View Full Version : Mountain Bike
Hey guys,
im looking for a mountain bike. to commute to and from work to.
Must be a hard tail.
Discs front and back, cable or hydraulic, not bothered.
Thumb flicky gears.
Preferably ally frame.
and rough pricing up to 200 quid, new or used and something which isnt gonna break... lol
please educate me.
if you want something decent youll have to go second hand for that money, the bays your best bet, look out for cannondale, kona, specialized etc
Novaboyleon
07-04-10, 10:04 PM
you wont get a cannondale or kona for 200quid! theres plenty for sale like carrera and gt bikes are good, look at them, even new ones arent too bad. old bikes are usually shagged
Pistol Pete
07-04-10, 10:08 PM
I bought mine off ebay. Dawes xc 1.4 disc. Under £200 and a well specced bike for the money IMO. I use it for work.
http://www.evanscycles.com/product_image/image/490/bbe/a28/23434/product_page/dawes-xc-14-disc-2008-mountain-bike.jpg
craig green
07-04-10, 10:09 PM
Avoids discs, they are shoite. Go 2nd hand IMO, much more bike for the money.
Most bikes are all much of a muchness & all produced in taiwan anyway, most will be alloy which isnt a good thing IMO. But avoiding rear sus is best as you say, pesonally I avoid fr suspension also. I ride offroad but the added weight, bobbing on climbs & extra maintainence isnt worth it IMO.
BARGAIN GT avalanche.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GT-Avalanche-3-0-Mountain-Bike_W0QQitemZ250606250690QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bi kes_GL?hash=item3a594beac2
NICE KONA.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kona-Lava-Dome-1994-retro-steel-classic-19-mtb_W0QQitemZ330421597208QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bik es_GL?hash=item4ceea97418
If its only for work why not just buy a shopper?
Pistol Pete
07-04-10, 10:10 PM
Eh? Discs ****e, alloys frames ****e WTF?
do it in style lol
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll211/andyspics_album/shopperdog.jpg
Jon_nova1
07-04-10, 10:17 PM
you only want it for work, not going off road, so most peoples advice will be useless as you'll get responses mainly from the mountain bikers
something like this, apart from its got grip shift
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_71 1003_langId_-1_categoryId_165499
but maybe halfords isn't the cheapest place lol
craig green
07-04-10, 10:18 PM
Eh? Discs ****e, alloys frames ****e WTF?
Market pressure makes manufacturers spec these things. So a £300 alloy framed full sus MTB with discs is a great bike is it? Depsite having down specced everything else (saddle, bars, grips, chain, pedals......) just to be able to sell it for that money. It'll be heavy because of the lower spec gear on it & it wont be a particularly good alloy frame either. I could go on all night about machine built wheels with rustless spokes, OEM tyres being nothing like the proper branded items they appear to be etc etc.
Comparing say a £400 rigid or hardtail MTB to a £400 full susser. The rigid bike will have much higher end components than the full suspension model because the naff suspension isnt robbing the budget of the whole bike, meaning its a better bike.
If Martin wants it to ride to work, surely something a bit covert would be best for locking up in public or whatever?
to be fair, my disc setup cost £200 on their own lol
although saying that, the other halfs cable operated discs arent too shabby
craig green
07-04-10, 10:29 PM
Not all discs are sh*t, but I just am not impressed in the slightest by the cheaper stuff tbh. V brakes (hell even old skool canti's) can be setup to lock either wheel with minimal effort. More than what is needed. Far less hassle putting wheels in & out and the worst thing about discs is contaminating the pads with oil. You can ruin them so easily.
Pistol Pete
07-04-10, 10:30 PM
I see what you are saying CG. Like i said i paid around the £200 mark for mine. Dawes is a reasonable make. The equipment isnt that shabby either.
If you are riding to work, yeah something subtle may the FTW but also you want to get to work!
i agree with CG, id rather take a well specced and well built bike with V brakes than a downmarket bike that has disc brakes anyday
they only spec disc brakes so poor people look better imo lol
i bought a DDG shooter, good strong wheels, good forks, hydraulic rim brake (magura HS33) off the bay for 160 a few months ago
craig green
07-04-10, 10:37 PM
I see what you are saying CG. Like i said i paid around the £200 mark for mine. Dawes is a reasonable make. The equipment isnt that shabby either.
If you are riding to work, yeah something subtle may the FTW but also you want to get to work!
TBH I'm not into bikes like I was. But I worked in the trade selling Cannondales, Proflexes & custom Tandems & MTB's for 10 years. I know what works & what doesnt, what is a fad & what is purposefull.
I remember all the kids bikes at christmas when all the full suspension really hit the masses. Half of the stuff wasnt even built straight (seriously) yet it was £200 for an unknown brand taiwanese bike for an 8 year old! Madness.
Pistol Pete
07-04-10, 10:43 PM
lol fair enough!!!! I guess its as is with most things, you get what you pay for!!!
craig green
07-04-10, 10:43 PM
Heres my bike.
Custome made steel frame from Columbus 'Foco' tube set. Steel columbus forks. Hope hubs, old school Mavic 231CD rims, XTR V-brakes, XT leveres, XT splined 9spd chainset, XT 9 spd derailleurs, Grip shift X ray rear shifter, XT L/hand rapid fire lever. XTR 8spd (24) rear cassette, cheap alloy seatpin, titanium railed saddle, kevlar folding tyres & Latex inner tubes. Weighs a shade over 23lb.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/turbocraig/MTB%20bike%20stuff/thornMTB02.jpg
nice bike, i needa proper/decent XC bike for the commute to work really, a single speed, 14" frame jump bike just means more work now im getting old
id love another 14" single speed for "riding around town" on :(
cheers for the help craig. i start looking more wider for V braked stuff. and not just focused on discs. cheers gents :D
i shall keep my eyes peeled on ebay
build your own, start a project thread on here lol
robertdevlin69
08-04-10, 12:11 AM
Avoids discs, they are shoite. Go 2nd hand IMO, much more bike for the money.
Most bikes are all much of a muchness & all produced in taiwan anyway, most will be alloy which isnt a good thing IMO. But avoiding rear sus is best as you say, pesonally I avoid fr suspension also. I ride offroad but the added weight, bobbing on climbs & extra maintainence isnt worth it IMO.
BARGAIN GT avalanche.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GT-Avalanche-3-0-Mountain-Bike_W0QQitemZ250606250690QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bi kes_GL?hash=item3a594beac2
NICE KONA.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kona-Lava-Dome-1994-retro-steel-classic-19-mtb_W0QQitemZ330421597208QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Bik es_GL?hash=item4ceea97418
the second bike in this quote is a billy bargain,its ideal for what you want
Sorry for jumping in but i see some bikes are 19" 21" etc..how do you measure it?from which part of the frame to where?(is it the tube that the seat post goes into?do you measure it from welds to welds or crank to end of it?or another way?)
reason i ask is i've got a bike im selling soon on ebay but dont know what size it is:confused:
adam, from the bottom its the centre of the bottom bracker and the top, well, every manufacturer semms to be different these days. top of seattube, top of crossbar, middle of crossbar. I would measure it from centre of bottom bracket to top of crossbar and state that in the advert so as to avoid any confusion:thumb:
bmw156, v brakes are defininetly under rated these days but they are still good. I wouldnt bother with discs if I was you. much more hassle to work on and the pads seem expensive to me. stick to a brand name and you should be fine. check headset, bb, hubs for play and rims for trueness, gears, brakes work as they should etc. parts prices can quickly add up. if you have a worn cassette for instance, if you replace it the worn chain may not work with it and then you have to replace that which in turn wont work with the worn chainrings etc
having bought a few cheap bikes in a hurry I would also recommend checking the seatpost moves as some shops/ manufacturers dont grease seatpins and they seize. big names aswell, I've had it happen on a £3000 scott road bike after a few thousand dry miles and it stays indoors:eek: also a brand new specialized straight out the box. shop snapped the frame trying to get it out and had to import me a new one from america.
need to know anything just ask, I'm fairly clued up with bikes seeing as it seems I've spent half my life riding/working on them.:thumb:
Nice build CG.
As for brakes i love my front set up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/chunny01/crx/newcrxpics023.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/chunny01/crx/newcrxpics025.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/chunny01/crx/newcrxpics027.jpg
all the rest of the brakes/gears are shimano deore.
Not been out on it for a wile must get it out again soon.
At the end of the day you get what you pay for.
Mmmm im loving the hope hubs on yours Craig, as said by Stuart my disc setup is £200 alone (avid elixir-R) and in all fairness they work really well but i much prefer V-brakes, im longing for an older skool bike something like a 95-96 GT Zaskar but thats another story.
As some have said why are you looking at just mountain bikes if its only for commuting, why not a commuter/hybrid bike, halfords do some good stuff in the carrera range, and have a word at work see if you can get one on the 'ride a bike to work' scheme!
I got Formula Xtremes 205mm front 180mmrear 4pots ftw :) Atlhough they are backed all the way off lmao
This could be where im not being impressed by my discs as im still running 160mm discs on mine, if i wanted larger discs do i need to change my calipers, these are only my second set of discs (my first being cable operated and went in the bin rather quickly) ive only ever used canti's and V-brakes before now, with some impressive results in all fairness!
dj_wudgey
08-04-10, 11:58 AM
do it in style lol
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll211/andyspics_album/shopperdog.jpg
fpmsl all the local youths ride nicked bike's just like this one lol
Mmmm im loving the hope hubs on yours Craig, as said by Stuart my disc setup is £200 alone (avid elixir-R) and in all fairness they work really well but i much prefer V-brakes, im longing for an older skool bike something like a 95-96 GT Zaskar but thats another story.
As some have said why are you looking at just mountain bikes if its only for commuting, why not a commuter/hybrid bike, halfords do some good stuff in the carrera range, and have a word at work see if you can get one on the 'ride a bike to work' scheme!
Thats my brake set up lol
Thats my brake set up lol
I know that is you puddin i was referring to the hope hubs on Craigs bike :p
spudly, you just need to buy bigger discs and an adaptor that pushes the caliper further away from the fork.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=563
bit like hi spec kits for novas then lol
SamUnited
08-04-10, 05:44 PM
My bikes worth 12x what my Nova cost me lol Started life as a specialized hardrock, then I specced it up a fair bit. Can't go wrong with a standard Hardrock for what your looking for anyway.
spudly, you just need to buy bigger discs and an adaptor that pushes the caliper further away from the fork.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=563
Cheers dude, have another blob of lovely green-ness:thumb:
Spud as your the man in the know ive got a vitage specialized 19" hardtail at home.
Its in need of some well rather alot of tlc.
Do you think its worth out as its just sat locked to the pajero at mine.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/chunny01/abod%20gte/DSC03580.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/chunny01/abod%20gte/DSC03581.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/chunny01/abod%20gte/DSC03585.jpg
Would be good as a pub bike or something like that, judging by the look of the canti's id say its acera-x spec or possibly alivio which was very base spec but it looks tidy enough, run a bit of lube over it and see how it rides:thumb:
Would be good as a pub bike or something like that
Cycling home from pubs isn't a good idea, been there, done that, still got the jeans with rips in them lol
Cant beat pub bikes :p
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs493.ash1/26941_380864084925_637964925_4004064_5776596_n.jpg
This is my DJ bike, frame is worth double the value of my car (rrp £685)
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo218/connorlake_2008/DSC01173.jpg
My advise to the original question, keep your eyes up on ebay for a good spec second hand bike for cheap, they do come up every now and then
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