Dipping a toe

[mythste]

So far my list of "must haves" comprises of;

- Front suspension
- Hydraulic Disks
- At least Deore drivetrain
- Don't really want a 29er

So I'm pretty open to anything other than that. I'm getting excited and nervous at the same time about picking up a higher spec older model, to find the forks have had it or something, hence looking at "worst case" replacement costs.

 

[Jody]

You should be able to pick up a Boardman for under 300. They too had Suntour forks but they used the Radon ones which were at least usable.

£400 ono on a local Facebook MTB/riders group. 12 months old and ticks all boxes.

 

[Jody]

Don't think anyone has asked the important question of how tall are you?

 

[mythste]

5'8 - Distinctly average! I think that puts me about 17-18" frame?

 

[Jody]

That opens up a lot of doors. The above is a medium and will give you some idea of what you can find given the time and location. It won't need upgrading and is a hell of a bike for £400

 

[Nigeyy]

Being pedantic, can I just throw out one thing.... hydraulic brakes. Being a bit nit picky here but I'd say just "good" disc brakes. There are some hydraulic brakes out there that certainly don't seem well reviewed or offer easy mainenance and reliability, similarly there are bad reviews for mechanicals. I'd say good hydraulics beat good mechanicals, but poor hydraulics don't beat good mechanicals (only had experience with Avid BB7s which aren't as good as my hydraulic brakes, but they are still reasonable.)

OK, pedantry finished..

 

[mythste]

Being pedantic, can I just throw out one thing.... hydraulic brakes. Being a bit nit picky here but I'd say just "good" disc brakes. There are some hydraulic brakes out there that certainly don't seem well reviewed or offer easy mainenance and reliability, similarly there are bad reviews for mechanicals. I'd say good hydraulics beat good mechanicals, but poor hydraulics don't beat good mechanicals (only had experience with Avid BB7s which aren't as good as my hydraulic brakes, but they are still reasonable.)

OK, pedantry finished..

That's a good and interesting point.

Most of the older models I'm looking at have Deore or Avid Juicy brakes, whilst the newer ones have some relatively unbranded shimano (M3-something?) options on them. I certainly wouldnt shoot for something I don't recognise.

 

[Jody]

Most of the older models I'm looking at have Deore or Avid Juicy brakes, whilst the newer ones have some relatively unbranded shimano (M3-something?) options on them. I certainly wouldnt shoot for something I don't recognise.

Without wanting to sound negative at £250ish you are going to have to take the rough with the smooth. A decent set of hydraulic brakes will set you back £70-80+ on their own.

You buy an older bike and it will need maintenance and upgrading as/when you see fit. Personally I would push your budget a little bit to buy something that suits and won't need money throwing at it or upgrading.

 

[mythste]

Without wanting to sound negative at £250ish you are going to have to take the rough with the smooth. A decent set of hydraulic brakes will set you back £70-80+ on their own.

You buy an older bike and it will need maintenance and upgrading as/when you see fit. Personally I would push your budget a little bit to buy something that suits and won't need money throwing at it or upgrading.

I'm going to be pulling the trigger on something next weekend, because if I don't I fear I never will. It's such a fine line working out how much to spend on something I might simply not enjoy. done some sums and could *mayyyybe* stretch to £400 if something really caught my attention.

Maybe!

 

[Nibor]

If you are on Facebook look for Rivington MTB Bike Buy and Sell there are always some good ones on there and you caoul;s always post a wanted post.
Also Rivington is a great area for off road riding and not far from Horwich which is on the main line from Mancehester..
Apparently Clayton Vale is good and is accessable from the national cycling centre.

 

[Jody]

I'm going to be pulling the trigger on something next weekend, because if I don't I fear I never will. It's such a fine line working out how much to spend on something

I know the feeling. As you say its a fine line especially with bikes as you can keep spending well into the 000's and still not sure you will get the best for your money.

 

[mythste]

If you are on Facebook look for Rivington MTB Bike Buy and Sell there are always some good ones on there and you caoul;s always post a wanted post.
Also Rivington is a great area for off road riding and not far from Horwich which is on the main line from Mancehester..
Apparently Clayton Vale is good and is accessable from the national cycling centre.

Clayton Vale will be my first port of call. Plenty of people about in all weathers for when I break all of my bones!

 

[Crackle]

If you're going towards 400quid a calibre two.two or a voodoo Bantu is in your budget new and you should easily pick up a good 2nd hand bike at that price range. There's 2nd hand Whytes, Genesis and Boardmans which would all do the trick, on ebay. Another idea is to ring up trail centres and see what they've got going 2nd hand ex-hire, which is not as ropey as it sounds. They often keep them for a season only, maintain them and sell them on cheap. llandegla and Delamere often have stuff they're flogging on.

 

[mythste]

Spotted an On One 456 Carbon, 1x10 Zee and Marzocchi 55TST fork for £400... Just running through the due diligence "is it nicked" checks now!

 

[Nibor]

A lot of bike should it pass the tests