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1. Northwind - Member

   breatheeasy - Member

   This months test IIRC was an On One Whippet, Exotic Carbons frame with some stuff stripped from a Trek, a Cube (all around the grand mark, proper XC hardtails, barends etc. with 100mm travel forks) and a Scott Spark at £2.5k. Think the test was entitled something like "is cheap carbon frame any good". So no, as the expensive carbon bike won...

   You must need a run-up to miss the point that badly They all got decent marks, and the article concludes "Is it worth buying a hudget carbon frame? Yes". But don't let that get in the way...

   The scoring includes a value consideration so the Spark didn't just take the win by virtue of being most expensive. The comparison throughout was with metal equivalents, it wasn't a 4-bike head-to-head. The On One and the Exotic both got the "value" prize as well.

   And what do you mean "the expensive carbon bike won..."? The Spark's a budget carbon full suss, £2300 for a complete build is not an expensive carbon bike by any means.

   Posted 10 months ago #
2. GrumpyDave - Member

   I stopped reading What Mountain Bike when they started writing about "bikes you should aspire to own".

   Posted 10 months ago #
3. breatheeasy - Member

   The Spark's a budget carbon full suss, £2300 for a complete build is not an expensive carbon bike by any means.

   Well considering that 'cheap' Spark only has an carbon mainframe and an alloy build out the back for suspension duties it's pushing the boundaries of exactly what a 'carbon' bike is anyway.

   Posted 10 months ago #
4. Northwind - Member

   That's a fair point. Though they do make it clear in the article.

   Posted 10 months ago #
5. bland - Member

   Similarly i stopped reading MBUK when they told me i should be eating beans on toast and this is how to cook them....

   Posted 10 months ago #
6. tonyd - Member

   Since the content never seems to change much I just keep a copy of June 2009 WMB in the bog which I skim through once a month. The money saved pays for my Razzle subscription.

   I might start doing the same with MBR and spend that on malt loaf.

   Edit: Or maybe Haribo.

   Posted 10 months ago #
7. PJM1974 - Member

   Going back a few years I recall a letter to WMB from a lady reader, new to off road biking who asked for advice on a beginner's hardtail. The response was a walll of jargon:

   "...a manipulated M4 frame with curved seatstays..."

   *facedesk*

   Posted 10 months ago #
8. jimster - Member

   Bought MBR a couple of weeks ago, *hangs head in shame* and was quite pleasantly surprised, the format seemed to have changed and quite surprisingly Specialized was beaten by 4 of the 5 bikes it was up against!!

   Posted 10 months ago #
9. aracer - Member

   Well considering that 'cheap' Spark only has an carbon mainframe and an alloy build out the back for suspension duties it's pushing the boundaries of exactly what a 'carbon' bike is anyway

   
   My Genius is like that (as was the Strike I had before it). Seems to fool lots of people that it's a carbon bike.

   Posted 10 months ago #

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