spent yesterday hunting thru glasgow for a good value 'fun xc' £800 mtb for my 6'3" friend. god it was hard work. seems we are too late for sale stuff and too early for 2010 stuff which is expensive and has dropped down componentry wise as well. i thought £800 would be were bikes started to get fun but pretty much all the offerings from the major manufacturers are supremely dull, quite old fashioned (long stems etc) and nothing really had a spark.

alpine bikes in tiso:
low end bikes, nothing for us

dales:
all sale stuff gone, sales assistant (possibly manager) apologetic about not having much to offer us, had a ride on a scott which was VERY xc

alpine bikes , st georges cross:
pretty much no sales stuff, young lad hesitant at first but got into his stride and had him on a gary fisher which he really liked, but it was a 2010 and we thought we could do better.

halfords:
god those boardman bikes are fantastically specced for the money. unfortunately the size on show had a flat tire which we couldnt get blown up and we werent allowed a test ride. but my word, the best value we have seen yet. sales lad was uninterested.

evans braehead:
very helpful sales guy, keen to stress we could get in any bike we wanted, made sure the bike we test rode was fully adjusted before we took it out. just generally helpful and good and most likely to find us a bike once we decide what we need.

just thought i would share. if anyone has any suggestions i would greatly appreciate it. needs to be about 21" and good for 'fun xc!'

http://www.gearbikes.co.uk/

speak to ton, he's about that height and normally has something to sell, generally with not much use..

well gear is my lbs and i use them a lot and think they are a quality shop but i wouldnt really go in expecting a range of mountain bikes to try.

Someone in that neck of the woods must stock Genesis Cores? Pretty good value, range of price points and def more "hardcore ht" ('scuse buzzwords) than most sub £1k bikes…

Zedsdead – Member
http://www.gearbikes.co.uk/

Gear of Glasgow? That's the one where the workshop is under the sales floor and in the workshop floor is trap door and it goes down again. Going into the lowest level feels a bit like some Stephen King-esque catacomb

Have you tried Billy Bilsland? Lovely guy I think he has a few meridas but I'm not too sure.

Bilsland – wow that takes me back. Didn't he used to have one of Robert Millar's King of the Mountains jerseys on the wall?

Note – born in Glasgow, schooled there, uni there, haven't lived there for 17 years. This is a nostalgia trip for me – I won't have any useful info for anyone.

the meridas at billys bilsland look interesting cheers. have been here 9 years and never heard of that shop.
al.

Yes he still has Roberts King of the Mountains jersey mounted on the wall. Also a lovely collection of old steel frame, which are sadley not for sale.

It's on salt market street just before the river on the right, coming out of the city.

M_P You probably saw the Fisher HooKooEKoo @ £900 in Alpine – I realise this is over budget, but it's a fantastic bike – Trek have 2 in 21" in stock.
Give me a shout if you want to chat about it.

Cheers,
Dave.

whats the shop out the Kilmarnock Rd? if its still there? Had a look at Kliens many moons ago but bought my Bonty at Alpine when it was a proper mtb shop, gone all hybrid last time I was in.

Trekster – we've got more MTB stuff now than ever before. We do however try to cater for all…. You still got the Bonty?

what about Solid Rock Cycles, out on the road between Mingavie(?) and Bishopbriggs?

You've got

Craig McMartin Cycles on Pollokshaws Rd http://www.freeflowbikes.com/index.asp
Bikes Behind Bars on Kilmarnock Rd http://www.bikes-behindbars.co.uk/
Cycle Lane in Cathcart http://www.cyclelane.co.uk/
Adrenaline Bikes in Newton Mearns http://www.adrenaline-bikes.com/

I agree with Boardinbob. I wnet in to freeflowbikes for a look at the cube's. I cant remember the sales guys name may have been manager i think and boy did he know his onions.

No pressure to buy just explained why cube made their frames the way they did, the guy was amazing but I really had my heart set on an Orange Crush at the time so no sale….I now have a Genesis 😳

If it was a youngish guy it would have been Neil. Older, then it was his dad. Great shop though.

Why not go to Buchanan bus station and catch a bus to Big Al's at Clachan of Campsie (every 10mins to his front door)?

It will be an experience!
( he may struggle to help you at that budget though)

@op – perhaps a slightly strange way to look for a bike these days ? I suspect the majority would do a bit of online research, read the reviews, then narrow it down to half a dozen choices, then see who sells what, then phone them up to see what they have for demo/in stock ?……or maybe that's just me … :lol:. FWIW I would have thought that at that height, you are looking slightly out of the mainstream and this could limit choice as to what stock the shops carry ? I think the above posts list all the main players and the good guys locally. Personally Alpine, Dales and Neil at freeflow have been superb for me in the past, but I am sure the others can be just as good -)

perhaps a slightly strange way to look for a bike these days ?

well maybe, and its certainly not the way i would go about buying a bike for myself, but we just wanted to get a feel of things, and i think we got that. it has certainly cemented the idea in my mind that alu framed bikes with low-mid end componentry and cheap forks but bizarre shaped marketing tubes are just about the dullest thing on earth!

sillyoldman/dave are you in alpine bikes? the hookooekoo was the standout bike of the day

Craig MacMartin/Freeflow bikes have a forum over at http://www.freeflowbikes.com which could be good for asking their advice and seeing what they have in stock first.

The guys at Solidrock are good in my experience, and they were quite keen to talk discounts when I was looking for a bike a few years ago. I think they should have Gary Fisher, Scott and Merida

by the way cheers for all your help guys. it really is a big help.

Yep Boardinbob it was Neil great guy. I WILL buy a bike from him in the future. I think he runs a club thing too every Thursday up Cathkin Braes I thinks. They opening a new shop too….not sure where though.

M_P – Aye at Alpine – here all w/end.

We have 17 and 19 here and can get a 21 in for you if he wants one.

Cheers,

Dave.