robby

ok, been to a bike warehouse today looking at bikes, don't want anything gimmicky just something cheap (as i'll probably not use it much) but must be good enough to last.
I saw a merida Kalahari for £190 which looked quite good - rapid fire gears? 21 speed? etc
i haven't had a mountain bike for about 15 years so don't know what i should be looking for tbh so i was hoping for some advice

has anyone any experience of the merida bikes?

cheers

corradoboy

You wouldn't have to spend much more to get a good budget bike such as a GT from the likes of www.paulscycles.co.uk They deal in last years models at discount prices and there are some serious bargains to be had. I considered a Scott carbon full suspension bike with discs which retails at £2400 for £1300, just 'cos it's the 2004 model. Website doesn't seem to be working at the mo' though

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Best bet is either to pay a bit more as advised above and get last years model, or head onto ebay and buy a year old bike (something like a Hardrock Sport or Trek 3700 will do the job).

Frazzly

price wise thats a fairly basic bike. If i were u and as much as i hate to say it head to halfrauds and look at there line up of gts. Nothing else but gts. They do a decent range of alloy framed jobbies that are decent priced and a good spec with nice frame. Merida are an old skool company so there abit lower key now so warranties and bits are cheaper. Bigger companies often get the better bits on them for the same price due to there power buying.

Cheers.

General Banter

I would say that it depends on what your gonna use it for, I use mine to cycle from work (rarely at best) and its only about a half mile away from home on flat roads. Because of this I managed to get an ex-display model from halfords for only £50! But hey, horses for courses right?

rb5_336

these peeps are cheap http://www.wheelies.co.uk/ for that money i'd get a 2nd hand hard tail.

Mr Bat

If you aren't going to use it much get a second hand one, cheap as chips.

Franx2

And probably a better spec as well at that price.

If you're wanting new though, the local bike shop, halfrauds etc's one way to go - at least you can try it out for size & so on. Internet's cheaper for some bikes, but may be not at that end of the price range.

Giants tend to have pretty good specs for the price. I had a bottom of the range Trek some years ago (courtesy of the insurance...) which was absolute crap - heavy frame, poor spec etc...

Go for the best local bike shop you can, and you'll probably not go far wrong

robby

well just bought a Carrera - almost new for £100
just got to learn to ride all over again...........where's my old stabilisers )