Hybrid or Hard Tail MTB

[thevinci]

Hi all,

I've recently, at the tender age of 33, learnt to ride a bike!!

I learnt on a friends bike so am now looking for one of my own....

I plan to mostly ride around in parks, the country side, a sometimes on tarmac... Having done a bit of research it seems the ideal type of bike is a hybrid or hardtail....

I've come across the VooDoo Hoodoo and the Marasa.. there are others from Specialised and Giant which look interesting.... Alas, I'm out of my comfort zone and feel slightly overwhelmed.

My budget is around £350-400.

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.

 

[Cycleops]

You might find this thread where a guy is looking to buy a hybrid in your price range. http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/which-entry-level-hybrid.165496/#post-3289234
I would go for a hybrid, without suspension forks, they add little comfort but a lot of weight. A hybrid will be able to handle quite a lot of off road terrain.

 

[samsbike]

Agreed with the above. I let my heart rule my head and got a hardtail which now never gets used. A hybird would have been a much better choice.

 

[Lilliburlero]

I have a Boardman MX Race hybrid http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-performance-mx-race-bike-medium-19#tab2 and a Carrera Fury hardtail http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bik...-fury-mountain-bike-2011-2012--medium-18#tab2 . The Fury is a pleasure to ride, smooth, responsive, rolls well, light at 13.1kg (compared to the Boardman at 14kg) and the brakes and gears feel solid, I also like the longer handle bars. The only downside to the Fury is the number of gears (20) and I find myself always wanting more on straights and down hill but dont let that put you off, you will do very well indeed to find a bike for £429 with its spec (Raidon x2 air forks with lockout, Avid Elixir 1 hydraulic disc brakes, Xram mech and trigger shifters) and for an extra £29 imho is a better option than the Hoodoo. I tend to use the Boardman for longer rides out that`ll be mostly on roads and with its 27 gears it does the job very well. It took me a couple of weeks to understand what the bike was about until I took it for 10 mile thrash around the lanes, yes I could have bought a road bike for this but I live in the national forest and do most of my riding off road so I can do both with the Boardman.

Slap a different brand name sticker on the Fury and it`l cost you £700+ (not my words but the words of a bloke that works at my local Lloyds bike shop).

Btw, my fitness mad 18 year old lad has a Carrera Vengeance and he cant get anywhere near me when i`m on the Fury and i`m 45