Newbie - Which budget bike?

[John the Canuck]

@vickster : Thanks, I think i'll likely choose between the Trek 7.2 and the Giant Escape 1. That said, I do actually like the look of that 7.4 you linked to, Aarghh!...........................

i have a 2008 TREX FX 7.2 [not disks]
it has performed faultlessly over rough country roads and forest trails
i'm thinking of 28c or 32c tires rather than the 35c Marathon+ now fitted

some nice colour schemes back then - maybe a used one,,?
.

 

[raleighnut]

@vickster : Thanks, I think i'll likely choose between the Trek 7.2 and the Giant Escape 1. That said, I do actually like the look of that 7.4 you linked to, Aarghh!

Why is the 7.4 so much more expensive (reduced from £600)?
Regarding the disc brakes, are they much better?

@0bsirus: I know, I will test ride the bikes - just want to ensure I'm getting decent value for money. Perhaps I should change my forum username to Scrooge, hehe :-)

Disc's are no better than good quality rim brakes however a buckled wheel changes this as the rim brakes catch whereas with a disc brake this won't happen.
Also when discs are fitted the quality of other components tend to suffer although the discs fitted are the bottom of the range models.
As for frame material I prefer steel but a decent quality steel frame would exceed your budget on its own so alu is probably best but a tapered wall thickness CrMo steel fork would be better than Carbon (crackbon) and probably more forgiving (531Mang/moly steel would be my choice)

 

[jefmcg]

Generally, I'd suggest you purchase from an actual retail shop that is not halfords. That way you get a test ride; a bike that is properly assembled: ready and safe to ride; and a 6 week service to tighten up anything after you've ridden it for a bit. Halfords servicing has such a bad reputation, it would probably make sense to pay another shop to check it over before riding it.

(yup, I see you are heading towards bicycles you can actually test)