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Well, as readers of the chat forum might be aware, I had my bike stolen the other day from work. It still has me very angry and annoyed, but my wife thinks I am taking it well considering that the bike I lovingly built up has been pinched by some ****ing scrote bastard.
<and breath>
Anyway, I'm pretty much convinced I'll never see the poor thing again outside my dreams, so I'm looking for something to replace it and could do with a bit of advice on what's good in the hardtail world these days.
Disc brakes are a given I think, a decent groupset would be nice and a good, solid, well made frame is essential. It's not going to get used for anything [i]uber[/i]-rough (I gave up jumping after the last big crash), but it will get used for commuting and weekend rides.
Assuming work pays out, I'm going to have a budget of around £500 which I realise is not much these days, but if I find the right bike (like this one perhaps: [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42099 ]http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42099[/url] I'm happy to add to the money. Of course, if work dos not pay out, then the budget will be a lot lower that that Rocky Mountain Vertex.
So, what's good these days? More importantly, what's bad?
Having had a bike stolen last year, I feel your pain..
On the bright side bikes in that budget are ace and getting better each year, and your bound to find something you like.
This was posted up on here the other day, not sure bout the frame but everything else is spot on.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=41724
Can always swap the frame for on one 456
Seanodav, I have to admit that Genius looks the dog's, but that might be a bit too far out of my budget.
One thing that is proving to be a headache is trusting brands... Cube seem to be popular, or at least pushed forward a lot these days, and a lot of other names just don't seem to click in my mind. Who's good and who's not? Is it worth paying for someone that you trust (Specialized springs to mind) and getting a slightly less well specced bike rather than someone new that might be less than trustworthy?