some circumstances can be had for under a grand nowadays, things have changed soooooo much even in a couple of years.

I love all of you saying this and that and spend £2k blah blah
None of you asked his weight, height, budget and type of riding

ProjectBobcat

Id agree with the above comments about getting a hardtail.
Id look for something with a minimum of deore groupset, that would give a good compromise between reliability and cost. Like others have said, Kona's are a good buy but consider Carreras, they are on average £100 less than the konas for a similar spec and the kraken '04 used a Kona frame. Id suggest the Fury '06 to be a decent buy at £450.

saff_cossie

How much do you weigh? That will have some bearing on your choice of bike and intended use.

Personally, would always choose a hard tail. Raced XC for 6 years and ride 2 or 3 times a week still but more of a road/off road mixture. Owned a Specialised full suss a few years back for about 2 months and biggest energy sapping piece of crap I had taken off road. Having said that Specialized hard tail frames are the most responsive I have ridden.

Agree with Mr S1 and the downhilling stuff. Weight definatley has a factor though.

boXXer

Thing is, we sell marins in our shop, and they are bloody expensive for what they are. There isnt anything special about them, yet they charge quite a bit more than the other leading brands (Trek, Specialized) for less bike. Kona are in the same boat. We have now stopped being a Kona dealer as the units where not selling simply becuase they are very underspecced for what they are, although the frames are very good. I would personally stick to a big manufacturer, and get more for your money. Giant bikes are very good at the moment and (god, cant believe im gunna say this) DIAMOND BACK have just released a new line of bikes which actually seem ok for the money. If you need any info/brochures, i'll stick some on the post for ya

How much do you wanna spend, and what are you going to be using it for?

Cheers
Mike

boXXer

have you ridden the new epics? amazing piece of kit. Totally locks out so it feels like a hardtail until you hit a pump, then a inertia valve/bearing blows open, and allows the back end to move until you have stopped hitting bumps, and completely locks out again.

timb551

Im 5ft 11" 13stone

At the minute it would just be for road and then a bit of tame off roading but i would like the option in the future to do a bit more serious off roading.

Nothing too nutty though not going to bike accross canada well not just yet.

Im mainly just looking for a good deal, dont want to spend rediculous amounts thats why i was looking at second hand.

But then my mate said he could get me http://www.merida.com/s0_global/main...port&bikeId=31

which seems like a good deal, so considering new as well now.

thanks

It's Czech Mate

My point exactly. New ones with the modern shocks are a LOT better.

eg I did London to Brighton this year on this

Apart from being a bit undergeared for the road and not overly aerodynamic it was perfectly at home on the black top. Modern shocks with their seperate low/high speed damping circuits and lockouts rule

Plus the specialised full suss bike have always had flexibility issues amongst others IMO because of the position of the Horst link.

If you ride terrain more demanding than a canal towpath then after a 5-6 day in the saddle you feel a lot fresher on a full suss than a hardtail.

All depends on where u ride tho like I said.

Timb sounds ideal candidate for a quality Hardtail

timb551

Ok, i think im sold on the Hardtail

just need to find the right one.

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Your opinion mate - I've had 2 and both didn't last.............so I speak from personal experience. Give me a full susser for £1k and in a week it'll be fucked mate.

BTW, your full susser looks like a bit more than a grands worth to me..........end of arguement !!!

It's Czech Mate

http://www.twowheelscycles.com/giant/mtb.html

Giant XTC summat £500

Looks very decent

Best bikeshop in the world too!!!!!!!!!!!

richm

Boxxer/Matt -
I just got a Dawes Watoga for £250 - how do they fare? looked a good bike for the money to me.. canal path and smooth track is probably the worst it will see LOL

It's Czech Mate

I meant that the grand full susser would have been good for Timb based on what he said he'd be doing, not a grand full susser would be brilliant for everybody and everything! Horses for courses innit

Yeah mine was a 'bit' more..lol

But about 80 off road miles a week for the last 10 years or so means it's worth it. Tell me about breaking stuff! My last two bikes only the front half of the frame survived till the end, every other component got fucked one way or another. Scary when cranks snap and swingarms crack into pieces..lol

My Santa Cruz is holding up well tho ..............so far.....touch wood

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Fair enough matey

timb551

Ok not sure whaty i need now, very confused!!

Has anyone heard of Merida bikes??

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Nope.................sound cheap and nasty to me.

Stick with a hardtail mate. Believe me, they are FAR less grief to maintain and far less to go wrong.

timb551

They seem to be made out of pretty good bits from what ive read.

Not that cheap some of them as well.

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

OK, I'll put it in Google and have a look.