A mate has asked me to help one of his mates out by recommending a bike for him. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at £1k bikes so have no idea what to even consider. One bike that has been mentioned by the guy is a Kona Tanuki – but I think this is gonna be a bit of a beast (always avoided low end FS bikes)

Anyone got any recommendations at this price point or a bit above since sales will start soon? I’m tempted to give him some more rounded advice like avoid Full Sus, Go for a discounted model with a higher spec etc…

There are one or two ok full suss’ers available at around £1000 – Boardman springs to mind and Paul’s Cycles normally sell last years Giant Anthems and other full suss below £1000. So don’t suggest a blanket avoidance of full sus at this price.

Never thought that Kona were that good value and their suspension design is a bit dated.

I have to say I’ve always avoided Kona, don’t rate them as a brand.

I’d probably head to pauls cycles and whats on offer.

I’d look for a deal on On One

fwiw im a big kona fan, my dawg has done the alps gravity enduros long xc routes etc etc

the base tanuki looks similar framewise, though mine is scandium

just depends how the spec compares to other cheap offerings

what are canyon etc offering at that price?

How about an One-One Inbred for £800 and spending the remaining £200 on shiny bits, pedals, riding gear, nice helmet etc?

A lot of bike for the money (£99 over budget): http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-92-mountain-bike-white-id_8208373.html

Ex demo or second hand

& probably

Avoid Full Sus

If it was me I’d go hardtail only , and look at the cube bikes you get a lot of bike for your doller.
Give it 4/6 weeks and the new 2014 will be out and by the sounds of it from my local shop there going to be something special..

I’d probably go second hand Plenty of choice.

I would have said Rock Lobster or MALT from Merlin, but there aren’t any left.

Is it possible to buy a bad On One? Don’t think so.
I remember when it was all Inbreds round ‘ere, far as t’eye could see.
Before fashion overtook common sense, of course.

Unless he knows what he’s looking at or has someone with him like you, I’d avoid second hand. You’re into a world of needing new chain, cassette, chainrings, gear cables and unless you start disassembling you don’t know the bb isn’t seized in the frame etc.

If setup by a proper bike shop, brakes and gears don’t often feel much better with not a spec of dirt to make things grind or stick.

Could you source him a decent secondhand frame and then build it up for him with some new Deore and a good basic suspension fork?

Ktm are doing an awesome deal on a hard tail, should retail at 1300 plus but its an anniversary model they are doing for £999, look it up if I were you

This ktm here

Trek cobia at £850 or a Trek x caliber £1000 great starting bikes wich will be easily upgradeable.

A Canyon Nerve AL 6 its a touch over but about as good as it gets full suss wise or one of their 29 inch hardtails with no idea about the kind of riding etc who knows but Canyon make great bikes for the money

As above, hard to go wrong with an Inbred!

Pinnacle Ramin 1 is a grand and there’s a 20% discount code at the moment. Will leave budget for nice kit.

I have to say I’ve always avoided Kona, don’t rate them as a brand.

Kona make some great bikes, the problem is that they’re usually not very competitive on price at full RRP. However, when they’re discounted heavily because they’re last years models, they present much more of a bargain.

My new Kona Kahuna 29er that I bought cheap off CRC the other week (like less than 1/2 price cheap!) is phenomenal! At under £750 for a £1500 bike, that has an excellent frame and fork worthy of future upgrades, it would stuff anything under £1k on performance. So far I’ve been thrilled with its performance and handling, the only minor point is the slightly heavy OEM wheels. But then with £1k in the bank, there’s plenty of room to upgrade those too for the price! Have recently been borrowing a mates wheelset, which combined with light tubeless tyres, has knocked well over 2lb off the rotating weight of the bike, and its an absolute flyer now…

Didn’t hold me back on a 12hr solo last weekend at Bontrager 24/12 at least!

If new –
Hardtail
shimano deore brakes
rock shox or fox forks.

And get a dropper post if you can. Really helps especially when learning.

I wouldn’t spend £1000 pounds secondhand if I was a noob- too many possibilities for disaster.

My Scott carbon Genius 😀

Cheers for replies, will do some checking tomorrow

Can’t go far wrong with a Boardman hardtail. Evans are doing Saracen Ariels for £1250, which is a ridiculous price for an extremely capable bike.

26″: Rose http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-count-solo-limited-edition/aid:643362
Genesis http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m15b126s2p6989/GENESIS_2012_Core_26_5_2012

29″: Radon http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1275/a86728/zr-race-29er-6-1-sl.html

FS: http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s1p4430/GIANT-ANTHEM-X4-2012

Plenty in the C2W £1k HT market.

I would consider second hand, got both me and the missus bikes at that price a while back with some serious ebay work. Both bikes in great condition and lasted a while before anything needed replacing.
Though back to the OP

A mate has asked me to help one of his mates out by recommending a bike for him. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at £1k bikes so have no idea what to even consider. One bike that has been mentioned by the guy is a Kona Tanuki – but I think this is gonna be a bit of a beast (always avoided low end FS bikes)

Anyone got any recommendations at this price point or a bit above since sales will start soon? I’m tempted to give him some more rounded advice like avoid Full Sus, Go for a discounted model with a higher spec etc…
What is he going to do with it? Get that sorted and have a good look round.