Help – It’s my friends birthday soon and his mum and dad have asked me to find them a bike to replace his stolen Marin. They’ve got a budget of £2,000(ish -don’t think they would go above £2.5k)and would like to buy new rather than s/h. He’s around 6 foot and his Marin was 19″ and fitted fine. They’ve come to me because they know I love my bikes but the problem is I am a dyed in the wool hard-tail rider and havent owned a full suspension bike since 2004 but he would want full suspension. I take no notice of reviews etc. of full suss bikes so I am a bit stuck. Our local loops are around Dartmoor area and pretty steep/rocky so 5 inch (ish) travel like the Marin was I suppose. Any advice from the STW crew?

Ask him what he wants.

Ideally yes but it’s got to be a suprise!

orange 5 ?

Canyon nerve am

Yeah just bring it up in conversation, simple enough. Then atleast he’ll get what he wants.

Mega?

Another Marin?

Lucky lad, what about stuffing a load of notes in an envelope and letting him decide?

If it was me, that would be my choice 😉

Take him for a pint on his birthday. Drive to the Specialized concept store on the way (or any other bike shop), that way he gets the surprise and the right bike for him?

Don’t really want to open this particular can of worms by going into why so I will just say definitely not an orange. Another Marin would be ideal but our nearest dealer is miles away and they don’t do mail order IIRC. Did think Mega myself actually and going to look into the canyon now. Thanks all -any other suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Edit – that’s not a bad plan actually flippidy. And yes ski he his a lucky (40 year old!) lad.

See what you can get for £1k that you like too and buy two of them?

Ha! Very happy with my Ti Ragley ta 😉

EDIT Weird double post

Could it not be a 2k gift voucher for a decent local bike shop? Whilst it’s a lovely gesture of them to replace the bike surely he needs to have some input on what he wants (without ruining the surprise).

Edit – that’s not a bad plan actually flippidy

I have my (occasional) moments… 😀

Grum +1

If his parents can stretch to 2.5k, then how about an Ibis Mojo Special Blend?

Trouble is he can be a grumpy sod and probably wouldn’t accept the cash off them but I agree it would be better to involve him – I’ll speak to them again – gift voucher is a very good idea. Sadly I think the ibis would be too small (lge out of stock), lovely bike though.

Just get talking about bikes in general by a magazine and meet him for a pint, just point to bikes you like, you will soon find out what he likes.

Do his mum and dad want to adopt me?

I’d let them take him to a bike shop on the day (maybe warn shop in advance?).

That way he gets to choose but they get to see him have his present.

Handing a voucher over isn’t really giving a ‘present’ – I’d rather see my kids face when they got what the voucher buys.

Ideally yes but it’s got to be a suprise!

It will be a surprise when he gets a bike that he doesnt like/want.

Anyone who parts with £2k surely wants to research whatever they buying, to be fair the OP doesn’t appear to have enough knowledge to make the decision.

I’d actually be quite annoyed if some one went and spent such a large sum of money on some thing for me with out asking my opinion first.

I had a shortlist of about 10 bikes, and ended up test riding 3 to make a decision

Definitely think the question needs to be asked even if only in passing conversation ‘what bike you going to get now’ sort of thing. Worth it to make sure he gets the bike he wants.

Could you take him to a demo day making out you are thinking of getting a new bike? That way he can test ride and you would know straight away from his comments.

I really like the idea of having a gift voucher he can spend himself (I know I wouldn’t want anyone choosing a bike for me, especially my parents!) but it is so nice to have an actual bike to unwrap so…

Why not git him the gift voucher but ask the shop to give you a demo bike to wrap up just for his birthday? Most bike shops will refund the cost of a demo bike against a purchase anyway so should work out okay.

Big bows and streamers on the handlebars a must for the demo bike, of course…

Rachel

YT Industries Wicked 170…. a whole lot of bike for 2K….

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/index.php?page=product&info=222

or the 160 model…

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/index.php?page=product&info=213

Why not git him the gift voucher but ask the shop to give you a demo bike to wrap up just for his birthday? Most bike shops will refund the cost of a demo bike against a purchase anyway so should work out okay.

Great idea.

Did he love the Marin? If so, I’m sure it’s worth a chat over options with the nearest Marin Dealer, or maybe Whyte as they share the same DNA?

Even if they don’t do mail order, you could order over the phone , then take him there on the day for the surprise.

I still think a sneaky chat might work. How about something like ” I’m thinking of getting a FS – what would you get if you got another?”

A friend arranged with his LBS to take the (surprise present) bike back and swap it if his GF didn’t like it. Try that?

Thanks all – some great advice/suggestions. I agree if I had to replace my bike I wouldn’t really want someone else to choose for me so I reckon I’ll have a trawl around a few shops on my day off and make a few suggestions to them so maybe they could take him on the day to choose, that way they will still feel involved but he will ultimately get what he wants. My main worry is fit TBH so another reason to persuade them he’s got to try the bike before they splash out a large chunk of his inheritance!

if you are a confirmed hard tail lover and know nothing about full suss bikes, and he knows this… why not ask his advice for a full suss bike that ‘you’ should buy for £2k ?

He can then have all the fun of choosing and buying the bike with you, and at the end you hand it over and he gets the surprise of it being for him 🙂

Dave