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It’s been a long time since I used to ride, a good 20 years ago now.
So much has changed and I feel a little out of my depth trying to pick up a bike to begin again.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading and keep seeing lots of different recommendations on new bikes but also getting a bit stuck ending up reading to much on US sites.
So basically looking for a bit of advice for a new bike to start again.
My budget is around £800
I am 5’ 11”
Inside leg is 30” ish
I am thinking a hard tail is probably best.
I like the idea of 29ers but might be persuaded otherwise.
To begin with I’d be mostly riding trails within some DH sections.
Bike wise, I’ve seen Vitus or Voodoo bikes seem to be good starters.
The voodoo bizango carbon looks interesting, but I’ve seen very few owner reviews.
Vitus seems to keep going out of stock, but I remember Tektro weren’t as good as shimano, but I don’t trust my memory tbh.
I know 2nd hand is an option, but I am lost a bit of cheapo nasties and out of budget bikes, the few Voodoo bikes in the area I’ve seen are wrong size or close enough to the price I can get the extra £50 is prob worth it for being new. (In Bournemouth)
I might be totally wrong with my conclusions hence looking for help to get back in the saddle again.
Standard bizango. Upgrade the brakes to Deere. Job done.
Maybe a dropper in the future. Fantastic bike.
Welcome to the forum mate!
Just want to add that you might want to look at the Calibre range at Go Outdoors.
There are some well regarded fs bikes not a million miles above your price range there.
Personally I'd say 29er is the way to go these days but it's not essential.
29r
Have a look at the On One Scandal....
Scandal or Big Dog , ive just built a Scandal for my brother and , apart from being Aluminium its not a million miles from my Cotic Solaris Max in geometry and ride.
It's a bad time to returning to MTB'ing, this is the longest and worst spell of bad weather I've seen since I started in 2015.
@grannyjone Tell me about it just drove all the way back from Wales and it didn't stop in the whole 3 hour drive...
Thanks @Spev and @Blackflag - hadn't considered looking at planetX's line up always through they only did road bikes for some reason
@olly2097 I assume you meant Deore? Not sure I can shoehorn a tractor set of brakes onto a bike 😉 Dropper is deff a day 1 purchase for sure though.
@Poopscoop Thanks, I did take a look, can certainly see if I can see one 2nd hand to push it closer to my budget might be the better option there if I did go for a bossnut
It’s a bad time to returning to MTB’ing, this is the longest and worst spell of bad weather I’ve seen since I started in 2015.
We've never had so many club (road) training sessions, races or other organised events cancelled as we have this Feb. Almost a completely wipeout 🙁 In fact, more or less the only riding we've actually done has been on the MTB in bloody awful weather as it's safer than trying to get on the road at the moment.
Went out yesterday in lovely conditions though. Stiff wind so was buggered, but at least it dried stuff out a bit!
Get a Calibre Bossnut, either useS or up your budget to 1k for a new one.
JP
I was a beginner when you gave up!
So much has changed since then it probably looks like a completely different sport.
Think long and hard about your definition of Dh, Trail, etc... What would have been DH back in the day is quite tame compared to what's going on now.
Similarly, be realistic about the riding you want to do, and research bikes based on that.
I suspect what is DH now wasn’t really the sort of riding categorised as downhill in the late 90’s.
For your budget it has to be a hardtail if a new purchase, if you can make it to £1100 the newest Bossnut is worth a look if you really are going to be riding lairy stuff as rear suspension makes so much difference in my opinion - maybe the Vitus Mythique too.
If you stick to around £800 then it’s hard to look past a Vitus Sentier or a Calibre Line10 I think - or see if Planet have a decent Scandal in budget.
With 650b vs 29er it might be worth trying to ride a few bikes if possible. I’m 5’9 and had a go on a couple of 29ers and they aren’t my thing so far. Yes they are faster on rough terrain vs a 650b bike with the same suspension travel but for me they’re less fun. They don’t accelerate out of corners the same and they take more effort to turn into corners. However they do keep momentum going surprisingly well once up to speed.
It’s personal preference which you like more really.
If you went 2nd hand they are more options but you need to go in with your eyes open and really check things over.
I’d think for £800 you might pick something up like a Vitus Escarpe on the fs front with a better spec than the Bossnut. You may find a Calibre BBB which is the more aggro version of the Bossnut too. There are other bikes within that range - but it’s just seeing what’s local enough to you to go and view.
I have a Voodoo Bizango - the older version with double chainset and Shimano Deore shifters, with very basic Shimano hydraulic brakes. Wonderful bike for the money (I paid £500). Rode the South Downs Way on it. It's the first mountain bike I ever bought - though I've been cycling since I was a kid in the 1960s. I don't do trail centres, just day rides on bridleways.
Thanks all for the follow up comments,
A lot to think about.
Your inside leg is on the short size vs your height (as is mine) - it would be well worth your time trying out both sizes to see what works for you.
Yeah seems to be straddling 2 different sizes depending on manufacturer which is frustrating if I pick something online only. 18" seems to be better than 20" though at least what I can see
So stupid question,
I've just noticed my job has opened up the cyclescheme now, and I ended up getting distracted looking at the Norco Fluid FS 3 and various Vitus Mythique 29 VRx versions
I'm purely curious at the moment but any thoughts? or should I just stick with a decent hardtail for the time being?
Na, bugger hardtails, get yourself one of those! 😊
If I could only have 1 bike it would be a full suss trail bike. 120-14m travel ish. Modern but not crazy long or slack geometry.
Sod the hardtails!
I got back into MTB 2 years ago, after doing some in my late teens/early twenties - so not far off twenty year ago.
EVERYTHING had changed. Dropper posts? What is this wizardry! Suspension that's not elastomer?! 6 inches of travel used to only be on downhill bikes, and yet that's the norm now...
Anyway, after demoing several bikes (hardtails & full sus) I started with a Vitus Escarpe VR, and it did me extremely well. I realised due to my incredible lack of fitness, a FS bike would allow me to ride so much more than a hardtail, in fact on my 2nd ride on a hired HT round swinley, I was in pain - my legs were shot meaning I was having to sit down a lot, which meant my arse was in tatters. Full sus was the one for me!!!
I think I paid around £1400 after discounts, here it was on delivery day:
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It took me up climbs and on trails that I could never have managed at the start, like Afan W2:
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It also saw 50 mile rides, bikepark wales, and so-on.
The Mythique is the replacement of the lower end escarpe models, the Vitus FS bikes are right up there in terms of value for money, and it will be perfect for you, as it was for me. It will be able to handle much more than you can, for a long time. I sold my escarpe in September as I'd started to realise it's shortcoming and well, I wanted something 'shinier' 😀
What I'm trying to say is, buy the Mythique. 😀
Lol thanks @ta11pau1
No really sounds like a suspiciously familiar pre-story there lol, are you future me? lol
Lol thanks @ta11pau1
No really sounds like a suspiciously familiar pre-story there lol, are you future me? lol
Haha, I guarantee there's a least a few more who have done the same. Getting old(er), fitness declining - for it was also something to do during winter when riding motorbikes wasn't fun.
Urgh now I'm torn over bikes lol, its a silly thing that doesn't matter really but I wish the Mythique had internal cabling