Hi guys and gals,

Firstly, I have a habit of rambling so bear with me.

So, last year on a camping trip to Wales I went with a couple of mates and my boys to Coed-y-brenin, hired bikes for the day and had an absolute blast on The Minotaur track. So that got me interested in getting back on a bike but my older boys were not that interested. Sure they had a good day and would do it again, but at home their bikes just sat in the bike rack, outdoors, collecting rust. Couple that with the fact I live in mountainless Hertfordshire and have a 25mile commute around the M25 for work, I just couldn’t see a bike getting used enough to justify buying one.

Fast forward to a week ago, my 5yo was trundling around the back yard on his balance bike and I convinced him to have a go on the Ridgeback MX16 I’d bought for him a few months ago and he’d refused to use until then. 5 mins later he was cruising around on it and loving it. Since then he has only got off it to eat and sleep, and is now desperate for me to get a bike to I can follow him around the woodlands and trails and over the common on two wheels rather than on 2 legs.

So, I’ve done my research, I’m ready to spend £500-600 on a mountain bike, I know what the limits of my budget are (a suntour fork!) and so yesterday I dropped into one of my two LBS (a small chain). The experience was underwhelming to say the least, but maybe I had got myself expecting something else. I walked in and spoke to the the sales person, explained what I was after (a 29er) and my budget, explained where I would be riding, woodland trails and paths, both with and without my son, and asked to see what they suggest.

She suggested a Merida Big Nine. I said “OK, sounds good, can I get on it?’
Her: “Oh, we don’t have that in the size you’ll need, this one is a 17″ frame, you’ll need a 19 or 20”
Me: “OK, what do you have in that price range that I can look at for size?”
Her: “This £1500 bike is almost your size,perhaps a bit small for you, but you can try that”

So I got on that bike……and didn’t know what to do. I felt like I was sat on a bike. I could have ridden it no problem, I’ve spent the last week chasing the 5yo around the back yard on my elder boys 24″ bike with my knees up to my ears, so I know that bike is wrong for me, but how do I know whether the bike they are suggesting I buy, in a size they don’t have for me to try, is the right bike?

Maybe I am making things difficult for myself, but from everything I have read, I should try the bike out first. But how do I do that? Will my LBS stock, and have built, all their ranges of bike in all sizes so I can try one? And if they don’t have a bike in my size? I don’t see the point on sitting on a bike that is 3 times my budget that I’m just not going to buy.

I’m going to go to the other LBS today, hopefully, and perhaps the experience will be different but in the back of my mind I’m thinking I should just go to Halfords and get a Voodoo Bizango, that everyone seems to say is great, at 20% off because if I’m buying blind I may as well get the best deal.

I guess I’m just thoroughly confused and overwhelmed. There is so much choice out there and I can’t really afford to make a mistake with this purchase. £500 is a lot of money to me and would have been inconceivable to me to spend that much on a bike before I did a serious amount of research.

So there is my long ramble (I told you) and I think there are some questions in the somewhere. If you’ve managed to get this far I congratulate you. Now please help me understand how this process works!!

TL;DR I have no idea how to choose a bike or to even know how it fits….what do I do?

Why ddi you come to the conclusion that you wanted a 29er? What type of bike did you ride in Coed-y-brenin? And what type of riding do you think you want to do?

I would be more concerned about buying the wrong type of bike.
At £500 price point there’s a lot of options out there between 26, 27.5 and 29ers

Thanks for the response lobby.

I see myself spending more time doing cross country type riding, so basically riding around the countryside off road. I am fairly close to Aston Hill so can see myself maybe going there now and then with the kids.

I really don’t remember what the bikes were that we had in CyB. I had a quick look on the website and the hardtails they currently rent out are Trek X-Caliber 7s but I couldn’t say for sure if that’s what they had last year.

I’m 41yo now and part of this is a drive for fitness. I had started trail running this year but found that it was giving me knee problems so I’m hoping to substitute my morning 25min run with an hour trail bike ride.

I agree with ‘is that the right type’ question…but then any bike will do at the end of the day. A HT 29er is great for trails, especially I think if you are around or over 6′, but may be a touch less lively in twisty singletrack. A HT is obvious choice at your budget.

Size, you need to go on shop and manufacturer guidance. Most know thier stuff, just check shop advice with manufacturers website or even ask on here if someone has that model of bike.

A manufacturer like Merida rarely have a duff bike, and many bike reviewers these days seem to slag a bike off when it ‘needs’ 0.5* less head angle or ‘ridiculous old school’ bars are 15mm less wide than the current fashion.

I would go to the shop who gives you good service and will look after you – and Merida’s are good.

I say all this, but then I ride a steel 26er with 3×9 on normal bars with spd’s….

I appreciate £500 is a reasonable chunk of money to you but in the world of mountain bikes it’s not that much. I’d be looking 2nd hand. You can get some fantastic 26″ wheeled bikes as they are technically obsolete but plenty of us still ride them very happily. Even 29″ seems to be going a bit leaving some good used bargains. Obviously this option creates as many problems as it solves in terms of choice but most recent bikes will ride well so you just need to find the right type of bike and the right size.

If you really do want new the bizango is pretty good. Rode a friend’s and it was nice. Climbed well. Reasonable on the rough stuff. The forks are pretty basic but do the job. Maybe that could somewhere to upgrade in a year or 2.

And for £500 you’ll get a better s/h deal than buying new – plus if you decide to sell it on you might not lose as much (but if you don’t know what you’re looking for then it’s even harder)

Btw if your budget stretches to £600 the on-one park wood is only £599 – and have a look on Pauls Cycles website for some cheap cannondales or cube

I’m going to promote the Voodoo Wazoo fat bike, as a flat bar do-it-all bike, cracking value for 400 squids now it is finally back on the Halfords site.

Or the Voodoo Bizango for 480 squids is amazing value.

Matt – part of me agrees, i just need to get on a bike and get out there, any bike is better than no bike! Maybe i just find the best deal at that price point and get on with it!!

Nick & tmb – i do appreciate that £500 in the mtb world is peanuts and i would get better value going s/h but i just wouldn’t know if i was getting a dud or not. I just feel safer going new to start with.

Nobody – agree the bizango seems a good deal but I’m going to keep halfords as a last resort, if much rather buy and build a relationship with a LBS

How tall are you? There’s a Salsa El mariachi I’ve seen s/h for a great price. Medium, so probably good up to 5’10 or 5’11, depending on preference.

Hi ned, I’m 6ft, 33″ inside leg, but i think i should avoid s/h until I’ve got to grips with maintaining a bike.

The compromises that you’ll make on a buying a new bike are fork and wheels. We appreciate your predicament, most of us have been there. It is a good idea to build a relationship with an lbs, it may be an idea to start a new post asking for recommendations for lbs’s in, for example, a 20 mile radius of your home.

Those of us who’ve been riding for a few years will undoubtedly have seen people riding inappropriate bikes, totally unsuited to their height and/or the type of riding they’re doing. I for one don’t like to see folk stop riding because of this.

You’re doing right by asking on here and fwiw I agree with those who say second hand but realise that this may not necessarily be the best option.

Bear in mind that if you get a well fitting frame then you can always upgrade forks and wheels, change bars, seat post, grips etc etc.

It’s worth mentioning that some folk have changed to either 650B or 29ers so there are 26ers around that could be a good buy. Very confusing with 3 different wheel sizes!

Good luck and keep us updated. 🙂

Edit: plenty of places offer a ‘bike fit’ service.

Btw – “some” halfords branches are good just as “some” LBS are not good

Buy the bike you want and make a separate relationship with a lbs

We just picked up a Whyte 605 for my wife for about 600 , i’m pretty impressed with it . Hydraulic discs , the suntour forks seem pretty good and the whole thing is put together really well . We looked at the canyon hardtails which were excellent value for money but she wanted to to be able to sit on one first (canyon are only available off the internet) .
The common advice always use to be get the best frame you can as everything else is easier to replace as it wears out but i think most frames are made in taiwan in about 2 factories so i don’t know how much difference in quality there is these days .
ultimately get the one that is going to make you grin when you look at it in the garage as your more likely to ride it then .

Fair enough! Good luck hunting. Pinnacle Ramon range is well worth a look.

Does your workplace do the cycle2work scheme? If so then your £500-600 can go a lot further! Worth checking out but it might limit where and what you can buy. If you aren’t “into” biking then £500 is a significant lump of money to spend on a bike.

At £500, bikes are definitely “built to a price”, doesn’t mean that they are bad, just that compromises have been made in component choice, etc. so they aren’t going to stand up to a large amount of abuse. Given your intended usage I doubt that’s going to be a problem.

Most manufacturers have sizing charts on their websites which will get you in the right ballpark regarding fit, sometimes you fall between sizes so it comes down to whether you want to go smaller for a lively bike or bigger for a more stable one (for want of better terms). If a bike is much too small you’ll feel perched on top of it and be banging your knees on the handlebars, if it’s too big you’ll be stretched out and your weight distribution will be wrong with too much pressure on your hands and lower back. A shop will usually let you do a quick test ride on a bike around the yard or car park and just by looking at you on the bike they’ll be able to tell if it’s the right size.

After that it’s all about that indefinable “feel”: I demoed a 29er hardtail for several hours and liked it then rode another around the car park and knew straight away that it was right for me. Looking at the geometry figures there was little if any difference between the two frames so without riding them I wouldn’t have known. I appreciate that if you don’t know what you are looking for then you are unlikely to get that sort of feedback from a short test ride, but it’s a bit like trying shoes or a quality suit – you just know.

Definitely develop a relationship with your LBS though, the benefits flow both ways.

Is there anywhere near you that do bike hires for the day? Hire a 29’er hardtail in your size and go for a pedal on it. Maybe see if they’ll let you try a couple f different models? Kinda how I decided on the right size of snowboard for me by spending a day at Braehead Snowdome and trying out different sizes. Then, if you can find a Halfords with a Bizango in your size, (pretty sure you can do a search on their website), you could pop along and at least have a sit on it having recently ridden an alternative. They might even let you wheel it out into the carpark for a spin around!

If I was coming into this game new, I’d be buying new, with the safe knowledge that what I was getting didn’t have any hidden flaws, hadn’t been ragged to within an inch of its life, and that I had the backup of a bike shop’s warranty.

With my usual limited budget, I’d also be looking at an affordable bike just to make sure that I wasn’t going to waste a huge amount of money on an expensive clothes horse in the corner of the spare room!

So I think, if you can, try and get a shot of a couple of bikes, then maybe have a look at something like Halford’s Bizango from a better informed position.

🙂

C.

For your first bike (it’s often a slippery slope) I’d just get the best deal you can for your limited budget. You don’t really know what you need but a 27.5 or 29 hardtail in a size large (18-19″) is the best bet. Those Merida bikes are rather dated geometry. I’d get one of the Voodoo or Whyte hardtails if I were you. Bizango 18″ for under £500 seems the obvious choice.

As long as you can get the saddle to the right height (and you can buy very long seatposts) and your knees don’t hit the handlebars pretty much anything will fit. The way geometry has changed over the last decade or so a new small frame is likely to be longer than an old XL frame, so you can see that ‘fit’ is a very flexible thing!

I always wonder why on earth people recommend going second hand to someone who is new to cycling and doesn’t have the basic mechanical knowledge.

The Voodoo Bizango is an excellent choice at your price point especially with the current discount.

Else look at the Evans Cycles range. Even consider if you actually need suspension forks (typically heavy or only short travel on the less expensive end of the market) for the riding you’ll be doing. If not, I suggest Evans’ Pinnacle Raman One

Too late to edit post earlier. “Ramon” should be “Ramin”.

Matt Ramon!

I always wonder why on earth people recommend going second hand to someone who is new to cycling and doesn’t have the basic mechanical knowledge

Do 2nd hand bikes need servicing any more often? My bikes are old and don’t need much. If I wasn’t happy doing it myself I’d be taking them to the bike shop, just the same as a bike I’d had for 3 months.

The one i’d seen was £400, so plenty spare in the budget for throwing it at a shop saying “full service please” Too small anyway.

@ned cos you’re likely to buy a bike that’ll need new brake pads, new drivetrain, new cables or suchlike pretty quickly plus you’ve got f all comeback if it’s a lemon. most bike shops will give a new bile a ‘free’ six week service and if it breaks they have to sort it out. Second hand bikes are for people who have at least some idea of what they want and know what they are doing.

OP – find a bikeshop with a good rep and go there, use bike to work to get a bit more for your money

Any 19-20″ framed hadtail mtb from a major manufacturer will suit your needs. I like genesis steel frames, personally, but in truth there are no bad bikes. Geometry is fairly settled, equipment is pretty generic and the cheap stuff is practically as good as the best (just heavier).

And you’ll be chasing a 5yo not shredding the gnarr, or whatever.

Any decent bike shop should treat you with the utmost care. Find one that does. They don’t know that your second purchase might be a £5K carbon FS bling machine, but they should treat you as if it will be!

PS: don’t write off Halfords. There are some very good Bike Huts out there with knowledgeable staff. Halfords have huge buying power and offer good value too. The Boardman range is very well respected. But not all Halfords are created equal, sadly.

Not too far from you, try Buckingham Bikes in Aylesbury – ask for Dan the owner.

I’d second going new with your first one and sizing-wise, once over 6ft (with 32″ inside leg) you’ll be in 19/20″ territory.

And Aston Hill with little ones, nope! Chicksands is near to you, and quite entertaining with lots of little trails plus lots of jump(ers) to watch (and was a food van there too).

Hertsnewb, if you are near Aston Hill, you must be near to Tring, ring Mountain Mania or pop in, they will be able to help and also rent out bikes too. This might help with sizing. In the Tring shop they stock Scott (Aspect?), Trek (X-Calibre?) and Whyte (801?), they are good lads and speak straight IMHO. At this time of year they will be looking to shift stock for next years bikes so a deal may be available to you.

Mountain Mania Cycles
10 Miswell Lane
Tring
Hertfordshire
HP23 4BX

Call us on 01442 822458 or Email Us.

Open Monday to Saturday between 9am and 6:00pm, open late till 7.30pm on Wednesdays, Closed on Sundays.
Parking Available on Private road directly outside the shop.

Wow, so many fantastic replies, thanks all.

Right, I’m off to a different LBS, let’s see how i get on. I think the first thing i need them to show me is what is a good fit, then go from there.

Evans has Specialised and some pinnacles on sale so might pop to one of them too.

Go to Halfords too, try that Bizango ‘cos it looks ideal for what you describe.
While there, check this out:

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/end-of-line-bikes/boardman-mountain-bike-pro-hardtail-29er-2014

“Best bike under 1000 winner” from a couple of years back now available at 600. In your size too.

If that’s too much try this too, just so you’ve got some comparison to the Bizango to help decide ( £530 boardman hardtail in 27.5 ):

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/boardman-mountain-bike-comp-27-5

As a bit of a wildcard, this is well under budget with rigid forks and would be a great buy with potential for upgrade fork choice in the future when you find a good deal you like:

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ramin-one-2015-mountain-bike-EV207300

XL not large, so needs testinng though.

good luck.
For what it’s worth, I reckon you’re doing the right thing in buying new, but with the deals about at the mo’, then the “Big Shops” are offering so much more bike for your money at that price point. Worry about yourself first, ahead of supporting the LBS.

2nd hand – unfortunately £500 brand new will only result in you riding absolute rubbish – For following your kid round the woods go for a rigid fork – that will stretch your purchasing power somewhat ..

noltae
2nd hand – unfortunately £500 brand new will only result in you riding absolute rubbish – For following your kid round the woods go for a rigid fork – that will stretch your purchasing power somewhat ..

£480 will get you MBR’s best bike under £750, not absolute rubbish
Agree about rigid forks though – Pinnacle Raman One, maybe

Just to buck the trend, I bought my first bike (well, first in about 25 years) second hand. I dropped £150 on a second hand rockhopper after a quick pootle around the guys drive to make sure it wasnt a total shed. I then invested about 20 squids into the ‘zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance’ book.

That bike lasted me a few years before I was capable of more than it was. It needed some minor tinkering, but on a £150 bike you dont mind learning as you go and it wasnt like i was doing anything hardcore. I flogged the bike on for £150 recently, the new owner got an honest appraisal of what he might need to do and was happy….and I’d had a few years of cheap riding on a bike that I didnt mind scratching.

In those couple of years, i got a good feel for how it rides, what suited me and what didnt. I also learnt basic bike fettling and can now do pretty much any repairs (I draw the line at wheel building, thats a step too far).

Maybe you have a mate who could help you buy second hand? They dont need to be perfect, just free from terminal problems.

PS. The zinn book has a great section on bike fit/setup 😉

Voodoo bizango or second hand. Just look on the classifieds here or locally on ebay/ gumtree

@ned cos you’re likely to buy a bike that’ll need new brake pads, new drivetrain, new cables or suchlike pretty quickly plus you’ve got f all comeback if it’s a lemon.

Sweeping generalisation there. Forumites are pretty quick at naming and shaming so it’s really a case of checking a seller’s Classifieds posts.

Kinetic cycles is also a good shout, based on WGC and Hitchin.

To be honest, the Voodoo Bizango is a hard bike to avoid with 20% off. Join British Cycling for a further 10% off too (I’m sure this works OK)

While you can get more for your money second hand, I think you’re absolutely right to avoid that until you know quite a bit about bike maintenance, unless you can take along a very knowledgeable friend to look at a bike. The chances of buying a bike that’s fundamentally knackered are too high if you don’t know what you’re looking for. You also need to know how to tell what size fits you, which is one of the issues you have.

I’d also avoid Halfrauds, despite the cracking deals that can sometimes be had, for the same reason – they can be absolutely clueless on sizing. Again, if you have a knowledgeable friend to take along, it might be a good option.

A 29er sounds fine for what you’re wanting to do with it. A 27.5 would probably be fine too, I wouldn’t get too hung up on it personally.

Like others have said, ask on here for local shop recommendations, and I’d just take their advice to be honest. At least they should be able to sell you the right size bike.

The problem with them not having the right size bikes built up isn’t unusual unfortunately. If you can find somewhere with a big shop floor they’ll have more options built up, but no-one will have everything I’m afraid.

When test riding, get them to help you get the seat adjusted to the right height (easiest way is to put your heel on the pedal and your leg should be straight but comfortable. Then when you put the ball of your foot on the pedal it’ll be very slightly bent.) Then you need to think about how much of a stretch it is to the bars. You don’t want to feel like you’re so stretched out that it’s uncomfortable to look forward, or that you shoulders/back/arms feel stretched out. Equally, a bike that’s too small will have you sitting too upright, and will be harder work to ride. Good shops will let you have at least a quick ride around the block, and this will help you tell if you feel too stretched to be comfortable or too upright to ride fast.

Ok, so firstly I’m overwhelmed by the responses to this thread, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply!

Secondly, I popped into my LBS (Cyclopedia in Watford, if you are wondering) and had a really great chat with the guy in there. We discussed what I wanted the bike for, and he was in agreement that a 29er would suit me.

Unfortunately, due to this being the changeover time from last years models to this years (probably the same problem with the other shop I went to) so he was limited by a) what he wanted to show me in the Cube range as he wasn’t sure if the model would be available in my size and b) in the specialised range as they hadn’t built the bike yet.

Anyway, they were also only had one large frame built, a Cube LTD Pro in a 19″ frame which I sat on. He immediately said he thinks I needed a slightly longer reach. Apparently I have arms and leg like a primate, knuckles dragging on the floor sort of thing. I’m going to go back on Saturday once the Specialised is built. A quick search online has the reach of the Specialised 20mm longer than the cube so perhaps it’ll suit me better.

I then popped into Halfords. There I sat on a the Bizango which they had in a 20″ which “felt” much the same as the Cube. I also sat on a Boardman Comp 27.5 which I think had a better reach and had me in a better position. However the sales rep, a fairly young kid, didn’t really seem to know much and was very reliant on me feeling right on the bike. He actually suggested on both the bike that the handlebars needed raising to get me a bit more upright, which seems to be the opposite of what the other shop suggested, with them wanting me in a slightly more forward position.

Having seen the Bizango in the flesh…..I don’t like it. The colour puts me off pretty much. I’m 41 so I guess that explains that. I liked the look of both the Cube Aim Pro and the Boardman.

If I can, I’m going to pop into the other two shops suggested above in Tring and Aylesbury tomorrow.

Thanks all for the suggestions!

Your over thinking this, it’s your first Mtb any 19-20 frame will be ok. Buy one you like the look of and get riding. If you can get one of those Board man pro’s in a 19″ jump at it !!

taxi – you aren’t wrong. It’s a personality flaw, I over analyse EVERYTHING!

Hello again all!

OK, so I went to Mountain Mania yesterday, had a good chat with Chris there who was very helpful and I tested 2 bikes, a Scott Aspect 940 in a XL (£539) and a Scott Aspect 950 in a L (£459 I think). He was happy with the fit of both of them, said I looked about right on either. I gave them both a 3-4 min ride up the road, up the hill, round the block and back. Both bikes were a million times better then what I can remember ever riding before.

Could I choose one over the other though? Nope. To a heathen like me they were both bikes!

So, that kind of makes me think that sitting on a bike, even riding it, is going to tell me nothing so I may as well buy by spec and price and so I have narrowed it back to two bikes.

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-mountain-bike
The Voodoo Bizango, well loved, great reviews, great price (£480). But it’s coming from Halfords so the quality of the build could be hit or miss, and I’m really going to have to get used to the colour.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPWX5/on-one-parkwood-sram-x5-mountain-bike
The On-One Parkwood X5 – Seems like a really good spec, good reduction (£600) better colour scheme and it’s UK bike and I like supporting home companies rather than big brands. It’s just more expensive and as a first bike do I need to spend that extra bit more?

So, any final advice much appreciated, otherwise I’ll pull the trigger on one of these two today.

Thanks all.

Hi

Just my view! but being a tightwad, over 40,not a lot of spare cash due to the financial drain of a young family. Also I’m a smidge of 6ft and have arms similar length to something that should be swinging round trees eating bananas!

I bought a 2015 Giant Talon 1 (Large) from Paul’s Cycles for the princely sum of £599, it retails for £850. Now its not the perfect bike, and does have some limiting factors, but you know what it’s done a grand job of hauling my overweight backside round the local trails for the last 7 months, and its been a blast.

Hope this helps

s1255 – It’s like looking in a mirror!

Did you just pick the best bike for your budget and get on with it?

I haven’t read the whole thread…

Buy a bike. Something on budget, which (you reckon) looks cool. And that fits decently. Don’t sweat that too much, but like you say, you know when something really doesn’t fit. If you’ve got no idea what sort of thing to get, probably err on the side of not too bloody heavy, and don’t be tempted to go over budget.

Once you’ve bought your bike, make a deal with yourself that you’re going to stick with it for a couple of years, and ride it loads, without worrying about whether it’s “right”. The best bike for the riding you’re doing is the one you actually have.

When your couple of years are up, you’ll have ridden loads, you won’t feel like a newbie and you’ll have some ideas about what you do and do not like about your bike and what you want from the next one. So hopefully buying your next bike will be much easier.

🙂