Spec me: Hardtail around £750 (From Evans)

Megahurtz400 · 22 Feb 2019 at 15:10

Hey guys,

Have a massive wad of Tesco clubcard vouchers that need to be spent, and you get 3x value if you convert them into Evans vouchers.

Been looking at the Specialized Rockhopper as i've always been a fan, but wondering if there's around else around the £750ish mark that i'm not seeing?

I live in Essex, so not a huge amount of descending to do in these parts (Can you believe I bought a Demo 8 when i was younger?

), but would like to be able to handle trail centres/wales/lake district. Obviously not Black Runs at Bike Park Wales but you get the idea

Cheers

XE11 · 24 Feb 2019 at 10:33

Megahurtz400 said:
Hey guys,

Have a massive wad of Tesco clubcard vouchers that need to be spent, and you get 3x value if you convert them into Evans vouchers.

Been looking at the Specialized Rockhopper as i've always been a fan, but wondering if there's around else around the £750ish mark that i'm not seeing?

I live in Essex, so not a huge amount of descending to do in these parts (Can you believe I bought a Demo 8 when i was younger? ), but would like to be able to handle trail centres/wales/lake district. Obviously not Black Runs at Bike Park Wales but you get the idea

Cheers

650b (27.5") or 29" ? 29" generally rolls a lot faster but does decrease in the turning department, so if your trail has a lot of twisties, then may be 650b. also any idea if you will be running 2.4" or wider tyres (if so, you need to look for "Plus" size bike that can take them)?

I personally quite like this one:
https://www.evanscycles.com/lapierr...untain-bike-EV359278?_sm_byp=iVVfv5q5Rl01W1HV

29" wheels make it quite good for general purpose bike
SRAM 1x NX system, makes changing gear/maintance abit easier compared to 2x/3x system.
decent weight at 12kg.

Megahurtz400 · 24 Feb 2019 at 10:47

XE11 said:
650b (27.5") or 29" ? 29" generally rolls a lot faster but does decrease in the turning department, so if your trail has a lot of twisties, then may be 650b. also any idea if you will be running 2.4" or wider tyres (if so, you need to look for "Plus" size bike that can take them)?

I personally quite like this one:
https://www.evanscycles.com/lapierr...untain-bike-EV359278?_sm_byp=iVVfv5q5Rl01W1HV

29" wheels make it quite good for general purpose bike
SRAM 1x NX system, makes changing gear/maintance abit easier compared to 2x/3x system.
decent weight at 12kg.

29” I think, it’ll mostly be used around the south east so on the flat

I’ve been out of the MTB scene for coming on 10 years now, so I’ll probably running the bike stock for now, sure it won’t be long till I’m finding this to spend my money on

Lapierre looks good but alas I need an XL and it’s a small

Megahurtz400 · 25 Feb 2019 at 09:51

https://www.evanscycles.com/norco-fluid-2-ht-nx-eagle-2019-mountain-bike-EV337730

Any thoughts on this?

XE11 · 26 Feb 2019 at 06:55

Megahurtz400 said:
https://www.evanscycles.com/norco-fluid-2-ht-nx-eagle-2019-mountain-bike-EV337730

Any thoughts on this?

my mate got the 2016 model (non-eagle). he loves it. this is a great bike. just make sure u try it before you commit to it. Evans let you try it normally. need 50 quid deposit and some form of ID. My mate mentioned the brakes are not as high-tech as some of the higher end models, so make sure you are happy with the way it feels. The rbaking power is definitely there, but it's the modulation part which is abit lacking.
The other reason i say try before you buy is because although a 27.5" bike, the tyres are 2.8"! so this is a plus bike, the wheel diameter is actually closer to a 29" wheel because the tyres are so tall. They are great fun without going full Fatbike. Both my best mate's and my wife got one, they love the cushiony ride, but they are quite slow on tarmac and gravel routes because there is "too much" grip. There is a easy fix tho, just swap the tyres to soemthing like schwalbe Thunder Burt or Continential Mountain King 2.2" then you will be flying again. (mind you, you are now looking at 1k bike, thats 25% more than original budget

watch your wallet !)

Megahurtz400 · 26 Feb 2019 at 08:17

XE11 said:
my mate got the 2016 model (non-eagle). he loves it. this is a great bike. just make sure u try it before you commit to it. Evans let you try it normally. need 50 quid deposit and some form of ID. My mate mentioned the brakes are not as high-tech as some of the higher end models, so make sure you are happy with the way it feels. The rbaking power is definitely there, but it's the modulation part which is abit lacking.
The other reason i say try before you buy is because although a 27.5" bike, the tyres are 2.8"! so this is a plus bike, the wheel diameter is actually closer to a 29" wheel because the tyres are so tall. They are great fun without going full Fatbike. Both my best mate's and my wife got one, they love the cushiony ride, but they are quite slow on tarmac and gravel routes because there is "too much" grip. There is a easy fix tho, just swap the tyres to soemthing like schwalbe Thunder Burt or Continential Mountain King 2.2" then you will be flying again. (mind you, you are now looking at 1k bike, thats 25% more than original budget watch your wallet !)

Cheers for the advice

Yeah I’ve been out of the loop for a good few years, 29” wheels were just starting to become popular when I last had a bike!

The 27.5+ interests me though, as most of its life will be spend in Essex so no hills just gravel/mud, but I do want to get out to the lakes/peaks/wales a few times a year so the extra “suspension” might make a difference.

I’ll probably pick up some normal sized tyres at some point and have a play around

XE11 · 26 Feb 2019 at 11:36

the other downsize of plus bike is the rubber is quite heavy, so you probably looking at 14-15kg for that bike. but shouldnt to be much of a concern once you get some other tyres.

Megahurtz400 · 26 Feb 2019 at 11:43

XE11 said:
the other downsize of plus bike is the rubber is quite heavy, so you probably looking at 14-15kg for that bike. but shouldnt to be much of a concern once you get some other tyres.

Well I’ve probably got about 15kg of ballast that needs shifting so once that’s gone the bike will effectively weigh 0kg

XE11 · 28 Feb 2019 at 13:35

Megahurtz400 said:
Well I’ve probably got about 15kg of ballast that needs shifting so once that’s gone the bike will effectively weigh 0kg

lol. i wish it works like that! once you have a taste of a light bike. it's hard to go back! simply changing the handlebar to a lighter one already made a dramatic change to steering!