paulr

For general use, keeping fit,etc. Budget up to £400.

Looking on Ebay, the decent makes seem to attract a lot of bids, ie Scott. Is it possible to get a good deal on Ebay, or can you get a good deal buying new, from the right place.

(or are the best deals the lesser known brands)

mrmadcap

If you are buying new you can get good deals on 2012 bikes, the 2013 bikes are usually available around this Feb or March.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Check if you have the Cycle to Work scheme at your place of work.

Halfords do a few at that kind of money but dont be tempted with full suspension, it will look the part but be crap, hardtail all the way upto about £1000, or more, cheap full suspension bikes are more trouble than they are worth, even a full rigid of decent quality, their Subway range are chape but good quality, my lad has one.

I would put the feelers out amongst your mates and famil and see if anyone has something for sale, you are competing too much on Ebay with the rest of the country, you want one that is a couple of years old and hardly been used and is now making its owner feel guilty as its stuck cluttering up his garage.

Watch with second hand stuff, it can look pristine but need a new chain, cassette, chainring, tyres, brakes etc, I have a Cannondale that looks pretty much new but I know its doen 4,000 miles in all weathers and needs £100 spent on it, it will, to the untrained eye look the same as the one someone bought and rode a handful of times.

g7prs

iTrader: (5)

Have a look here and see how the prices compare to ebay.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/offers.php?cat=1

Rob Day

iTrader: (78)

Im in the same boat as the OP, Ive had my fair share of bikes then I was younger, including Proflex, cannondale and my most recent GT.

I have to say, just to just commute or keep fit, as J4cko says, keep the suspension to a minimum for low budget as maintenance can be steep. My late GT required(s) the forks refreshing and a new chain and sprocket set, which was around £250 includinga general service, I decided not to bother as the iDrive system has began to fail also which will cost a few quid to repair ontop of the bill.......

Plenty good brands out there at the moment, a work collegue has just bought a 2nd hand Cube, and its an amazing bike, overkill for commuting, but he does offroad it at the odd weekend, and the suspension is lockable for basic use

Rob

coupe_20vt

iTrader: (2)

Great advice. Some shops will offer 2012 models early in the year but others won't do until June time.

I saved £500 on a Willier road bike by buying in Spring.

scoobynutta555

Second hand wise Look for old models of bikes like Specialized, Boardman etc there won't be bells and whistles but you'll get something that was at the top of its game at the time. You'll easily get a several year old Specialised mountain bike for this price.
New, Boardman at Halfords, very good spec for prices, large range and there's sometimes a 10% nus discount code floating around on the internet. The parts are good but the assembly can sometimes be iffy and find a branch with someone who knows one end of a bike from another and you won't go wrong.

Now I've been reduced to cheap bikes, I've got a carbon mountain bike new from Halfords for £1300 and a second hand team carbon road bike for well under half list price on eBay.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Some of the Halfords range are great vfm.

Or build one yourself with bits off ebay?

mrmadcap

I've had a few MTB's in the past and have always gone for Kona, because they were the most innovative in frame design from the early days, particulary for riding in UK conditions.

One thing I have learned and thats keep it simple, as J4CKO has said, keep suspension to a minimum. There has always been some sort of fashion/trend thing going on with MTB's. This years must have top notch technology will be obsolete this time next year.

Thinking of buying a Kona Honzo for off road stuff only, here is the link:

http://cog.konaworld.com/wp-content/...mber_Honzo.jpg

paulr

Lots of great advice, thanks.

Kona Honza, way over my budget.

mrmadcap

http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=fire_mountain

paulr

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/product...id=m1b0s2p3692

Any thoughts on Cannondale, or is it a case of most makes are decent, just find one you like.

The Dogs B******s

I'm thinking of getting this http://www.stif.co.uk/mtb/product/cu...ike-2013/11096

saints_forever

Cannondales have a good reputation, although from what I hear can be overpriced sometimes, but that price seems pretty good.

I ride a Specialized Hardrock at work and never let's me down, is a few years older than the one below though.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...-bike-ec030131

The spec between the two doesn't seem too different, but I'm not a complete guru on bikes.

I do rate specialized though, my own bike is a Rockhopper Pro though with different pedals from standard and carbon post, fantastic bike.

Cammy5106

iTrader: (3)

+1 for evans cycles just got a new stuntjumper from them

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I've just joined the road with this

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...-bike-ec043962

Nice starter bike .. so much lighter than my full sus, (specialised S-works)

£400 I would go with 2nd hand as above, you'll easily get a nice road or mountain bike for that.