mates about to splurge out on a halfords GT hardtail for £440ish. ive been looking in the evans and cyclesurgery booklets and not really sure if i can spot anything better for him.

anyone know of any better value bikes for about the same money? specialized for instance mebbes?

cheers

think its an aggressor 3 at halfords hes looking at. he needs discs by the way.

ta

Full bike?

Are Halfords Gt’s made from cheaper material and exclusives? or are they using the original manufacturers tubes now?

Well the GT is a good platform starter trail/xc bike.

Tell him to haggle as well.

Evans do price match like4like gear.

somebody already mentioned on another thread the carrera fury at halfords. at £500 with 20% off making it £400. check out the spec. I doubt you’ll find better.

i not know about the GTs zaskar, not really that knowledgeable on them really.

HTTP, id say youre mebbes right about value for money there. thats what id recommend to him. he also asked about the GT XC1, but im guessing same applies as the Aggressor?

ta

Specialized Hardrock is a pretty decent bike – its what I started mtbing on, and it lasted me 2 years before I upgraded. I did a lot of stuff it just wasnt meant for, but it survived anyway.

cheers chaps 🙂

btw, what are those tektro auriga(?) brakes? am i right in thinking tektro will be bottom end stuff? or am i just ignorant? 🙂

Good brakes, rode them on GT Avalanche test bike.

Yep Tektro Aurigas are fine, been on GTs for years and basically are copies of Shimano and just as reliable. However on Halfords GT bikes watch for cost cutting, the main one being the rear hub, we get alot in the workshop with bent axles as they have 8 speed freewheels, not cassette hubs.

Halfords have a licence from GT to build bikes, they are not the same as supplied by an LBS.

good info doods.

thanks a lot 🙂

Halfords have a licence from GT to build bikes, they are not the same as supplied by an LBS.

They are built by Merida.

I started on a GT Aggressor XC2.0, nice bike, properly got me into this whole world or MTB’ing

Keswick Mountain Bikes have a deal on a Commencal, I forget which, that comes in about that price, with hydraulic discs. Should be on their website.

edinburgh bike co op?

Or this one? £500 Rock shox tora and avid juicys

I think the Edinburgh bike co op bikes are great value for money

If he’s willing to go down the ex-hire route, The Hub at Glentress have some cracking Genesis{s}. Mate got a lovely steel framed Altitude for £500 from RRP £1200. RS Revs and decent bits on too?

If buying used, Carrera Fury as was mentioned, blinding value- Tora 318 turns up on bikes costing twice as much. It’s a bit heavy because of the strength of the build but it’s a great bike.

Aurigas are good, they’re a wee bit of a pain to bleed because of the rear-mounted reservoir cap and diaphragm but they work well. Not drastically worse than my XTs tbh.

I had an aggressor xc2 & although a little heavy it was a great bike.I personally found the aurigas a bit of a pain in the arris but I think they had been poorly set up from the get go tbh.You could do a hell of a lot worse for £400 – at least its a “proper” bike with proper geometry etc & will not fall to bits the first time it goes off road.

Wiggle are worth a look. They’ve got a Giant XTC 4.5 with hydraulic discs and a 27 speed drivetrain for £400 and a Saracen Mantra for £460ish.

Diamondback Response

Don’t think you could get a better value hardtail than the above for this amount of money. 😀

Giant XTC 4.5 – hydro brakes, 27 speed but lower spec fork.
Diamondback Response – is only 24 speed and lower spec fork.
GT aggressor – 27 speed, hydros, but lower spec fork.
Revolution Triad – good looking frame, good brakes, good fork but only 24 speed.
Carrera fury? – 27 speed, hydros, good fork and at least £50 cheaper than all the alternatives. but its a halfords in-house brand.

And just to confuse you more what about the decathalon rockrider?
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-8-1-66759353/

Similar spec to the fury but better brakes and transmission.

Fury’s gone back up in price 🙁 It’s an in-house brand but the frame is Merida and most of the parts are named, ie you get either 317 or Sun Singletrack rims, vs the decathlon’s cheapy no-names. And such a good fork for the money, the Decathlon only has the more basic Tora, the 318 on the Fury has full motion control.

Diamond back DBR 01. Only in 16″ but looks good value

Fury’s gone back up in price

shi’ite. with a barclaycard Breathe you could have got a further 10% off.
making it £350. 🙁

Keswick Mountain Bikes have a deal on a Commencal, I forget which, that comes in about that price, with hydraulic discs. Should be on their website.

I bought a Commencal Normal 09 model with Avid Juicys (Commencals fork which is not fantastic.

The service from Keswick bikes was good and I am really pleased with the bike and riding position.
Cost £439 cash/card

And just to confuse you more what about the decathalon rockrider?
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-8-1-66759353/

Similar spec to the fury but better brakes and transmission.

I am a big fan of Decathlon since I started buying running gear years ago in France. Always good quality from there own stuff.

My 11 year old has a rockrider which is his first MTB and so far OK. Needs its first service but did plenty of riding around Ambleside, Llandegla and local routes.