looking for a semidecent MTB for weekend blasts

[Jdratcliffe]

cubist i am going to end up with this one i think looks stunning and a great N+1 just gotta wait for my insurence compensation to to come thou now.. question thou if i buy from the german site will the brakes be left - back right - front?

 

[Globalti]

Having just bought a BTwin road bike for GTi Junior and been astonished at the value for money, I would say go to Decathlon and have a look at their BTwin mountain bikes.

 

[Cubist]

cubist i am going to end up with this one i think looks stunning and a great N+1 just gotta wait for my insurence compensation to to come thou now.. question thou if i buy from the german site will the brakes be left - back right - front?

They'll be the wrong way round. It takes about five minutes to change them over, you literally have to undo the hose connectors as they go into the levers and swap the hoses round. To be safe you'll need an ebay bleed kit (about a tenner) and a fiver's worth of spare olives and hose inserts. Not a massive job given what you'll save!

 

[MrGrumpy]

Having just bought a BTwin road bike for GTi Junior and been astonished at the value for money, I would say go to Decathlon and have a look at their BTwin mountain bikes.

I have to concur the Btwin's that I have saw looked bloody good!

 

[User16625]

Your budget puts you into some pretty tasty entry level bike territory. That Specialized is Ok, but is quite expensive for its equipment level, (or its equipment is low given the price tag)

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For £900 I would want something substantially better than "entry level". How much are decent go anywhere mountain bikes these days?

 

[Cubist]

Entry level as in you could use it to compete in serious competition.

For £900 I would want something substantially better than "entry level". How much are decent go anywhere mountain bikes these days?

You can go anywhere on most mountain bikes.

 

[Norm]

You can go anywhere on most mountain bikes.

Indeed. I've been a lot of places that surprised me and I thought £450 was a lot to spend on a hard tail.

 

[VamP]

A £450 bike will be compromised somewhere, probably the suspension fork and wheelset, and of course it will be HEAVY. It'll still go anywhere though

 

[Norm]

A £450 bike will be compromised somewhere, probably the suspension fork and wheelset, and of course it will be HEAVY. It'll still go anywhere though

I'd agree with that, and I've taken the opportunity, with the help of a friendly LBS, to upgrade the forks, wheels and brakes. Only after I'd done about 1,500 miles, though, and it served me well enough before the upgrades anyway. I only upgraded because someone owed a favour and the new parts came in pretty cheap.

 

[marzjennings]

For £900 I would want something substantially better than "entry level". How much are decent go anywhere mountain bikes these days?

As mentioned £900 should get you a nice race ready, yet entry level, hard tail mountain bike.

About £1500 should get you a nice XC full susser.

For me go decent go anywhere bikes start at about £2000.

 

[Dan151]

I've got the boardman ht pro. Took it to Hamsterley on Sunday and it was fantastic. Handled everything perfect even the root riddled black grade descents. Very very good value for money at £999. The fella at halfords actually set it up well, which was a surprise. There's a feature in this months MBUK for hardtail bikes from 700-900 quid. There's some good bikes there

 

[RhythMick]

Look second hand. I just bought a Yeti Arc 2009 with a great spec for £700.

 

[tricky&thefox]

i have the boardman ht pro, its well specc'ed for the price. its fairly light. looks smart too. seen a few on ebay for around 750 with hardly any usage