voodoo bantu

Looking at buying a voodoo bantu as my first mountain bike, are they any good or would a specialized hardrock disc be a better buy ? both bikes feel comfy ,but being new to this im not sure which is the better spec ? i realise both are only budget bikes and you get what you pay for, but didnt want to spend a fortune to have it stuck in the garage if i dont use it .
thanks Dave

Have a look at a Moda Rondo 2011, good value for money.

Available as frame only also.

thanks, looks good but way out of my budget for now. 🙂

Without wanting to sound all bike snobish (I only got back into cycling 3 years ago with a £200 second hand bike) the specs at that range are much of a muchness. My take on it is there are some big players in this price range and the likes of Halfords and Evans Cycles are there along with the internet sites like Wiggle, CRC and Merlin. These guys have big buying power so buy large quantities and in turn usually end up with excess stock at the time when the bike models change (Sept / Oct). With the 2012 bikes coming out you will find these stores have good deals on the 2011 range and if you are lucky with sizing some very god deals on the 2010 ones. The difference in the £400 ish range is going to be paint job etc.
With regards to the two bikes above my comment would be that the Voodoo is 1.8 kg heavier probably due to the forks. you have to get that up the hills. But the rest of it looks a little better spec.

Have a look here for other options..

Good luck
Link

Ohh and welcome.. most of the natives are friendly

I’d go for the Voodoo out of those two personally, the fork is better than on the Specialized, as are the brakes. The Suntour Raidon is a pretty decent fork to be honest, especially at that price.

Just make sure it’s set up properly as Halford’s aren’t known for putting bikes together that well. Perhaps get a mate to give the bike the once over?

Also, have you had a look at the Carrera Kraken? There’s a new one out, but I think the old ones are going cheap at the moment:

Old:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_518223_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

New:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_810647_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

But yeah, that Voodoo looks like a great bike for the money. I can’t really think of anything better for that price. Oh, and I wouldn’t worry too much about Halford’s weight description either, they aren’t good at doing that either. 😆

It is worth doing what netdonkey says too, but the Voodoo is still a great deal, as good as a £500-£600+ from many other manufacturers.

Hi Dave – welcome. Both look like good entry level options. If anything the Voodoo looks a better spec – Hydraulic discs instead of mechanical, similar groupsets and similar forks, although apparently the Specialised is a bit lighter. The most important thing is that the bike is comfy and fun. In my experience (I haven’t ridden either of these particular bikes, but have experience of both brands) the Voodoo will be aimed more at having fun/more comfy to ride where as the Specilised is probably a bit more ‘racey’.

Strangely, I’ve just had an email saying that the Bantu is only £360. Bargain!

Let us know what you go for matey!

thanks everyone for the welcome and your advise.weight isnt too much of an issue as im a bit of a lard arse ! hence the need for exercise . it was the spec really that i needed advise on as there is just too much information out there for me to decide. The guy i spoke to in Evans loved every bike and the guy in Halfords looked bored to death,so your advise is appreciated.
Gary the Voodoo is only £360 if you buy online , so its better than i thought.
Matt both bikes felt comfy when i tried them, that just made the decision even harder 🙂

dave 65 – For what it’s worth, the weight difference is negligible between the two bikes, but like matttromans has said, choose the bike that suit you more.

I used to have a Specialized Rockhopper similar to a Hardrock so they are great bikes so I’m not biased! I just reckon the Voodoo is better value, especially at that price. There’s one locked up near to where I work and it looks very nice indeed. (Though how much longer before it gets nicked I’m not sure!)

Dave, don’t let your experience at Halfords put you off. They’re both great bikes, you can’t really go wrong with either as a first MTB. I think its unanimous (almost unheard of on here!) that the Voodoo has a better spec – Hydraulic Disc brakes rather than mechanicals, and a better fork. Beware that if you order online through Halfords you will have to put the bike together and set it up yourself (I think), if you’re not comfortable doing this I am sure your local bike shop will – at a price (approx £40ish)! I think you might have slightly mis-understood what I meant by ‘comfy’. I suspect that the Spesh’ when riding will have a more race orientated geometry, and therefore quicker steering and a less forgiving feel, where as the Voodoo will feel a bit more relaxed and forgiving, so more comfortable for general ‘trial’ riding. FWIW i’d go with the Voodoo. Hope that helps.

You don’t like to ride in a Chelsea shirt by any chance? 😉

thanks Matt, i will call in the local Halfords and as about the bike being built if i order online.If the bike is built up by Halfords what would be the points to look out for on a badly built bike ? I take your point with the comfy ref, some of the bikes i tried i felt as though my knees were too close to the handle bars , like all my weight was too far forward, but these too felt fine.thanks

[You don’t like to ride in a Chelsea shirt by any chance?

No mate but i am partial to a one legged hooker every now and then !!!! 😉

You’ll need to check everything is tight and you may have to align the gears properly. I bought a Boardman mail order from them and the front mech needed adjusting but apart from that everything was pretty good.

Oh and don’t forget to check the forks are facing the right way!

I can’t believe i’m about to admit this on here, i’ll never hear the end of it. I used to work for Halfords. I’m not proud, I was a student and needed some easy cash. Anyway, whilst there I assembled many many bikes, all to the best possible standard (I always relished the chance to build something nice like the voodoo as it was a break from building sh1t bikes, so took my time over it). I guess what i’m trying to say is that they aren’t all bad….some are.

I’ve just checked on the Halfords site, a free build is included, so you order online and pick it up in your local store ready to go.

As for things to look for, this is tricky to explain here and to be honest, you shouldn’t need to (would you expect to check over the work of car mechanics when picking up a brand new car?). However, for peace of mind, its worth checking that wheels are on properly, everything that should be tight is (handlebars, stem, seatpost,seat, pedals) and that the brakes work well. The gears will require adjustment after a few hours riding as the cables will stretch slightly.

Back to the ‘comfy’ thing – it is all about the bike geometry – this will affect the way the bike rides, its difficult to explain and is dependant on things like the angle of head and seat tubes, bottom bracket height etc. My suspicion is that the Spesh’ will have angles set up more for racing/XC where as the Voodoo will be a bit more relaxed, making it a more enjoyable ride if you’re not planning on really fast riding. You wouldn’t really notice the difference without giving them a good ride.

My other half has a Voodoo Bokor, different model I know, but we can’t fault it. For the money I don’t think the specs can be beaten, I expect it’s the same for the Bantu.

Bear in mind the future maintenance cost verses how much you are going to use the bike and what for.

If you intend heavy usage it might be better to spend a bit more upfront as things will wear out quicker on the cheaper kit.

I spend about £700 on my first bike, a Kona Muni Mula, and then rode it a lot all year round to keep/get fit. It had STX/LX and it all wore out pretty quick, wheels buckled, fork proved to be junk – and by the time I had fixed it it cost more than the Kona Kula that was the same spec as I ended up with – a spec where things lasted a lot longer (XT).

Cheaper kit is better nowadays but it might be an option to look for a good 2nd hand bike as their prices are hopefully depressed atm ‘cos of the economic climate.

Evans do 0% as well…

I have an 09 bantu,great bike,won best under £600 mtb’s for 2 yrs running.

However.They’ve been downspecced for this year hence the £360 price tag.

ordered the bantu last night,collect today. the lad in Halfords seemed to know his stuff,took time to explain everything even ordered the bike online for me at the till! whats the point of an internet price when they can do that !
I understand what your saying Turnerguy, but i would hate to spend too much if i end up not using it. This seems like a nice compromise for now, if i spent £700 on a bike and didnt use it she would cut my nuts off !

Thanks everyone for the help, all i need to do now is learn how to ride up all these bloody hills !

I have a bokor, it’s a bantu without the rear sus. Quality bike and I’d bet the bantu is too. Buy online from halfords, you collect instore. Some halfords staff are bad some good but they can’t do too much damage… I’d say go for it, get out riding 🙂

dave65 – keep an eye on your chain stretch – you can get a park tool to measure it, especially as the chain on a new bike is often a cheap one as no-one will notice the cost cutting.

If the chain stretches (wears) too much it will start wearing the drive train, so replace it before it gets there otherwise a new drivetrain (or maybe just the cassette if lucky) can cost.

Or some people get 3 decentish but cheap (KMC) chains and rotate between them, letting them all wear a little and then swapping over to the next. By the time the 3 chains are knackered they will replace the whole drivetrain.

Also keep an eye on spoke tensions. They may slacken off after a few rides, so you want to keep them in trim or the wheel may go out of true.

Thanks for the tips Turnerguy, these sort of tips are exactly what i need.Ive had a look on the parktool site and there’s loads of maintenance info on there too, looks like ive got some reading to do.

with regard to spoke tension,is it obvious that they have slackened off or is it something only a more experienced eye would spot?

thanks

squeeze the spokes together as you go round the wheel and it should be obvious if one has lost tension.

Note that the general tension may be different on either sides of the wheel to account for the asymmetry of the hub flanges wrt to the centre of the wheel – like for the rear cassette.

Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance is a decent book as well.

this is the chain checker I have:

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/17390/Park_Chain_Checker_Tool

they have a cheaper one but I can’t vouch for it as I have never used it.

read Roger Mussons book if you want to know more about wheels, including building your own trueing stand cheaply:

http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

As with when I started mtbing, you probably won’t want to go for clipless pedals to start. But you should get some decent flats, like DMR, which are VERY grippy if you use them with flat sole shoes, like Vans.

The best tip I was given was by someone from a family of big cyclists. He said to make sure I kept a good cadence when pedalling, somewhere around 70 at least. This is also called spinning.

Obviously, without clipless you can’t do the whole spin thing properly, but flat pedals and soles let you do most of it.

So your pedalling stroke involves the usual push downwards, but then you pull your bottom foot backwards at the bottom of the stroke (like you are scrapping dog sh1t off your shoe). Then you would normally pull your foot up – with flats you can slightly angle the pedal and also pull up a bit. Then you drive your foot forward across the top of the stroke.

If you are not concentrating on downhill, you should then get onto clipless pedals if possible.

This is such an efficient way of cycling. I have just had a kidney infection and am weak as a kitten, but cycled 32 miles home on my folder on monday night because the trains were stuffed, and it wasn’t too hard just based on the fact that my cadence is constantly high. In contrast I am having real trouble running because of my lack of fitness.

all i need to do now is learn how to ride up all these bloody hills !

Remember if you need to stop halfway up it’s fine you just need to fiddle around at the back end looking quizzical as if something has gone wrong, anybody rides past you just mutter “bloody Halfords mechanics” they give you an understanding nod and you’ve got away with it.

thanks for that turnerguy,had a couple of rides now and everything seems great.Ive had a look at the clipless pedals,i’ll try them when ive got a bit more experience, the flat pedals that are on the bike are ok, quite a good grip, but i think these will need changing when the pins on them start to wear,they are only nylon.Ive found the Zinn book on Amazon so i’ll be ordering that.I havnt got a clue what cadence is, i guess its to do with how fast and constant you pedal,so im going to have a google. Thanks again.

avdave2 – Member
all i need to do now is learn how to ride up all these bloody hills !

Remember if you need to stop halfway up it’s fine you just need to fiddle around at the back end looking quizzical as if something has gone wrong, anybody rides past you just mutter “bloody Halfords mechanics” they give you an understanding nod and you’ve got away with it

If i need to stop!!!! bloody hell !! dont think i’ll ever be able to tackle the hills round here, pass the oxygen 🙂

Hi Everyone,
Just new to the forum so a big Hello goes out to everyone.

After a lot of internet research i purchased a Voodoo Bantu from Halfords and picked it up today. I can confirm that even though i reserved online to qualify for the 40 quid discount that DOES include the usual free build. As far as i know the web discount offer ends on Wednesday according to their website.

Took the Bantu for a spin earlier this evening and only done 3 mile but i am well pleased….early days i know but for £359.00 i am delighted.

I am by no means an expert but compared to my old Bike this thing is like a rolls royce. Can’t believe the quality for that price. Was almost going to go for a Kracken but after a bit of research i opted for the Bantu.

Remy

Ps. Tried to upload a pick…but haven’t had much success 🙁