£700 beginner MTB

[Andrius.B]

I have got £700 to get myself a hard tail mtb. I have been commuting on roads for about a year, but want to give MTB a shot. I used to ride around very light trails on my cheap second hand GT Aggressor that I got for £150, but I broke the front fork, and in any case, the brakes and mechs were total crap.
What would be the best hard-tail for my budget?

 

[Cubist]

Andrius
That's a nice budget to be starting with, it should get you a decent hardtail. How much research have you done, and do you have any fixed ideas about what you want to do with it?

Do you want new, or would you be prepared top buy secondhand and risk that some components may/will need upgrading/changing?

What sort of riding do you have in mind? A lot of people overestimate the sort of riding they're going to do, and think they need all sorts of bling kit just to ride bike paths and woodland trails. Others underestimate and end up with too little bike for the sort of thing they want to do, and end up trying to ride trail centre black routes on a rigid towpath bike.

I'll assume you want to ride rough bridleways and will be tempted to go and try the gnarly stuff at trail centres.

The very best you'll get new would be a Canyon Grand Canyon 6.0. They're a bit over your budget at £768, but the level of equipment is second to none for the money.

At the moment your budget would buy you a Cube Acid, or a discounted Cube Ltd. Decent forks brakes and wheels, some decent gears but low-budget chainsets. Very capable, very pretty, but be aware that the Germans love to ride forest trails and fire roads. Their bikes can be nervy for British trails and off road routes.

Genesis make some nice alloy MTBs, and the Giant Talons are meant to be designed with British riding in mind. Check their offerings.

The big guys like Specialized and Trek will sell you a bike for £700, but in my experience they will be lower end components on a more expensive frame . That's fine if you envisage upgrading in the future, but you'll end up with a cheap fork and wheelset at that sort of budget.

If you can get to a Halfords and see past the prejudice, Carrera and Voodoo hardtails all hit the spot at your budget. Similarly Decathlon will sell you some awesome kit for your dollar.

 

[Crankarm]

Boardman Hybrid Comp is good and would leave you with change out of £700.

Try and buy as good a frame as you can, all else can easily be upgraded with the exception of wheels which will be £££££ so try to get a good wheelset as well.

Kona and Trek are good, light and strong. Specialised have cheap paint that comes off if you so much as sneeze on your bike, plus frames not so good - flex.

As above if you buy second hand you might get a real bargain, but do make sure the bike isn't nicked before you buy. If something appears too good to be true it generally is.

 

[Andrius.B]

Thanks both of you for your posts.

I might consider buying second hand, but I am afraid of buying a stolen bike. The last thing I want is to support bike thieves.

To answer your questions about riding, I will be riding mainly on some trails in the Ashton Court trails/ Leigh Woods in Bristol. Of course I will start with the easiest and least demanding ones. I know that anything more downhill like requires a proper full sus, but I don't have the money for that, and I don't have the skills to ride any hard or downhill trails anyway.

I will also be using it to get to work. I know that mountain bike is not designed to be ridden on a road, but my commute is only 2 miles each way, so it won't make much of a difference anyway.

I checked the Canyon Grand Canyon 6.0 and it looks amazing. I will seriously consider that.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Completely disagree with the comment about great components on frames. I would go completely the other way and get a great frame. Have a look at the Whyte 801 (there's one here from my local bike shop) - the frame is phenomenal and has fantastic geometry, forward facing seat clamp and full length outers. They are more important in our conditions than what the rear mech says on it. My buddy got last year's from that shop and absolutely loves it. He has ridden my super expensive bike and still loves his!!

 

[Keith Oates]

I ride a Trek 4300 which I find very good. I use it to ride with the club most weeks on a Sunday Morning but it is on rough trails and single track. I also use it to commute each day for a 40+ Km round trip and find it very good.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lulubel]

I know that anything more downhill like requires a proper full sus, but I don't have the money for that, and I don't have the skills to ride any hard or downhill trails anyway.

I'd disagree with this. It doesn't NEED a full suss, although some people would say it makes it more comfortable. I actually ride up and down mountains (because that's what we've got around here), on rocky trails that are covered with loose stones and scree, and cut up by water run-off. I'm currently riding a €260 hardtail (which is completely knackered after about 1,000km of off-road duties, and I'm trying to convince my OH that I need that Grand Canyon that Cubist recommended) but the point is that you don't need a fancy full suss to tackle it. In fact, it's a MTBer's paradise around here, and out of all the people I meet, I've never seen anyone on a full suss.

So, I think a decent hardtail will be capable of a lot more than you think it will, as your skill and confidence increases.

 

[Cubist]

No, Lulubel's perfectly right. A decent hardtail will cope with far more than people give them credit for. The outright Downhill stuff needs specialist bikes and you're right, a susser is the tool for the job, but every Red Route I've ever ridden has been perfectly rideable with a hardtail.

There are some bargains to be had in terms of SH hardtails, but you need to be on the lookout for the right ones at the right price. Ferris Bueller makes a good point about quality frames before high-end components, but even he wouldn't want to run a high quality HT with a suntour fork on aggressive stuff!

If you are feeling brave have a look at On One, Ragley, and check ebay and so on for Cove, Cotic, Dialled, NSR, Nukeproof, Orange P7,Genesis Latitude, Charge Duster hardtails, mostly aggressive steel long-forkers which will eat the average red trail route for breakfast (my Cotic Soul is every bit as capable at Llandegla as my full suss "trail bike")

All frames are "modular", in other words whatever someone has bolted to one, can be taken off and bolted to another, so if you buy to your budget you can save for the next upgrade as the fancy takes you. My last two bikes have been built from frames bought separately, and built up with parts from my old XC bike and internet bargains.

 

[gb901]

I have got £700 to get myself a hard tail mtb. I have been commuting on roads for about a year, but want to give MTB a shot. I used to ride around very light trails on my cheap second hand GT Aggressor that I got for £150, but I broke the front fork, and in any case, the brakes and mechs were total crap.
What would be the best hard-tail for my budget?

boardmans getting good reviews, as with their road nbikes

 

[Crosstrailer]

Boardman Hybrid Comp is good and would leave you with change out of £700.

Try and buy as good a frame as you can, all else can easily be upgraded with the exception of wheels which will be £££££ so try to get a good wheelset as well.

Kona and Trek are good, light and strong. Specialised have cheap paint that comes off if you so much as sneeze on your bike, plus frames not so good - flex.

As above if you buy second hand you might get a real bargain, but do make sure the bike isn't nicked before you buy. If something appears too good to be true it generally is.

What a complete load of ill informed rubbish

 

[Crankarm]

What a complete load of ill informed rubbish

I don't think so. The paint on my Specialised Sirius Sport comes off very easily. Build quality is nowhere as good as Trek or Kona. Period.

You are new here. Perhaps you might think about how you come across.

 

[Crosstrailer]

I don't think so. The paint on my Specialised Sirius Sport comes off very easily. Build quality is nowhere as good as Trek or Kona. Period.

You are new here. Perhaps you might think about how you come across.

Pulling the 'new' card - yawn....

Again, another sweeping generalisation (not for the first time...) Thats your opinion, not fact or 'period'.

 

[Peteaud]

Ive riden Cwmcarn on my Hardtail, as well as Halden and local trails.

Ive a Trek 6500 and although its above your price range i can def rec Trek.

 

[Cubist]

What a complete load of ill informed rubbish

Pulling the 'new' card - yawn....

Again, another sweeping generalisation (not for the first time...) Thats your opinion, not fact or 'period'.

Actually, it's his observation based on experience.

People come onto this forum to share knowledge. Part of that will be opinion, so you have to temper how you deal with that experience and opinion.

We are all open to a bit of debate, but launching yourself feet first at another poster in order to defend your "fanboy" brand will not come across as particularly helpful or polite.

 

[Cubist]

Completely disagree with the comment about great components on frames. I would go completely the other way and get a great frame. Have a look at the Whyte 801 (there's one here from my local bike shop) - the frame is phenomenal and has fantastic geometry, forward facing seat clamp and full length outers. They are more important in our conditions than what the rear mech says on it. My buddy got last year's from that shop and absolutely loves it. He has ridden my super expensive bike and still loves his!!

You're absolutely right. If you read the posts, we actually said exactly that so there's no need to "Completely disagree with anything"

Try and buy as good a frame as you can, all else can easily be upgraded with the exception of wheels which will be £££££ so try to get a good wheelset as well.

Andrius
That's a nice budget to be starting with, it should get you a decent hardtail. How much research have you done, and do you have any fixed ideas about what you want to do with it?



The big guys like Specialized and Trek will sell you a bike for £700, but in my experience they will be lower end components on a more expensive frame . That's fine if you envisage upgrading in the future, but you'll end up with a cheap fork and wheelset at that sort of budget.