Another Newbie! which 1 of 4 bikes is best?

[Rob.Maddocks]

Hello,
i am buying a new bike through a cycle to work scheme and so will be buying it off www.wheelies.co.uk.

i am prepared to spend around £400 - £500 on their website price. But which one is best to buy. i have narrowed it down to 4, but not sure which one. i will be riding to work so would prefer lock out suspension and will do weekend riding in woods etc. before i buy off the web i will test ride all the bike, but which one do the people that know their stuff recommend? below are the 4 i narrowed it down too. or are there any others which would be better?

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/products-Aspect-30-2008_12414.htm

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/products-Avalanche-1.0-Disc-2008_14200.htm

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/products-Rockhopper-2008_13104.htm

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/products-Scale-70-2008_12469.htm

thanks in advance for any help

 

[LLB]

Wouldn't entertain using a MTB as a commuter unless I only worked 1 mile max from home. No point making harder work than neccessary IMO

 

[Rob.Maddocks]

works is only 2 miles max, but also want something for weekend fun which is why i want to go for a MTB

 

[LLB]

works is only 2 miles max, but also want something for weekend fun which is why i want to go for a MTB

Sounds good then. You can always get some MTB tyres with slick centres for the road commute. My work commute works out at about 15 miles normally round trip, but a couple of miles is very do-able

 

[Flying_Monkey]

They're are all pretty much of a muchness, although the Specialized has better forks and a frame that was on much higher level machines a few years ago.

 

[User482]

It's quite hard to buy a bad bike these days, so concentrate on which one fits you the best. Or looks the nicest. Well worth having a spare set of wheels fitted with slicks for the commute.

 

[Mr Pig]

I've been looking at bikes in this price bracket very closely recently as I'm about to buy one myself. Out of the four you've listed I'd buy the Rockhopper.

The Rockhopper frame is a quality effort, made of better metal than the other bikes, and the rest of the bike is well speced too with solid components. Importantly it comes with disk-ready wheel hubs and separate brake/gear levers so to fit disk brakes later you just bolt em on.

Scott make good bikes too so if you preferred the feel of the Scale on a test ride go for that. I'd buy the Specialized first because having bought a couple of their bikes I feel that the quality-for-pound Specialized delivers is bang on and the service the company provides is excellent. No harm to Scott though, in fact just this year we bought a Scott bike for our daughter because she felt more comfortable on it than on the Specialized Hotrock.

If you fit Specialized Nimbus tyres to your new bike it'll zip along your commute surprisingly quickly and their virtually puncture-proof structure is refreshing too. Although fast rolling they're also fine for woodland trails. They don't grip like knobblies do but in most situations they'll do the job.

You might also want to consider fitting a higher stem and/or riser bars and bar-ends. As well as being a little bit more comfortable the more upright position lets you look around, signal and point angrily at motorists more easily! ;0)

 

[barq]

If it were me I would consider the spare wheels with slicks as an optional extra - for a two mile commute it might not be worth it. Although some commuter slicks are more puncture resistant if your journey is strewn with broken glass etc... If you ever do end up getting spare wheels I suggest buying rims of the same width as your original wheels otherwise you'll be forever adjusting your V brakes.