Sutherland I'm looking for a good MTB, between around the 300 mark any ideas. It will be used on and off road, any ideas, as I haven't a clue about whats good and whats cr*p. I don't want to go to Halfrauds to get ripped off. Looked up your bike, very nice.
I bought an MTB recently..I was going to get a 300 bike, but came home with an '07 Marin bobcat trail. 450... Ok, it has got mech disc brakes but they seem pretty efficient so far..
we went on ebay with a 250 max budget for mate couple a months ago. managed to pickup a nice cbr for 200 . he wanted a hard tail (front shox only). what are you after? full susp. hard tail, jump bike. some good bikes there so long as you prepared to pick it up and dont mind s/h. few buy-it-nows here which are pretty good for price!! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kona-Caldera-...5QQihZ010QQcategoryZ33503QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-p...2QQihZ007QQcategoryZ33503QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GT-Avalanche-...4QQihZ005QQcategoryZ33503QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SARACEN-MOUNT...0QQihZ014QQcategoryZ33503QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Dunter - at around 300, Halfords might actually be pretty useful - their bikes are great value for money. However, two Specialized bikes meet your budget - Hardrock XC Rigid (280) and the Hardrock Sport (300) - both are solid machines although they won't be superlight. Only go for front suspension (or even fully rigid) and V brakes to keep the spec decent. Avoid mechanical disk brakes at ALL costs! Only hydraulics are worth going for over V brakes. The bikes below are all decent too - another option is last years clearance bikes - always great VFM. http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71277 http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71199 Clearance (top one very good bet!) http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=60149 http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=60946
i got an identiti 666x i think i got a bit carried away with the price tho. bought it bit by bit no joke now worth 1100 seriously.
framewise - orange, gt, giant, trek, marin forks - rockshox, manituo, marzocchi groupset - shimano deore and above (lx, dx, xt) wheels - mavic, sunn
I hate Shimano, Sram all the way here! Shifters are a million times better as you can shift without taking your finger off the brakes.
never heard of rapid fire then? use of your thumb and first finger and tbh you'd never be in a position where you are braking and shifting at the same time.
Sram shifters use thumb for up and down, so no need to take my finger off the brake (I only use one finger per lever). Just works a lot better for me.
I think modern MTBs are obscenely overpriced Especially when 'basic entry level' is pitched at 1k+ !!
I'm a Sram man myself, mostly because both my bikes came with them as standard. They feel more robust to me and the 1-to-1 actuation makes block shifting easier IMHO. I think on the '07 Shimano stuff you can shift up and down using your thumb, the smaller "release" shifter can be worked ether way.
This is my first venture into SRAM territory - Got a Sram cassette and chain but not tried the shifters of the mechs out yet. The bike has a Truvativ Stylo crank - anyone got one? I've got an LX Hollowtech 2 now which seems good but a little bit "creaky"
It's all pretty good kit, their chains are regarded as better then Shimano but Shimano Cassettes are better, most people run SRAM chains and Shimano Cassette, they work fine together. I've don't have much love for Truvativ cranks (another SRAM make). My Endruo came with a Stylo and after a few knocks the pedal arm would keep coming loose. In the end I swapped it out for a Saint job, it became so annoying I bought the most heavily over engineered chainset I could find! My mate who got his Endruo about the same time as me is starting to have the same problem. The Howitzer on my Norco as come loose twice in three weeks, if it becomes an issue I'll be sticking a Saint single speed on.
Anyone cycled the death Road in Bolivia just outside of La Paz? I did it last year and it was awesome!
