I bought a cheap hardtail on my C2W scheme on the basis that I need a bike for a charity ride and I thought I'd see how much I'd get into off road riding. Its a Spesh Hardrock Sport Disc
Turns out I really like mountain biking, though most of my riding is singletrack through the woods, rather than any actual mountains. Though I did the Welsh Ride Thing on it and loved it, and will be doing more bikepacking where I can find the time. Would like to try a trail centre at some point but haven't yet
The only thing that I've changed on the bike is I bought a reverb for it and I changed the pedals for the ones I have on my other bike as I put SPDs on that
Feels like now is time for an upgrade - the brakes aren't really good enough for my liking, its heavy and the fork isn't up to scratch
I need to keep under to the £1k limit. I like the idea of a steel framed bike but its not necessarily a deal breaker
I'd sell my Spesh and the reverb separately, and probably get a reverb to fit the bike I'm getting unless it has one already. So having a reverb is not a deal breaker
I'd like a 29er, but would possibly consider 650b. I'm 6'3 so need something with a big frame. My spesh is an XL
I had the following bikes in my shortlist, any thoughts on these and possibly any others?
- Genesis High Latitude
- Charge Cooker 4
- On One Parkwood
- Pinnacle Ramin 5 (although this is bottom of my list so far)
Upgrading the forks and discs on your Spesh might be a better option, and may save a lot of weight (as would ditching the reverb).
Parkwood Deore for me. Slack, all good spec even the tyres, and a Reverb.
Can I second the Parkwood?
Mine is sitting popped up on the adjoining desk making the office look healthy.
Deore kit feels nice, reverb is still working and the geometry is spot on. Only things I've changed so far are the bars from the Ancho's to Knuckleballs and the wheels for Pro2's on Flow EX.
I'd buy the best spec I could (prob the decathlon hardtail or similar), sell the hardrock and buy a cotic or trans am frame or similar. Transfer it all over them sell the original frame.
You'd then have a really decent spec bike and will only be into it for a tax free 1k.
The price of off the shelf bike scare me to death though to be honest.
Except you don't technically own a C2W bike until someway down the line. Which is fine and won't be a problem, unless you are employed by HMRC 🙁
I've had a ramin 4 which has proven to be excellent. If they still have the 5 at that price point next year I'll be going for that.
No love for the cooker or high latitude then?
Parkwood seems like a front runner
Won't be upgrading the Spesh, diminishing returns and better value getting something new
Not a bad idea switching parts but sounds like hard work. Would like to buy a turnkey package
One prob with the parkwood - on one charge an extra 10% for cycle to work schemes