Hi,

I have a 26″ Five which I love and use for lots of different riding. I am thinking of giving XC more of a go this year, and have been looking out for a 29″ HT. Looking on the Halfords site I can get the VooDoo for 450, which seems like a complete bargain (and within budget). Has anybody ridden one? I am not after a full on xc race bike, but something that will be fun, and I can compete on for a couple of years.

Any thoughts?

Always had good reviews. For the money I don’t think you could get anything better personally.

Ive got one in the garage, I bought a 650b hardtail rather than upgrade the Voodoo but I hung onto it for the Mrs.

It’s a good bike, with a decent fork on it I think it would be a great bike.

I’m planning on upgrading it for the wife with some decent used stuff when money allows.

I have one, I think I paid about £450 for it as Halfords had a big sale and I had a discount. I don’t use it much, but had a few rides on it recently while my main bike was out of action and every time I do ride it I’m amazed at what a good bike it is. I did the Brighton big dog race on it last year and may well do it on it again this year.

Would a 19in Boardman Pro 29er be of interest?

I’m selling a nearly new one and it’d be spot-on for a trail/XC crossover bike.

Mine’s taken everything I’ve thrown at it over the last year or so, but capability-wise I’m still the limiting factor.

Early on it got a 125mm Reverb and the top tube already has routing points for the hose. Tubeless on the standard rims with Gorilla tape. The brakes got swapped out for SLX as there happened to be a silly deal at the time. The drivetrain similarly went SLX after a year purely down to wear. Headset has just recently been replaced.

A cracking bike for the money, basically…

As above, I had a spare reverb that went straight on and also gorilla taped the wheels to set up tubeless. Currently looking at converting it to 1×10 as with the front shifter and reverb remote it’s all a bit cluttered on that side of the bars and I’m so used to having 1x that I rarely think to shift the front anyway.
The frame has sliding dropouts too, so if you’re singlespeed curious it’s an easy switch.

After “rediscovering” it last week I’m going to make sure I ride it more regularly from now on as it really is a great ride. I enjoy winding my mates up that they’re getting overtaken by the bloke on the £450 Halfords bike too.

It’s taken me this long to find an alternative to Photobucket image sharing.

Cheers for the info everyone!

That boardman sounds good Chapaking, but I think you are opposite end of the country to me!

Time to speak very nicely to my wife about ‘needing’ another bike!

Halfords might have bikes on offer this evening

Had mine about 15 months now.
It was my reintroduction to mountain biking after a 12 year hiatus where my previous bike was a 1999 Trek 4500.
So to me it’s an amazing bike for the money. It has no problems tackling the reds at Dalby and Cannock and stuff in the Dark Peak.
So far my upgrades have only been the pedals for some Nano-X and I’ve just taken delivery of an RSP Plummet dropper yet to be fitted.
The forks are nice, but they do need fairly frequent lowers services to keep them going and I’ve replaced the grease that was in there with some oil.

pocpoc – Member
The forks are nice, but they do need fairly frequent lowers services to keep them going and I’ve replaced the grease that was in there with some oil.

Could you elaborate – link to a guide or such? Mine are similar age, 943 (rough & bumpy) miles in and never been touched, but still feel perfectly fine.

I started THIS THREAD when I had my first issue.
There’s a further link in there to so Suntour stuff that was handy.
I was surprised that they use grease rather than oil but I guess it serves a purpose and is probably cheaper to manufacture.

I’ve been running a Mk1 Bazingo (the dark coloured frame with yellow Suntor forks) for the past 2/3 years and think it’s ace.

Am toying with selling it but not sure there’d be all that much interest.

Like Cuyahoga (above) IME the only limiting factor is the rider, not the bike :?.

Early on it got a 125mm Reverb and the top tube already has routing points for the hose. Tubeless on the standard rims with Gorilla tape. The brakes got swapped out for SLX as there happened to be a silly deal at the time. The drivetrain similarly went SLX after a year purely down to wear. Headset has just recently been replaced.

A cracking bike for the money, basically…

With all the upgrades though, I guess not too far off the price of a Vitus Sentier (£820 after discount)

nickfrog – Member
With all the upgrades though, I guess not too far off the price of a Vitus Sentier (£820 after discount)

I’ve got absolutely no idea, as there seems to be a range of bikes called the Sentier and I’m too knackered to google and sit here comparing specs and guess which one you’re talking about, especially as it doesn’t matter to me. 😉

pocpoc – Member
I started THIS THREAD when I had my first issue.
There’s a further link in there to so Suntour stuff that was handy.
I was surprised that they use grease rather than oil but I guess it serves a purpose and is probably cheaper to manufacture.

Excellent thanks. When I get some time I’ll whip ’em off and take a looksie. It’s currently sulking in the boot of the car after a very wet loop of Sherwood Pines today and I don’t think the hotel would appreciate me bringing it in … 😆