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[Closed] what hardtail for around £700?

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[#1575113]

Morning all

My neighbour is after a new bike to replace his ageing claude butler. I have suggested a rocky moutain vertex 30 (on chain reaction for 699) or the second hand route but is there anything else he should be looking at?

anyone with a hardtail for sale is welcome to post up pics/specs etc 🙂

cheers


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 9:50 am
 ro
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i see you have no replies when the 'tell me what hardtail to buy for 1500' has loads. you're too cheap for this forum!!!

fear not, i shall help...

tell your chum to get something a couple of years old for about 450-500 from someone like giant, specialized or kona, stick a rigid fork/big front tyre on it and then go ride and learn heaps about bike handling. he can use the saved pennies to buy some nicer wheels when he's trashed the originals.

he'll have loads of fun 'cos he'll be riding and improving, not fussing over rebound damping, disc pad bedding-in or avoiding pointy rocks 'cos he's worried about taking a chip out of the carbon frame (oops! breakage time!).

good luck 🙂


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 11:25 am
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The Boardman one is the obvious answer, did you look at them?


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 11:30 am
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cheers ro, but he's already a competent rider. he just has a lot of other priorities on his money (new baby, new kitchen etc) and doesn't spend all day trawling through forums so isn't uptodate with whats around.

I'm trying to covince him to buy a second hand 29er frame, plus forks and wheels and transfer everything else across but he's not convinced I think! 🙂


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 11:31 am
 ro
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dunno why he's not convinced, your plan sounds pretty perfect.

sometimes you just have to step aside and let people make the wrong choices...


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 11:35 am
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Boardman near new tend to get about £650-700 on eBay, last one with x.0/x.9, Reba and WCS went for under £700 and it was almost new. VFM hard to beat as the bike is light and well equipped. I was looking for some bikes for my OH brother as donors for parts but for £1000 You can still get some Deore bits on it. If he's not too tall then CRC has a small Genius [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=41724 ]Ultra HT[/url] with mostly XT and Slx chainset + a fox fork for £800. Probably as far as £800 go if You buy brand new...

[edit] there is also Voodoo Wanga with x.7 and Reba for £800, nice steel frame. And GT Agressor XCR that has similar equipment as the Rocky Mountain but better fork with 15mm axle and is £80 cheaper, but vertex might have a better frame and You pay a premium for the brand as well. [edit]


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 11:38 am
 DezB
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I'd love to buy this for myself, but as I can't -

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-cannondale-taurine-carbon-hardtail-2008-2009

2nd best hardtail I've ever ridden.


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 11:41 am
 ro
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THAT is a time-sucking maintenance nightmare. Sure, it probably rides like a dream when in tune. But I have a life, and my bike has to look after itself most of the time.

I like 'dales. Really I do. I even recommended them to a friend who was starting up a MTB adventure trekking company over here. But they were a maintenance nightmare. Can you say the words 'delaminating carbon?' and 'warranty counts for nothing in Asia'?

He reinvested in three year old overstock basic-model Trek hardtails he got cheap. He's now a happy man, and so are his clients. Why? 'Cos they work, every day, and you don't need a degree in hydraulics to keep them going.

But YMMV.


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 12:04 pm
 DezB
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Didn't realise it was for you. 😕


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 12:14 pm
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Keep it simple - New Rockhopper or XTC


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 12:19 pm
 ro
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It's ALWAYS all about me 🙂


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 12:21 pm
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The Hub in the Forest in Glentress are selling off some ex-hire Genesis Abyss bikes for around that money. I have adored riding mine, It's a great all round machine. (It should be an £1100 bike)


 
Posted : 05/05/2010 3:51 pm