EddScott

My nipper is about to start school and what better way to get some exercise than to walk her to school and then bike on into work. Going to work is fine as its all downhill coming back is a bit of a slog being quite steep hills etc.

I'm after a bike that I can use for the trip to work but also something I can take over the local trails/beaches etc.

Not sure what size bike to get (I'm 5'10) or if I should get one with suspension or not. Thinking of spending about £300 and wondered if buying 2nd hand from say Ebay would be a good idea or not. Some auctions do mention if the bike has recently been serviced etc.

Any help/advice much appreciated.

Scooby-kid

barracudar(SP!?) thriller pro series.

scotty.

Graz

For £300 you should just about be able to get a reasonable front suspension job. Avoid the Halfords / Argos cheapo full suspension jobbies as they get squeaky, loose, and then fall to bits in no time. You may also see some with disc brakes on for that price, again probably not worth it as they will be cheapo cable operated jobs.

Look for some end-of-line specials that are about this time of year as the bike manufacturers start to bring their 2006 models out. At 5ft10 a medium would probably be okay but no bike manufacturers use the same sizing methods, best to a least sit on what you are going to buy to check the clearence is okay and it's comfortable. Preferably get a test ride if the bike shop will let you.

Try www.bikemagic.com for buying advice and also lots of links to bike shops etc.

Philip Attaway

GT Avalanche 3.0 - £270

Merida Kalahari 550SX - £180

Dawes Progeny - £270

All the above won Best MTB under £300 in Septembers What Mountain Bike Magazine.

Personally I wouldn't spend under £3K

Phil

SupaMiniCupa

For £300 a Specialized Hardrock is where my money would be going. Top top bikes for the money!

EddScott

Thanks for the advice. What sort of size should I be looking at roughly at 5'8 to 5'10? I thought something like 21" would be OK.

The_Gza

Second the recommendation for a Specialized Hardrock - I've got one and it's perfect for all I use it for. It coped perfectly at Glentress and I certainly didn't feel like the hardware was letting me down when I was out with guys on bikes costing 10x as much. Can't say the same about the power source though Regards size, I'm 5'10 and mine has a 17" frame which suits me perfectly.

Scoobydid

If your planing on using it off road I'd go a little smaller If you need to put both feet down on rough ground, the crossbar can do a nasty "lift and separate" job on your gonads!! Im 6 foot and have an 18" frame which works fine for me.

Cheers
Andy

scoob_dood

I spent 299 on a trek last year which has been excellent, I got mine from Evans Cycles in Kingston,

- Jon

Philip Attaway

21" is way too big.

I'm 6'2 and ride a 19" and if anything it is slightly large.

Phil

SupaMiniCupa

Whereas I'm 5'9 and ride a 19" - so get to a shop and try both the 17" and 19" see which one suits you better

k2iss

Yeah I also nearly ended with the Hardrock, although I finally took a Mangoose Tyax Elite with cable operated disk brake and 24 speeds for £230 (I liked the colour: grey/black same as my scooby ).
I think you can find the 2005 Hardrock for about £259 instead of £299 because of the 2006 model coming.

For the size you'd better try it in a shop before taking any desicion. The saddle is also quite important. I know I've prefered the Mangoose saddle personnaly.

EddScott

So would you guys say to avoid Ebay buys?

Granted some bikes on there will be way past their best but there seems to be a few good buys on there from what I've seen.

Is full suspension only really needed then for heavy off-road use?

k2iss

Like graz said, avoid "cheap" (~£300) full suspension bike! Specialists kept telling me full suspension bike will break into pieces. Also they are much heavier. Good for kids, no good for adult unless you can go for a serious model at £1400!

Also I haven't say don't buy from ebay or from the internet, I said to go in a proper bicycle shop specialist to try and make you a good idea of what model you'd really like. You could still buy it from an other place later or still prefer the reassurance of buying in a good local shop. It worked for me as I totally change my mind after that.

Brendan Hughes

The bigger the frame, the better it is on long smooth rides and the less manoueverable it is on fast rough downhills.