A mate of mine is after one to get fit on (he's getting it through the ride to work scheme) and has asked me for recommendations.
The trouble is he's around 16 stone so it needs to be of a sturdy nature.
He is mainly looking to get it through Evans as there is one nearby.
I would be grateful if you could offer your opinions on which bike to look at. He keep son looking at a full-suss but I keep saying that at price point, the shock probably wont be up to dealing with a 16 stone person: Am I correct in assuming this?
Not necessarily, plenty of full sus bikes come into the sub £1k category these days that are decent enough bikes. And 16 stone is not light, but mountain bikes are built to take abuse from big heavy people too.
I would still say that sub £1k a hardtail will represent better value for money, and overall performance though.
If he's looking in Evans, I can't recommend Genesis Bikes highly enough. I've got an Altitude frame which I built up into a custom bike, but there's plenty of off the shelf options. [url= http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bike/altitude_10 ]The Altitude 10[/url] is £949 iirc and recently won a sub £1k shootout in MBUK magazine. I love mine, perhaps I'm biased, but I don't think there's many all round packages out there better for the money. Sure, you can buy hardtails that are lighter, or come with flashier kit, but as an allround package the Altitude is a great bike.
(*cough) Orange Crush (*cough)
im 15stone w/o kit and they are awesome bikes (mines the 06 version)- rode a new one a couple of weeks back and its rides lovely, very confidence inspiring and good spec for the money
At that price, Focus bikes from wiggle have to be worth a look?!
Chuffed to bits with mine!
Thanks, that Genesis looks very good.
DD: He wants to be able to try it out first, which counts wiggle out I'm afraid.
At 16 stone (which isn't that heavy) you/he needs ensure that whatever bike he gets has an air fork, and tubeless (or stans kitted) wheels, or else you have to factor in new fork springs, and a pile of tubes, as he will be pinch flatting quite a bit if he isn't careful, so the tubeless kits will make his life a lot easier in the long run..
Tubeless is a waste of time IMO, especially as he is a newbie to bikes in general.
why so? stans kit + sealant means that he won't have to fix punctures 3 times a ride if he lives anywhere rocky.
Once the stuff is in, its pretty much fit and forget.
im heavy (as previously stated) live/ride in the peaks and have only ever pinched 3 times (in 2 rides)- and im putting that down to the shitty conti's i had on at the time.
just stick a DH tube in the back
I've been out riding with people who run tubeless and stood there, in the dark, while they've struggled with them, only to end up putting tubes in.
Holiday in Spain: Only members of group to get punctures: People running tubeless.
Not worth the hassle. Anyway, I dont want to turn this into a debate on tubes vs tubeless, so back to the sub 1000k bikes please 
P7
One of the Commencals maybe?
Kona 5-0?