I recently narrowed down my bike search to three bikes and just wanted some thoughts:

Boardman mountain bike pro hardtail – good reviews but I am worried that 100mm of travel on the Reba forks won’t be enough for trails

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/boardman-mountain-bike-pro-hardtail-29er-2014

13 incline gamma – more travel on the forks but people don’t seem to like sector forks and this bike is too new for any reviews

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/13-incline-gamma-27-5-mountain-bike-2015

The advantages of the bikes above are that I can save 400 pound on bike for work and therefore seem good value for 600 pound?

Or I am wondering whether to bite the bullet and go for one of the bikes from On One at around 1000 pound like the parkwood or a 456. Are these bikes significantly better and worth spending the extra on?

Boardman mountain bike pro hardtail – good reviews but I am worried that 100mm of travel on the Reba forks won’t be enough for trails

Don’t be. It’ll be fine.

but people don’t seem to like sector forks

Who, exactly? Nowt wrong with a Sector! Bloody god fork, to be fair

Why get a ‘Bike to Work’ bike from Halfords though? Most shops are part of the scheme. I think even On One are!

10% off at Halfords as of Friday on all bikes and bike related bits.

good reviews but I am worried that 100mm of travel on the Reba forks won’t be enough for trails

65mm was more than enough when I were a lad.

The Sektor is a great fork.

Kit snobs sneer at them but they have the same 32mm stanchions as Revelations and still come in excellent coil-spring version.

Put it this way, I’d take a Sektor over a Fox-32 any day of the week.

he Sektor is a great fork.

Kit snobs sneer at them but they have same 32mm stanchions as Revelations and still come in excellent coil-spring version.

Put it this way, I’d take a Sektor over a Fox-32 any day of the week.

Have to agree. I have Sektors and they are faultless. Much better than my knackered fox’s they replaced. Easily serviced at home as well.

but people don’t seem to like sector forks

Those people are idiots. Us people know better. It’s a great ‘budget’ fork IMHO.

As said – check the terms of your btw scheme and what Halfords can supply. They used to be able to get any bike, near enough, so if this is still the case it would be silly to restrict your choice to a Halfords model.

I have/had a number of OOs and they have all been great but I think you’d have to pay a surcharge for a C2W if you used it at OO. Also if it’s Halfords own C2W scheme I’m sure you get 10% of the purchase price back to spend on accessories……worth checking if still true.

Cheers, I got a list from the scheme for other local bike stores they source from.

I checked out the bikes they sold and compared to the whyte, cube, trek and specialised bikes they stock, the halfords ‘own brands’ look much better specced at the 1000 pound and below price point. Unfortunate On one were not on the list.

I think maybe I should get over the brand snobbery and not look a gift horse in the mouth…

BTW us there a big difference in quality between sector and Reba?

It depends on the exact model, the dampers in the fork vary. Like, a Sektor TK is pretty basic, the better Sektor RL is a good midrangey performer, and there’s no top end model (*). The Reba doesn’t really have a low end model, but has some higher end models than the Sektor does. But there’s a big overlap- a Reba and Sektor RL are pretty similiar in perforance

(* the Sektor is basically a cheaper version of the Revelation- so instead of making a posh Sektor, they just brand them Revelations, and likewise there’s no bottom end Revelation)

So basically…Worry less about the name and more about the contents

Personally given the choice between On One and Halfords I’d go Halfords every time- past experience shows Halfords might occasionally be incompetent, but they’ve never actively ripped me off unlike On One.

having just looked a tthe gamma for the first time – get the boardman

(jesus christ, my eyes)

Ummm on looks alone the Boardman is a clear winner – that other one you’ve mentioned is utterly fugly, that’s a lot of extra money to get an ugly bike.

If you were thinking of spending up to a £1000, why not this one from Halfords

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/boardman-mountain-bike-team-full-suspension-650b-2014

GF has the old Boardman FS.. by old i mean 26″. very capable bike. although i’ve upgraded the brakes to SLX, but that is just personal preference… might be yours’ too when you boil them and have to bleed them.. again. and again. and again.

I have the Boardman and the 100mm hasn’t caused me any bother neither did the 80mm on my other 29er.

Just been through this 2 weeks ago, went for the boardman 29er! Haven’t regretted it, been out round my favourite Cairngorms loop today that I normally do on my 140mm full suss, boardman coped no problems!

Cheers guys, looks like the Boardman it is then. I did consider the full sus but thought the other would be cheaper to look after. As long as the Reba is plush enough to iron out the smaller bumps and stop my fingers going numb like they do on my hoodo i’ll be happy!

I’d rather have a Boardman than an On-One, and I’ve had 3 On-One/PX bikes. Better customer service at Halfords too. Great looking bikes with great specs and not heard any moans about the way they ride. I’d be proud to ride one.

Plus I thought that 1000 would be too cheap for a full sus and lead to comprises on kit

I would get the Boardman.

[edit]

Full sus isn’t that much more expensive to maintain though it is lower spec so I would upgrade more …

Any thoughts on this one as the last outside choice…

http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-3.html

Very nice piece of kit that.

I like the look of that. A decent enough spec on what looks like a good frame.

What about the Voodoo Bizango? Great bike for the price and you could always upgrade parts later.

I would check things out with Halfords beforehand, regarding getting bikes in. Halfords pay out £850 on a £1000 voucher to the vendor/shop they approach, and in many cases the shop/vendor will ask for cash as a top up.

Worth making sure that you aren’t going to face this. Give the store a ring.

I’m in the same position as the OP and, for simplicity, think the Boardman 29er is the one to have.

Buy the Reba bike
Save £400
Sell the Rebas
Get some pretty decent upgrade forks in an online sale

…or keep it as it is, they will be fine

Edit just seen your now looking at the Bird
Buy that

Hmm, I like that Bird too….

I’ve had two Boardmans – a Hardtail MTB and a hybrid.

I’d buy another, and would chose one over an On-One bike.

I’ve got a Bird Zero. It’s very niiiice.

I managed to pick up a second hand (200 Miles of use) Boardman Pro 29er for £600 on the back of my mate having one and trying to keep up with him on local XC rides on a 26″ wheel 1×9…….. There is a few great bargains to be had and it seems everyone you speak to that has one loves them!

I had a Boardman 29er, it was a really good bike to be honest. I’d go for it.