can any of you guys on here tell me a good hardtail to buy,i was going for a rockhopper ,but there are so many bikes in that range,i wanted to spend around £600 TO £800 and no more,i love the orange crush but its out of my price range,are ther any bikes out there for that price,with around 120,130 travel up front,do not have to be fox forks.im just a bit lost has im new to the mtb scene,i like the crush has it sits high up at the front and being 6ft just feels right,thats the set up im after,would i be able to build a nice on one for around that price?thanks guys

you should be able to get a crush second hand for that sort of money. Have you considered a steel frame? 😛

A trip to Halfords is in order I reckon. Voodoo, Boardman and Carrera all have something suitable and very competitive in your price range.

The Carrera Fury used to be the no-brainer option, but it’s had a wheel and fork downgrade which means it’s just competitive now, no longer best in class… The old model once won a “£750 bike” test in WMB despite costing £500 😉

YES think its asteel frame i like with big forks upfront 🙂

Have a look at the Ragley M74. It won’t be for everyone, but you might like it.

yes thats the sort of thing,anybody got a ragley m74?like the look

I’ve only seen the review on BikeRadar. Maybe it hasn’t been released yet?

anybody no when its out please?

– Second-hand bike
– Full stop
– Capital letter
– Space after commas

im just about to post a 2nd had frame and forks in classified if your interested 20″ cube acid with 2010 reba races set at 120 mm Hope headset Fsa stem Ritchey Bars, scape seatpost & Seat + hope qor post , XT front mech 250 0no .. loads of spending room for other bits and bobs .. – Actualy will have a crossride wheelset with xt casette as well to go with . 2nd hand xt crank , rear mech and some brakes sould see you with a great rig for less than what you want to pay .. wont be shiney though !

any photos please?

Build up out of new/used parts.

I’ve just done this: a 10 speed Deore groupset from Merlin for £226 (brakes, rotors, BB, chainset, shifters, mechs, cassette, chain & cables=BARGAIN!) then most of the rest of it from teh classifieds on here. Also check out Pinkbike.com for the buy/sell there.

You can make/buy a stonking bike from £800 if you don’t mind that’s not all new. A new bike for that much is going to have comprimises unfortunately, probably in the form of a mediocre fork and low end drivetrain which are both expensive to upgrade.

I really like steel for a hardtail, I personally have a Dialled Prince Albert (mk1) set up as a rigid 69er. I used to have a mk2 set up with a Revelation, it was an amazing bike to ride! PA frames come up on here regularly and not for too much, got my second one for £80 with a headset, post and clamp 😀

thanks for the advice herman shake

You’re welcome, I forgot to ask what you want to use the bike for? This is quite a determining factor! Also what sort of stuff do you ride and where?

Be honest about the burliness of your riding (or crashing), an over built frame won’t be as comfy. If you don’t need a tank, don’t get one. Then again there’s no point hucking on a lightweight mincebike. This applies to figuring out your fork and wheelset so needs consideration.

Orange Crush, good spec for 700 squid

Contradicting my pro steel recommendation but going with your first post preference is this beauty on Pinkbike.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cheap-cube-ht-frame-reba-forks-n-gubbins-before-i-split

on here now sam

I have a large Orange Crush frame for sale if you are interested? Search my profile and you’ll find my adverts. If you go for the frame and the Thor forks (which are great!) then I’ll do them for £300. I have cranks, bars, stem and various other bits as well.

Email in profile if interested.

Cheers

Simon

Yep 2nd hand or try to broker a deal on a new 2010/11 model

Probably pushing the budget for an all new build, but I’ve had a couple if Inbreds & I can assure you that they punch well above their weight, despite what the badge snobs who’ve never had one will telly you.
The normal Inbred rides brilliantly with 120mm forks. I’d be looking to pick up something like that rather than an alloy hardtail thats going to rattle your fillings out. Pick up the frame, forks & wheels second hand & put on a new groupset & you should be inside your budget…frame £120-£140, wheels £70-£100, forks £120-£150. That money should get you some Rebas, & they are an excellent fork.

YES takisawa2 i do like the inbreds i must say.like the crush but been told its far to heavy,i think im going for an inbred 🙂

If your looking at steel then consider the Ragley Piglet, just come back from a great day at Coed-y-Brenin on mine – only one minor upset! Not sure what the pre-built bikes are like but mine rides great with its 120mm Rebas up front and an XT / Deore drive train. Not the lightest bike in the world but it puts up with the abuse I throw at it.

sam69 – Member

YES takisawa2 i do like the inbreds i must say.like the crush but been told its far to heavy,

Crush is almost certainly lighter than the Inbred.

Why are you actually looking at steel? What do you expect it to give you at this price that alu won’t? Cheap steel frames tend to have a lot of metal in them which makes them heavy obviously, but also costs them the springyness that makes lighter steel frames stand out.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend the Inbred for 120mm of fork- I had a Scandal which is the same geometry, and it was magic at 100mm, solid at 110mm, but a bit wandery at 120mm- basically lost what made it good. IMO of course and some people will disagree.

ok northwind thanks for the good advice

Something along the lines of a Dialled Bikes Prince Albert would do you.
I built mine up for all of £400ish.
Frame second-hand for £80, forks (Magura Phaon), brakes (Hope M4s), and Wheels (Mavic Crosslands) again about £80 each, some bits from the shed, and the rest by buying discounted bits and bobs from CRC/Wiggle/etc.

Goes like a bomb, and so far seems pretty indestructible.

Second hand Boardmans seem to not go for too much and there a decent bike. Seems to be a lot around so plenty to choose from which will make it easier to find one at a bargain price!

I’m just building a new bike up ready for the nice weather and its easy to build a really good spec hardtail bike for around 800 quid second hand.

AJANTOM like it you got anymore photos?

This looks like a great deal. Not exactly what you asked for, but well worth a look. They’ve got some other great deals on konas at the mo too.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=75078

There’s an NS bikes and a Kona hardtail – both around 140mm forks for about £500-£600 on the Chain Reaction website. Look good to me.

Crush is almost certainly lighter than the Inbred.

Why are you actually looking at steel? What do you expect it to give you at this price that alu won’t? Cheap steel frames tend to have a lot of metal in them which makes them heavy obviously, but also costs them the springyness that makes lighter steel frames stand out.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend the Inbred for 120mm of fork- I had a Scandal which is the same geometry, and it was magic at 100mm, solid at 110mm, but a bit wandery at 120mm- basically lost what made it good. IMO of course and some people will disagree.

and I’m one of those

My brother had an Orange Crush and there’s one currently sat in our garage. It is heavier than my Inbred, by quite some margin. And it was horrible to ride – but thats just my opinion. In fact, built with the right bits you can get Inbreds around the 20lb mark (although that was rigid and SS). With another build I had 120mm Reba’s bought second hand and with a decent set of tyres it was pretty good for everything. They really are a good bike, especially the pre-CEN ones.

like the ns bikes thanks for the advice guys nice 1

but also costs them the springyness that makes lighter steel frames stand out.

An Orange Crush…of course. 🙂

flange- that’s full bikes though, I’m talking about frames.

FWIW I’m not a fan of either the Crush or the Bred 😉 But if the Crush frame isn’t lighter than the On One then Orange must fill them with lead shot.

We are just completing some excellent value SRAM X5 based bikes, which should be with us in Mid May (complete early April in Taiwan, shipping takes 30+ days).

These will be based around the 456 Evo, Inbred and Inbred 29 frames.

We’ll be putting more info on the site and opening “invitation to register for interest” before opening preorders when they are about 30days out from landing.

456 Evo with Sektor and SRAM X5 will be around £799ish.
Inbred X5 and Inbred 29 X5 are around £699ish.

Until then, we’re not doing complete builds on the steel frames as we don’t have the parts in stock to do this kind of killer value model that I want in the line going forward.

If you’re patient you might find a used Cotic Soul on this forum and build it up.

May have to cut a few corners elsewhere but the grin it will put on your face on the singletrack will be worth it!