A colleague has asked for advice on a new hardtail.
£700 max[/b].
Must[/b] be new.
He’s 5’11” so would need a Large / 18”+ish frame.
Will be used for general trail stuff, so he doesn’t want a Race Missile or some Radnasty Gnarpoon.
I’ve found this. http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p5710/CANNONDALE-TRAIL-2-29-2015
Any other suggestions?

This..

http://www.on-one.co.uk/c/q/bikes/mountain-bikes/45650b

He should definitely stretch to £800 for this secondhand bargain…

Only joking sorry I couldn’t resist

^45650b would be bang on.

Radnasty Gnarpoon

😆 😆 😆

Tempted to startup my own bike company just to bring this name into existence.

45650b would be bang on

Whereas I’d say that’s very much in

Radnasty Gnarpoon

territory.

Thoughts:-

Parkwood X5, bit bordeline rad, but fairly handy all round use.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPWX5/on-one-parkwood-sram-x5-mountain-bike

Excellent. So the very first suggestion is both more than the £700 max and is marketed as a “Hardcore Hardtail”.

Great work, really good.

i have a 2015 cannondale trail 1, its a nice bike and has handled everything ive done on it, offroad, onroad, commuting, the lot.
geometry seems well sorted, and ive no grumbles at all for the price i paid.

EDIT: the price i paid was a lot more than that, thats a bargain.

£150 under budget, trail geometry, “L” in stock.

http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/meta-ht-trail-essential-29-orange-2015-c2x15147353

Serious suggestion…
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-mountain-bike

And £100 left over for upgrades – I’d probably stick an SLX chainset on it myself.

bizango could be a good option, if he does go for that get him to go to Mcr Fort to get it, the guys there are pretty good

Canyon?

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mtb/grand-canyon/2016/grand-canyon-al-5-9.html

cubes at Pauls

Whyte 801. 2015 model discounted to £600 at Winstanleys at the moment.

Or Rose Count Solo, similarly discounted.

Don’t buy a canyon at the moment, you probably won’t get it until well into 2016.

I’d back the Voodoo too, even though it’s not on sale it’s still going to kick the arse of most discounted bikes at the same price. He might still find last year’s model on discount though.

Another Voodoo http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-hoodoo-mountain-bike

Sorry for suggesting the Radnasty Gnarpoon that is an On-One 456 🙄

It’s neither rad nor a gnarpoon in my book, just a good all round trail bike, shirley.

I completely agree that it’s over budget by £100 though, so I would like to retract my effort to help on that basis.

I’m going now…bye.

For me, this every time at (just over) that price. http://www.marinbikes.com/us/bikes/description/2016-pine-mountain-1

£750 MSRP in UK.

Cannondale trail 2 +1 had it a year now it really does ride well, used for xc rides and commutes very sorted geometry wise. Even the lower spec fork is good on it. I converted to 1×10 on it with no issues.

On One Fatty (I think there’s a £699 version at the moment with slicks, it’ll need to add floaters though, so over budget)

Reduced from £900 to just over £500, a nicely specced hardtail from Decathlon.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rafal-740-mountain-bike-id_8314897.html

I know you said must be NEW but you can get a AWESOME secondhand bike for that. That’s what I would do. Either way hope he enjoys it.

Bizango. what’s not to like?

sorted geometry.
deore drive train (OK suntour chainset)
Raidon fork that moves and adjusts.
ardent tyres
shimano brakes.

wins awards.

ok, it is from halfords but if you can get past that silly stigma its £600.

The sensible money is on the bizango or btwin I would say.

BTwin is only available in small.

not bad for £300
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/marin-bobcat-trail-93-29er-9734-p.asp

or
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/marin-nail-trail-96-29er-10522-p.asp

I got the 2014 version of that for £500 of Paul’s in the summer. Good bike very fast compared to my 26er, comfy solid choice. More XC than trail though.

I’d bet the Cannondale frame is nicer than the Bizango, and well worth upgrading as things wear out, so it gets my vote.

If you can see past the fugly frame this looks like a steal! Deore, Sektors and a dropper for sub £600! I’m tempted to buy one and stick all the bits on a 45650BB…

How about this one?

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-gauntlet-650b-mountain-bike-p343871

I haven’t seen any reviews but it’s £100 under budget so your mate will have some spare for a helmet etc, has SRAM X5 and a Rockshox air fork, the finishing kit looks decent and I think it looks pretty smart too!

Pinnacle Ramin 4? just over budget but he could get the 3. Or the new Iroko if he prefers 27.5 when they reduce the price?

That Marin had a stinker of a review…
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain-bikes/hardtail/product/review-marin-rocky-ridge-7-6-14-48933/

And the sector is the crap TK version sadly.

Still probably make someone happy though at that price.

Just had this emailed to me looks good. Bike

BTwin is only available in small

Pretty certain the one they had on display in the Stockport store the other day wasn’t a small, if I was going for that one I’d be getting them to check store stock as well.

Too late. He bought the Cannondale. Thanks for the input though.