Currently got a carrera vengeance with a few upgrades but I’m not happy with the frame and the forks, it’s served me well for about 2000 miles but the frame and brakes are getting a bit tired looking and the forks are horrible so I’m thinking I’ll get a new bike, something that’s cross country geo but maybe slightly on the aggressive side without being too heavy.

I’ll be buying it via a cycle to work scheme, so limited retailers, ideally under a grand… The boardman pro seems OK for about £700, any other bikes I should be looking at?

Thanks

I assume you are talking about the 2014 29r model on Halfords website for £749?

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

You wont get much better than the Bordman for that sort of money, it’s an excellent bike and spec.

Thanks, yes that’s the one I was looking at.. I was looking at the bizango too..I’m 6’3 so whilst a 29er is ‘out of fashion’ it’s probably not a bad thing for me.

That one’s only available in 16 & 18 inch which will be too small for you, you would need a 20 inch I’d have thought…?

Ahh.. Back to the drawing board then, I think that will be too small !

Was in Halfords this afternoon actually, they had a brand I’ve not seen before ’13’? Was closer to a grand but it looked pretty sweet? Any thoughts on these?

There’s a nice specced Cannondale here;

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p5700/CANNONDALE-TRAIL-SL-29-2-2015

Full Shimano, Stan’s tubeless wheelset and the Recon fork will definitely be a welcome upgrade from your Carrera.

Incline gamma I think it was This one

That Incline Gamma looks a bit odd. Who puts a 90mm stem on a bike with a 650mm effective top tube?

The cannondale looks good as well.. Thanks for that

This looks very good VFM and comes in XL, with pretty decent geometry….
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-bikes-sentier-vrs-hardtail-bike-2016/rp-prod135386

You could join BC and get an extra 10% off too.

Actually I’d be tempted to get the next model up with 10% off…
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-bikes-sentier-vrx-hardtail-bike-2016/rp-prod135387

Or the Bird Zero TR has slightly better geo, but isn’t such a nice spec for the £…
http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero-tr/zero-tr3.html

That Vitus Sentier is fantastic value. I’d be going for that if it was my money.

Just looking at the geo, I’d have to go up a size now I’ve got Steve Jones-itis about my bike lengths – but otherwise it’s spot on. 45mm BB drop and 66.5deg HA.

The VRX has X1 and a cheap dropper for a touch over a grand (after BC discount).

Think I’d prefer a 2×10 speed than a single front ring, the vitus looks a bit to specialist in terms of forks and gearing to me..

The Sram 11 speed does give a very good spread of gears, but the cheaper Vitus is 2×10 anyway.

Were you concerned about the Manitou forks? They seem to have a good rep but I haven;t tried them myself TBH.

I was thinking 140 forks might be a bit much for my usage, was thinking 110 or 120

As in, the bike looks very slack geo.. I’d rather (i think) have something that doesn’t handle like a harley Davidson chopper/low rider!