Bike advice please

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mark st1

Plastic Manc
Location
Leafy Berkshire
Possibility of dipping a toe in the mtb world I have a few mates that use Swinley forest a lot and as I'm told it's on my doorstep I should make use of it... Can anyone offer any real world info on either of these 2 please...

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...goryId=165499&productId=1173803&storeId=10001

Or

https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-rockhopper-comp-29-2016-mountain-bike-EV244881

Have to be honest the specs mean and features mean nothing to me always a bit suspect of Halfords reviews as well. So all pros and cons appreciated.

Many thanks
Mark
 

RBT84

Active Member
Location
Tamworth
The boardman is a nice bike for the money well specced and a good fork, personally I steer clear of the Specialized nice frame however everything else lets it down.
 
Normally I would recommend a Rockhopper when someone wants to start out in MTB'ing.Forget the rest kind of thing.
But...,...I would take the Boardman hands down now.
Nice looking,well built and comes with a nice little package of durable quality components.
Add to that ,a cracking fork in that price category.
Boardman for me........hands down.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
The boardman pro.. ..if your under 6' id see if you can get it in 27.5 unless you want 29.
the sram GX and reba fork will be all you need for a few years .
no buy cheap and upgrade needed as you already have a good set up.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Some journalists have criticised, most notably in an MBR group test, that Boardman frame for being too flexible at the rear, so much so that heavy or powerful riders can make the tyre brush the chainstay as they lay on the power. If you're a big or meaty chap this may be a consideration. Go try one and see, you may be fine, you may not.

All that glitters is not necessarily gold. Spec lists may make a starting point for your quest, but a bling bike doesn't automatically ride better than a lower spec one.
 
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Levo-Lon

Guru
Some journalists have criticised, most notably in an MBR group test, that Boardman frame for being too flexible at the rear, so much so that heavy or powerful riders can make the tyre brush the chainstay as they lay on the power. If you're a big or meaty chap this may be a consideration. Go try one and see, you may be fine, you may not.

All that glitters is not necessarily gold. Spec lists may make a starting point for your quest, but a being bike doesn't automatically ride better than a lower spec one.

good point @Drago ..ive not read that ..
 
OP
OP
mark st1

mark st1

Plastic Manc
Location
Leafy Berkshire
The boardman pro.. ..if your under 6' id see if you can get it in 27.5 unless you want 29.

Sorry I dont know what that means ?
 
OP
OP
mark st1

mark st1

Plastic Manc
Location
Leafy Berkshire
Some journalists have criticised, most notably in an MBR group test, that Boardman frame for being too flexible at the rear, so much so that heavy or powerful riders can make the tyre brush the chainstay as they lay on the power. If you're a big or meaty chap this may be a consideration. Go try one and see, you may be fine, you may not.

All that glitters is not necessarily gold. Spec lists may make a starting point for your quest, but a bling bike doesn't automatically ride better than a lower spec one.

Good stuff many thanks.
 

NorthernDave

Never used Über Member
Me neither.
A problem across the whole range @Drago ?
Not being a particularly meaty chap(in my mind),the two hours I had on one,the back end behaved itself.
Lively though,but good lively.

I can only speak from my experience with an MX Sport hybrid (it's geometry is pretty much pure MTB) and I've never noticed that problem despite giving it a lot of stick / having fun off road, and I was definitely on the larger side when I started cycling again (and sadly still am...).
 
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