sub £1000 bikes, what do you look for?

As part of some research i'm doing in to a project i'm looking into i thought it would be prudent to ask you lot what sort of bikes you actually want to buy?

Basically what sort of bikes are people wanting for around 1K or under, is it still a nice steel HT, rigid, 29er, pub bikes, fixies etc? What parts of the spec are important to you? How about a good full suss frame under 1k?

I know this seems a little like pissssing in the wind as the choices are endless, i have my own ideas just want to see what you lot think?

Hit me with your thoughts!

I think that the market is swamped with bikes that people are looking for at under a grand, in the mountain bike secotr at least. I wouldn't touch a fs bike that cost this price unless it was heavily discounted in a sale.

only bikes I'd consider buying new for under a grand would be roadbikes, BMXs or kids bikes.

I bought my FS at full RRP and it was £995. Read up on all the reviews and narrowed it down to an Orange Crush and a Giant Trance X4. Ended up going for the Trance based on a test ride of the Orange and the Giant back to back and the Orange just didn't quite feel "right". Not sure why but the Giant felt better. I can't find anything wrong with the Giant apart from the brakes aren't as good as the XTR ones on my Scale but thats been sorted out by swapping the parts off the Scale as I hadn't used if for over a year. The forks may need swapping over at a later date but there's no rush for that they do their job.

Probably the sort of stuff that money can improve such as wheels and forks. EG: IMO, no point in spending loads on gearing if a cheap system works fine.

Ended up going for the Trance based on a test ride of the Orange and the Giant back to back and the Orange just didn't quite feel "right". Not sure why but the Giant felt better.

Eh? One is a hardtail, one is a full suspension bike, they are obviously going to feel different

The frame is the most important part of any bike and should be of quality the components can be upgraded over time

If i was to think about selling a bike under a grand i'd be thinking:

– Hardtail, safe, trail ready geometry no xc race bike angles or too slack
– At least deore group, maybe a token slx/xt rear mech, 3 x 9
– Decent chainset, slx or deore hollowtech
– Mavic rims/shimano hubs (at this price at least your lbs can service them)
– 120mm proven forks,cheap and cheerful toras maybe? Adjustable rebound.
– Shortish stem, 70mm ish and some decent width bars at least 680mm.
– Decent tyres, eskar/high roller, something predictable tread wise
– Hydraulic disc brakes, juicy 3's are pretty competitive price wise and work well enough.
– Decent perch, charge spoons aint that expensive.
– Lock on grips.

If i was to spend less than a grand on a bike then i'd be happy with the above formula and certainly wouldn't be looking at a full suss due to the fact that at that price you tend to be looking at low end shocks which you may struggle with back up on (x fusion spring to mind but i may be wrong), also pivot bearing kits and spares may not be as readily available and too many compromises tend to happen in other key areas such as transmission and braking and forks.
I'd rather have a dependable sensibly kitted out hardtail than a maintenance heavy full suss that can't make full use of a decent frame design due to being cheaply specced with poor kit.

Each to there own but thats my opinion. Full sussers at this pricepoint are getting better as the giant trance proves but i still wouldn't go down that route.

I'm not sure that what I'd want is what sells… I'd want every penny possible thrown into the fork, wheels and frame. Everything else can be at a minimal functional level, bargain basement Tektro and SRAM X5 and suchlike all does the job perfectly well tbh. Whatever's left over can go on this stuff but the priorities are the bits you'll keep.

But everything I can see tells me people actually LIKE the token XT rear mech, and the daft stuff like really bargain basement Mavic rims on nice hubs and such.

Eh? One is a hardtail, one is a full suspension bike, they are obviously going to feel different

I've come from a hardtail so know what it would feel like. But there was just something in the riding position I didn't like. The main reason I went for the trance was because the frame is the same as the top end trance the rest is easily upgradable. Apart from forks and finishing kit most already has.

XC trailday geometry, Full Deore groupset, some form of RS fork. on a FS

Better Geometry with more potential, better fork and an SLX group on a hardtail.

I bought a HT just over 12 months ago for just under a grand. It came with a light 7005 alu frame, decent fork (Reba SL), decent drivetrain (full SLX, token XT rear mech), decent wheels (Sun Ringle Ryde XMB), decent brakes (Formula K18), decent tyres (Schwalbe NN/RR) but modest finishing kit (Easton EA30 all round).

That was a pretty perfect spec for me. The most expensive bits – frame, fork, brakes and wheels – were all solid. The drivetrain was also better than expected, but this would be less of a long-term priority as it will be replaced over time anyway. Still, at £1000 I'd expect at least full Deore, but probably SLX. If you're going to save money, do it with the finishing kit. Things like saddles, bars and pedals are so specific to the individual that they'll probably be replaced anyway. At this pricepoint, weight isn't going to be so much of an issue, so a cheap stem/bar/post will be fine, but as one poster above pointed out, that doesn't mean you can't get reasonble stuff (Charge Spoon, etc). In fact, I wouldn't even bother with pedals.

Hope that helps.

a +£1000 bike, reduced.

For £1000 I would expect a perfect build! tbh I'm nearly there with my bike which cost about £550, just needs its drivetrain sorted out. Main things I want are:

-hardtail, steel, light as possible without sacrificing strength. Geometry should be good for both climbing and descending well (if possible!)
-good, plush forks. Rock Shox somethings 🙂
-quality drivetrain
-decent and reasonably light set of wheels/hubs with sealed bearings
-half decent brakes, Juicy 5 at least.

'm not sure that what I'd want is what sells…

I think you're right. What you describe is what I have been looking for on the C2W scheme. Hardtail frame, fork, wheels in that order, after that I don't really care, though an XT rear mech seems the addition of choice on everything out there. The Cube Team Ltd and the Boardman are hard to beat spec wise, but I'd compromise the spec to get a better fork and wheels in both cases, or rather better wheels as the Reba is fine…though I'd prefer to see a SID team on both.

£1000 doesn't get you much in 2010 – it did a few years ago. Sounds a bit wrong but it's true.

For £1000 I'd look for a HT from a reasonably well known manufacturer. I'd go for a lightish XC number but that's not very "trendy" – many go for an EXTREME burly steed with biggish travel forks.

Being pragmatic, I would look for..

-Most importantly: A decent quality 'core build', i.e. frame forks and wheels, with less money spent on upgradeable/disposable items.

-Functional, effective drivetrain but not excessively expensive (i.e. Deore/SLX mix). Can be upgraded as it wears out. Oh, and FFS don't waste money speccing a rear mech that is slightly better than the rest of the drivetrain – it makes bugger all difference!

-Brakes perhaps from a slightly better groupset to the drivetrain, as I would be less likely to swap these/wear them out (SLX?)

-Functional own-brand finishing kit, preferably not too heavy or ugly

EDIT: I have no idea if this is possible for 1k! Would probably have to be a HT.

+1 to poppa.
I wouldn't touch half the bikes in the £1000 range as their forks are utterly gash. Doesn't have to be top end, just decent.
I'd rather have that any day of the week that an XT bits.

In a hardtail, probbaly a good fork, wheels and frame, everythign else a lot of people probably have in their spares box or leftover from their last bike.

Even building up from parts £1k gets a lot of hardtail;

On-One 456 – £165
RS rev 150mm/20mm – £360
Pro2/ZTR Flow – £260

~£785

Stick £200 of cheep stuff on there to finish it off and I'd buy it if I didnt already have one 🙂

Nice frame, good forks, and a full Deore group – maybe a bit of SLX thrown in to get a 2×9 setup from stock. I'd like to see decent quality forks and brakes too. To me that means open bath Marzocchis and Shimano or Magura brakes.

decent frame and forks, cartridge bearing wheels as the crucial stuff. basic rebranded bars seat etc. Basic shimano drivetrain and brakes I'd prefer hope brakes but it ain't gonna happen at that price point with decent wheels and fork I guess

For £1000 I'd expect to buy a decent hard tail, at that price I think a full susser is unrealistic.

For me, irrespective of price, the most important thing is the frame. Everything else can be exchanged/upgraded. Next I look for a decent fork, drive train, brakes, wheels.

I know wheels are arguably more important than the drive train or brakes, but they are a lot easier to change.

Finishing kit (saddle, bars, etc) are very 'personal' so I'm not too bothered what's on the bike as they'll almost certainly need changing.

A good full suss frame for less than a grand.

decent frame. this is the driver for my upcoming purchase.

so many 400 bikes have crappy frames and forks.

what i`d really really like is a proper decent frame with a rigid fork with simple cheap components (kinda like what commencal do with their max max frames but for xc) that i can upgrade/raid the spares bin as and when.

these shitty suss forks all the cheaper bikes come with are pointless for me.

for 1k i recon you can get a really good xc bike. half that and you struggle.

A decent frame doesn't have to be at all expensive though, there's an assumption that cheap bikes have bad frames but the frame in my old carrera was spot on, I'd still be using it now if I weren't so vain A £1000 bike built round a cheap On One frame will probably perform better than a £1000 bike built around an expensive Soul frame, because though the frame's heavier and not as nice the extra budget goes a long way elsewhere.

Van Halen, almost agree with you, definately should be more rigid budget bikes… But £500 gets you a pretty nice machine these days.

Full suss for a grand with good spec does exist…

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_525713_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

You could easily buy a worse spec'd hardtail for a grand.

Nice looking HT trail frame, sub 2kg fork, great tyres and brakes. Deore everything else.

"A £1000 bike built round a cheap On One frame will probably perform better than a £1000 bike built around an expensive Soul frame, because though the frame's heavier and not as nice the extra budget goes a long way elsewhere. "

I disagree. Important factors of a bike are frame, fork, wheels. The extra budget may get you better shifters, brakes etc but these are all things which are relatively cheap and easy to replace and upgrade. A heavy dog of a frame is not. A Deore rear mech would not put me off a £1000 bike if the frame was worth putting nicer kit on in the future.

"I disagree. Important factors of a bike are frame, fork, wheels. The extra budget may get you better shifters, brakes etc but these are all things which are relatively cheap and easy to replace and upgrade. A heavy dog of a frame is not. A Deore rear mech would not put me off a £1000 bike if the frame was worth putting nicer kit on in the future. "

I'd agree, if the 456 was a heavy dog, but in reality I'd have got, oh, lets arbitrarily say 75% of the performance of my Soul for about 30% of the price if I'd gone with one. Cheap frames can be a very effective use of budget once you get above the bottom rung of the ladder. An extra £300 to throw at the wheels and forks could give a big improvement, depending on exactly what you're building.

Or elsewhere, I'd rather have a 456 with a Gravity Dropper than a Soul with a standard seatpost, frinstance. Luckily I don't have to make that choice as I have a Soul with a gravity dropper 😉

A decent full suss frame for under £1k. Giant Trance, KHS XC604, Boardman show its possible without the budget getting hammered too much. Though I don't know if they have fairly standard size shocks if anyone wanted to easily upgrade the rear shock?

Frame, fork and wheels would be my order of preference. A decent fork would mean a minimum of a RS Recon – Tora's look nasty and cheap – Decathlon show you can get one of those on a £500 bike.

I bought a trance x4 as I wanted a full susser, and it was the best one for the £1k price cap on cycle to work. Thats best in terms of frame and suspension design & quality – anything else can be upgraded.

I'd hope for an Air/well damped oil fork, decent hubs & rims as no-name / formula hubs ain't the best, adn deore level brakes & drive train with maybe a smattering of low group manufacturer finishing kit like Raceface Ride or Ritchey stuff.

Frame would more than likely be a steel or alu HT with angles that were good for the UK and decent mud clearance.

Genesis Core springs to mind but with better wheels, i'd personally rather better rims and hubs than a XT mech out back. makes the bike a whole lot better IMHO

Or why can no one produce a decent single pivot FS along the lines of the Orange 5 or Santa Cruz Superlight/Heckler? Or do single pivots only get a good write up when they are uber overpriced and have a niche brand name on them?

Something like Sunn Wisdom S3 – is that any good? Single pivot swingarms must be cheaper to produce than linkage driven single pivots or horst link bikes etc?

Scott G-Zero went down to £799 price point years ago and all the way through to their top models £2k plus. I'd have another with an air shock and a bit stiffer swingarm.

with angles that were good for the UK

Too true. I associate 71.5 degrees with Belgium, and 65 degrees with Paraguay.