I know the whole hardtail thing’s been done loads of times, but with the old forum having gone so has loads of good advice.

My old Rockhopper’s in the process of becoming a singlespeed commuter, so I’ve been thinking of taking advantage of the Bike To Work scheme and getting a new hardtail for messing about on. It has to be under £1,000 though.

I like the look of the Orange P7 (because I fancy getting a proper British bike), but do I need 130 mm forks on a fast, fun bike. And does the P7 weigh quite a bit? Or would the Evo8 be better?

Any other recommendations? I’m just looking for something lightweight than can cope with places like the Pentlands or Glentress, but might also have to do the occasional trip into the Highlands towing a trailer of camping kit.

Would say the only choice is a santa cruz chameleon, in 15 years of owning almost every type of hardtail frame – this is the best I have ridden, light, tough and versatile – will handle downhill, jumps and XC whippet stuff.

Downside is that is a frame only and may not suit bike to work.

Other ideas would be the Boardman Pro (really) – amazing value, especially for XC if you dont mind the badge… much better spec than Orange.

Other bike would be the Genesis I0 ID – with the alfine hub, a great scottish bike for our pants weather.

If you are flexible where you can buy, I really rate the Trek 69er as an all rounder – feels great to ride, think alpinebikes had some 08 bikes for close to £1k recently.

I have a Chameleon built for tougher rides and will be looking at the Boardman when my BTW scheme comes round so I have something for lighter XC rides, cant believe what £1k gets you… light (24lbs) bike with SRAM X0 and Reba Team’s!!!

but with the old forum having gone so has loads of good advice.

But the standard answer still applies.
456.

This thread had quite a bit of info that may help…

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/reccomend-me-a-steel-hardtail

Go test ride loads.

Take a look at the Genesis Altitude Range

There’s the Altitude 10 that comes in just under £1k with a 520 frame and Deore/SLX kit and Rockshox Recons, or the Altitude 20 that has a Reynolds 853 tubed frame but pretty much the same kit, for another £150 or therabouts.

I’ve got an 853 Altitude Frame that I built up into a custom specced bike. Very impressed with it. First hardtail in a LONG time I’ve liked (I’m very much a full sus convert normally). It handles brilliantly, is pretty light, has that nice “steel feel” and is designed to work with a fork between 100 and 130mm of travel. Also a fair bit lighter than the Orange P7. Great as an allround trail bike.

If I was looking for a £1k race bike, then as OrangeChammy says, would look at a Boardman Pro, but if not, then my vote is definitely for the Genesis.

Though also worth looking at the On One 456 complete build if your budget will stretch to about £1200.

FWIW, Chameleon is a very direct handling frame, but the single most unforgiving one I’ve ever ridden. 100 yards on one was uncomfortable! They’re also about £500 or so for the frame only, so well out of budget.

Another steel convert here, its the way to go for a general trail bike.

+1 on the Boardman Pro vote. Just spent the weekend breaking mine in at GT and I’m absolutely satisfied it fits the bill – my needs are pretty similar to yours – and it’s light – just over 25 lbs.

Did have a look at a few steel hardtails (including the Voodoo offerings and a P7, but after picking them up, they just felt daft-heavy – and as has been mentioned, the spec on the Boardman is pretty amazing.

And it’s British 🙂

you mean got a british persons name on it 😀

As a related aside is it possible to “top up” the £1000 for the BTW Scheme? Say I wanted a bike listed as £1100 could I pay the extra hundred up front?

Hadn’t really considered the Boardman, but will check it out. The Genesis has cropped up a few times too, getting good write-ups.

I take it folk don’t find the steel bikes too heavy?

It really does have to be under £1,000 though, and also a complete bike. The scheme’s very inflexible that way. not that I’m complaining mind, I’m still getting a bike at near half price.

Cheers for the replies so far. Much appreciated. Hitting the sack now, so won’t see any others till tomorrow lunchtime.

Speaker, it is with some companies, but not mine. Their arguement is that it’s about getting a bike you can commute on, and that £1,000 is more than enough. Difficult to argue against really.

I take it folk don’t find the steel bikes too heavy?

My Altitude is about 26lb, I consider that a light bike personally. Standard spec on the Altitude 10 is approx 27.5lb iirc, and it’d be easy to lose a bit off that without spending much money (seatpost/saddle, bars/stem, all pretty easy to lose weight on cheaply).

Genesis Altitude 10 Review

iirc the 853 frame saves something like half a lb over the 520 frame, so expect the Altitude 20 to be about 27lb.

I think the weight factor will depend what bikes you’ve had in the past, I went from 4-5 years of riding full suss, back to a Dialled Alpine (30lbs), so its obviously lighter than what i’m used to. If you’ve got a background of racy hardtails then it probably will feel heavier.

the genesis abyss looks like a lot of kit for the money….. 1080 quid. bolt thru revs…..

i would if i was looking….

i have had 2 bikes on the scheme. one cost £1200 and one £1550 so you can top it up and i know people who had even more expensive bikes, but technically it is possible to do, especially if you draw up your own scheme, we did it all with our own paperwork and forms.accountant looked at it and said it was all ok

another “do it yourself scheme” here, Redplanetbikes helped out with the forms and we had our accounts go over it, it was easy!!

I have just ordered one of these
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30547

however since it’s a chick bike and I’m guessing you’re not a chick how about one of these

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30534

I really liked the blue and white but dont’ go down small enough for a girlie!

Another steel convert here, its the way to go for a general trail bike.

Steel bikes are not created equal. Get a test ride in if you can.

Personally I like the look of the Whyte 905. Blows your budget but looks the part.

I believe you can top-up the C2W scheme with your own cash though.

I just got a Merlin Malt 2 with XT, Reba Races and 717 wheelset for a touch under 1K on Cycle2Work. I think there was a price hike a qweek or so after I ordered though, so you might need to alter spec slightly to get under 1K now. Fantastic bike though. I’m really enjoying it for lightweight XC and trail center stuff.

I spent f*cking ages looking for a new bike and eventually chose a Orange EVO8.

It has ticked all the boxes for me – XC and all day trail use. Its fast, tough and the 2009 has even better spec than mine.

It is heavier than you would think though – a few upgrades over time(wheels/forks maybe) would change this if it was a bother.

The guys who set their own scheme up……….are you self employed? Or doing it on behalf of your company? Trouble is I work for a large financial company with the scheme already set up and a strict £1,000 limit in place.

And thanks for the bike recommendations.

One more question….do people generally find 100 mm enough for most things on a hardtail, or is it worth going for more?

Come on, everyone on here knows you can’t ride off road without AT LEAST 6in both ends.

What are you thinking!