• This topic has 26 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by br.
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  • buying a hardtail this summer, help appreciated…
  • paladin
    Full Member

    Last summer I bought a cheap hardtail to get me into the world of biking, I didn’t want to spend too much on a bike in case I didn’t use it much.
    Turns out I love biking, so am looking to replace it with a better quality hard tail this summer. I ride leisurely XC with occasional trips to moray monster trails and planning trips to golspie and elsewhere soon. Won’t be doing anything daft though, I tried that once and got broken.

    I’m after a fairly lightweight bike with good quality fork/components. I don’t think I want a 29er, but I’ve never ridden one.

    I’ve so far came up with these bikes, anyone got any comments on them?

    Rose count solo Ltd
    http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose-count-solo-limited-edition/aid:643350?forcedefaulttemplate=true

    Cube Ltd pro
    http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p4684/CUBE-LTD-Pro-26-2013

    Rock rider 8.3
    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-83-id_8239457.html

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    A lot’s been written about the death of the 26″ wheel and tbh I’m not sure if it’s true or not. But given you say you don’t think you want a 29er rather than you actually don’t want one, I’d take the chance to try some of both. Remember that there are different types of bikes too in both sizes so dont dismiss either based on a single example of a particular size. A good frame IMHO is more important than the components, all of which will wear out and can be upgraded.

    Of the three you listed – best frame and fork is I think the rose one, but I’d prefer the componentry mix on the cube, not least because it has shimano brakes and the others have avids which I hate with a passion!!!

    paladin
    Full Member

    Thanks for that, I’ll get a shot of a 29er and see what I think before I finally decide.

    I get what you’re saying about getting a good quality frame, when I buy the bike it’ll be one to last me a long time.

    I forgot to add a canyon to the list….. http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=3008#tab-reiter2

    I like the look of the rose, but can find very little in the way of reviews for it.
    I’ve got no experience of the brakes on these as my current bike has rim brakes, so this is a bit of a learning curve for me.

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    matther01
    Free Member

    Personally I prefer the rose-bike due to the Reba fork and good mix of components.

    Bear in mind the decathalon uses a press fit bottom bracket bracket too, which IMO aren’t brilliant.

    The cube has really good components but not sure about that manitou fork.

    Try a 29er which should roll well…but will be heavier.

    PJay
    Free Member

    At that price point, bikes from Boardman and the Halford’s Carrera range are well worth a look too. On-One also do some excellent value bikes.

    oneoneoneone
    Free Member

    this ( http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=95358 ) from crc? you might have to be 7ft tall though.

    loads of deals on crc. also look on ebay. some decent steals to be made

    RustyMac
    Full Member

    Paulscycles is also worth a look at that kind of price range.

    A 26er that looks good value to me would be
    http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p2476/GT-ZASKAR-EXPERT-2010

    A 29er that may be over budget a little
    http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p4265/CANNONDALE-FLASH-29%5CER-ALLOY-3-2012

    paladin
    Full Member

    Ooh, hadn’t even looked at halfords… The Boardman team looks similar to the others I’ve been looking at, with the added bonus that if there was any warranty issues, I guess they could be sorted out more easily than if I bought a bike from Germany.

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=777757&categoryId=165499&langId=-1#

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    I know the Cube bikes are well liked, a mate got a cube ht for around £750 with a rockshox 100m fork.

    Firslty good luck, I did excatly the same with cheap bike to see if I liked the sport then spent more.

    Have you looked at brands like orange, on-one. Cotic are doing complete bikes now but I think beyond your price range.

    Two questions, what’s happened to your old bike and have you considered second hand ?

    Fairly typical for people to upgrade their bike, get a decent frame and then upgrade fork, brakes as they wish. If you have a few decent parts on your current bike you could get a new frame (eg discounted Prince Albert for £200) and transfer bits over plus a few other upgrades perhaps (fork, brakes …) As for second hand there are plenty of very good bikes available at half their new cost, classifieds here on on ther sites. It’s slightly more complicated as you need to know what you want, what to look for and a bit riskier as the bike may have some tired components. The good (bad?) news is there are plenty of free opinions/advice available on here

    paladin
    Full Member

    Thanks jambalaya, yes I did consider second hand, and I’m keeping an eye out for anything popping up locally, I wouldn’t like to buy a lemon though. My current bike is a tufftrax comp and to be honest its perfectly adequate. My plan though is to give it to my son (his bike is scrap) as he has been coming out with me now and then.
    I looked at the inbred, but I think its a bit heavier than the others I’ve been looking at? I’m maybe putting too much emphasis on weight.
    I’d also considered buying a frame and all the components and building it up myself, but this seems more expensive than buying a complete bike.
    The cotics look good, but yes, that’s a bit more than I was planning on spending. I was looking at 800 – 1000 Max, anything more than that would be hard to justify.

    Everyone’s opinions are well appreciated, thanks all!

    chojin
    Free Member

    If you’re worried about weight, don’t forget to buy a bike with a decent wheelset. It’s makes a huge difference.
    I’m pretty sure my Dialled PA came in at about £750, but I was lucky to nab an almost new boardman donor bike with some very nice components for £250.

    Edit: £750 included a set of Stan’s Crests wheels

    HermanShake
    Free Member

    Hi Paladin, I think it’s worth considering a build.

    If you’re happy to go part new/part 2nd hand you could put something great together. The wanted & classified section have really helped me out, just make sure you don’t pay with ‘gift’.

    Shimano is repeatedly superior to SRAM, the new Deore stuff is brilliant, with the SLX and XT being even better. Merlin do a Deore group for £249 and SLX for £385, I built a winter bike with one of their Deore groups and was really impressed. The current brakes are excellent and despite the shifters not having XT crispness, everything shifted beautifully and felt ‘right’.

    If you prefer the more XC end of things and are med-large in height then 29″ may be worth a peek. I also think well designed steel is suited to a hardtail as it takes out the harshness and feels good.

    For your budget I would recommend a new groupset as above with most of the rest of the bike 2nd hand. I personally love my BluePig X and would go for a Piglet if I wanted a shorter travel bike, you could probably find a 2nd hand piglet frame and a pair of Hope hubbed wheels for the money with cash left over to finish it nicely. Other than the bling factor, as you probably know Hope hubs can be adapted to fit into whichever upgrades you find yourself making. CRC always have parts like bars, stems etc on sale so you can go new for the more personal touches or keep your eyes peeled for used parts in good nick. Rose bikes has some good prices for new components too.

    Equally you could get something like I’ve described in one wallop 2nd hand for less, but there is the associated risk in punting in one go.

    I guarantee that you will upgrade the bike if you get a complete, why not make it yours from the off?

    MoseyMTB
    Free Member

    What sort of travel are you after?

    Mackem
    Full Member

    There’s a nice looking specialized hardtail frme on the classifieds. (not mine btw), be great frame to build onto.

    paladin
    Full Member

    Argh! I’m going to have to build a bike now!

    I was looking at 100mm forks, the crappy suntour ones on my current bike are 80mm I think, but they really are terrible.

    So I suppose it would be worth buying groupset And forks new, but frame/wheels/seat post/seat/stem/bars I could get 2nd hand?

    Had a wee look at a merlin malt frame, £170 new, and half that on eBay…. Might be the easy to go 🙂

    chojin
    Free Member

    Build it! You know you want to 😉

    I would say get the forks second hand if you can, plenty of little used examples out there. I’d agree with a new drivetrain however.

    Make sure you budget for all the little bits and pieces like inner/outer cabling, seat post clamp, stem etc easy to forget in a first build.

    *edit: I have a pair of little used wheels from my Boardman donor bike you can have for £50 🙂

    MoseyMTB
    Free Member

    Plus budget loads for the right tools!

    skids
    Free Member
    geologist
    Free Member

    You can have my 1 year old blue pig for 800 (includes a reverb) 🙂

    semuc
    Free Member

    That Rose is a beautiful looking bike.

    Depending how tall you are how about something like this: Saracen Kili Cromo 2 Good kit, nice frame, looks beautiful.

    I recently built up my new bike after my old bike was stolen. I wanted to go with a long travel steel hardtail frame but found that the only way I could do it economically was by finding a cheap donor bike (I didn’t have the patience to buy everything second hand, the sun was out and I wanted a bike… I was still too late mind! Next year). Even with the Merlin groupsets the price was still coming out around £1200 all in (and there would have been other bits i’d forgotten). So, I ended up getting a huge (21inch) 2011 Saracen Zen 2 from Winstanleys and transferred most of the kit onto my new frame. It had everything I wanted and I ended up with a better groupset than i’d have managed otherwise. Had to buy a couple of extra’s and reused some old cranks but saved myself a pretty significant amount.

    It looks like you’ve been convinced to build your own so I reckon with a bit of looking around you could find yourself an excellent donor bike(there’s a cube on Pauls Cycles which could be good).

    Or just go for a Boardman. I had a 2010 Team. Brilliant bikes for what you want.

    paladin
    Full Member

    Right, a very rough list of bits grabbed from the classifieds, and some new bits. I don’t even know how well some of this would fit together, I’m just trying to get a feel for prices…

    New:
    Merlin deore groupset £250
    Clamp for seat post £10
    Grips £10
    BB £15

    Second hand:
    Merlin malt frame incl. Headset £100
    Rockshox recon 351 forks £150
    Wheels ex-cube £50
    Seat post Thomson 330mm £25
    Charge spoon seat £15
    Ritchey 100mm stem £12
    FSA gravity carbon bars £30
    Tyres £30

    So that stuff comes to around £700. I would also need cables, bits&bobs, and pay for delivery for stuff, so an extra £100 say. I’ll not count the cost of tools, as I have some and the rest I would be getting in due course regardless.

    Or I could buy the rose bike for £900 which looks sexier every time I look at it….

    But I like the idea of building.
    Is that a Frankenstein bike I’ve concocted with those bits, or would it work?

    mattzzzzzz
    Free Member

    Look at superstar for bits and bobs like grips etc as they are cheap and in purrty colours too, also look at their wheels as they have stans rims on superstar hubs pretty cheap

    HermanShake
    Free Member

    Complete Merlin Malt 2 for £499 from the Wizard:

    http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/bikes/mountain-bikes/merlin-bikes/merlin-malt-2-bike.html

    Think of it as buying everything but the fork and pedals in one go. Upgrade the fork and tweak bar and stem (unless you like the stock setup) and pop over to Superstar for some pedals. It could come in comfortably under budget, especially if you stick the XC30 up for sale. You’d have more than enough cash (fork sale + remaining budget) to get a new Recon/Reba which would be guaranteed and should come with the seals etc for your first service. The XC30 is going to be relatively heavy with little adjustment, but also perfectly functional for the tamer end of XC. The bike comes with full Deore, Shimano wheels, and as a complete will have all of the bits like cables etc done.

    Merlin are great, you’d have most of the thing assembled and just need to turn the bars and check fork settings and tyre pressure. By the way consider the bar width/stem length. 100mm of stem wouldn’t work well with bars over 685mm, Gravity parts lean towards the wider/burlier end and would better suit 50-70mm stem. I use a 711mm bar with a 60mm stem, I think the Gravity bar is 710.

    Merlin have some of the best prices at a glance for Recon Gold forks, chat to them about building the bike with a Recon instead of the XC30 and they may well save you the faff of selling/fitting. Go for solo air if you can but I wouldn’t bother with remote lockout. You could have it arrive sorted and well under budget 😀

    paladin
    Full Member

    Cheers min, that’s brilliant! Thanks very much!

    If they built it with , say, a set of solo air forks which are about £140 more expensive than the xc30’s, build price would hopefully be around £640.
    My current pedals are dmr v8’s I think, and I like them, and they’re only £25 or so.
    Even if they insisted on supplying the xc30’s, I could keep them for my old bike which my lad will be using…….

    I was in a fairly local shop today for a nosey, the lad was pushing KTM bikes, but they seemed quite expensive for what they were.

    I think I’ll go down the merlin malt route, just need my tax refund to come in now……..

    Thanks again for your help, Sherman, and everyone else too 🙂

    gribble
    Free Member

    I would probably be happy with any of those in your original post, they should all do the job just fine.

    I have a Rockrider 8.3, now 6 years old (RRP £700 at the time). Frame replaced once, as well as upgrades (stem, grips, pedals, tyres, larger front brake rotor). The bike has been great (mine came with a good Rock Shox Reba fork). Frame was replaced after 4.5 years, due to slight kink (questionable if it was a warranty issue, but they did replace it). Now second fiddle to a full susser.

    Having said that, I would look at bikes that were a bit more ‘trail friendly’, rather than more classic style xc geometry. There are some great bikes on the market from On One, Ragley, Cotic as well as the better known brands like Specialized and Whyte. For that sort of cash I would also think about getting something from my local LBS, unless you are confident with a spanner.

    I did build a bike recently from scratch, although when it came to it I think my ‘budget’ went right out of the window, Grand Design style. Didn’t tell the wife and then stupidly left the build cost spread sheet open on my mac. Doh.

    paladin
    Full Member

    Malt2 frame is now in my shed, rs silver solo airs are on their way to me, other bits to follow……

    br
    Free Member

    If you’re not going for a 29er (which tbh I would if buying a bike now), I recommend my bike as the best HT – a 456Ti.

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