£1000 to spend on mountain bike

1pudding1 · 7 Mar 2014 at 16:50

Hey all, just got my £1000 ride2work voucher through work, which must be spent at Evans. Sooooo, I'm wanting a mountain bike basically, what should I get?

My last mountain bike was for my 16th birthday (over 15 years ago!) so I'm pretty out of the loop on what's currently hot. I did buy a cyclocross bike (Voodoo Limba) a few years ago through the cycle2work scheme when it had to Halfords, and have some MTB SPD trainers already and gloves/helmet/shorts etc. so dont need those. I would like a baby seat/carrier though, so need some cash left over to buy one of those.

Any recommendations or advice on what I should be looking for/avoiding would be great!

1pudding1 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:25

Quick browse through the sale stuff, came up with these 2:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/elite-86-2014-mountain-bike-ec042077#features

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/cooker-hi-2013-mountain-bike-ec042786

More tempted by the Trek on first glance. Any comments on either?

FrenchTart · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:35

What are you going to use the bike for? Lots of people come in here looking for MTBs when really they'd be better off with a road bike.

1pudding1 · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:39

Cycling here mainly:-

http://www.1sw.org.uk/experience/trail-hubs/north-cornwall/

http://www.ibikeride.com/england/1828-lanhydrock-cycle-hub

So it will be a few miles on road to get there, then off road trails through the woods. I have a cyclocross bike I can use on roads if i want to do some road cycling.

Begbie · 8 Mar 2014 at 10:43

That charge looks horrible.

Cardinham is my local spot, you don't need anything special to run on it either (it's not technical at all

). But that seems a LOT of money for what you're getting.

The On One is available and they accecpt c2w vouchers IIRC.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOO45650BDEO/on-one-45650b-shimano-deore-mountain-bike

They also have a 26"er, but I'd go 650B not really any difference but it's pretty much the new standard.

1pudding1 · 8 Mar 2014 at 23:04

Unfortunately it's an Evans specific voucher so it has to be from there. What about the Trek I linked to, any good?

PapaLazaru · 9 Mar 2014 at 21:55

This looks good - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/charger-91-2014-mountain-bike-ec053896#BVRRWidgetID

1pudding1 · 9 Mar 2014 at 22:33

Thanks very much for the suggestion, like the look of that. I was just looking at this one too - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc/teamelite-te03-deore-2013-mountain-bike-ec043677#features How does that compare, components wise etc, considering it's last years model but reduced from £1500? Which would you go for?

1pudding1 · 10 Mar 2014 at 22:11

Any comments on the BMC TE03 from last year I linked to above as a potential bargain? Anyting better I could get? Really want to make sure I'm getting something decent for my money and not missing something better. Cheers.

Begbie · 10 Mar 2014 at 22:43

Seems not a lot of front travel for £1000 really.

Never worth a £1000, imo, never mind £1500. Infact I've no idea how they even sold at £1500.

1pudding1 · 10 Mar 2014 at 22:48

Oh ok, is 100mm not a lot of travel then? How much should I be looking for? Any recommendations from Evans site instead of what I've found?

Begbie · 10 Mar 2014 at 23:45

1pudding1 said:
Oh ok, is 100mm not a lot of travel then? How much should I be looking for? Any recommendations from Evans site instead of what I've found?

My internet is dreadfully slow.

For Cardinham it's going to be fine really, but if you get interested in the sport you'll start wanting more.

Specs wise, Shimano anyway. It's Deore>Slx>XT/Zee

Slx stuff is good enough, as is Deore to be quite honest. Most of the stuff I seen at that price range look as good as each other and nothing with anything more than 100m worth of travel.

1pudding1 · 11 Mar 2014 at 22:46

Yeah, there doesnt seem to be much in them component wise. I think I've found what I'm gonna go for, this Scott Scale 960 - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/scale-960-2014-mountain-bike-ec056379#features as its won a few awards on MBR so must be pretty good, shouldnt be able to go wrong! (I hope)

Vonhelmet · 11 Mar 2014 at 23:05

Is that a 2014 model? I had an email from Evans saying if you buy a 2014 bike you get £250 of accessories, clothes, etc for free.

1pudding1 · 11 Mar 2014 at 23:16

Oooh really, got a code or anything for that you could send me? Does it have to be redeemed online?

Begbie · 11 Mar 2014 at 23:51

My post from last night doesn't seem to have worked! Argh! Never noticed, I managed to find this. Which looks good, the Rockhopper always has had good reviews. Also has the added bonus of an extra 20mm worth of travel.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/rockhopper-pro-evo-2014-mountain-bike-ec053577

Vonhelmet · 12 Mar 2014 at 07:07

1pudding1 said:
Oooh really, got a code or anything for that you could send me? Does it have to be redeemed online?

http://www.evanscycles.com/pages/of...page_small_2&promo_ad=Homepage*UNITED KINGDOM

Details there. Turns out it's up to £250, depending on the value of the bike, but even so it may be of use to you.

1pudding1 · 17 Mar 2014 at 09:55

Ordered the Scott Scale 960 yesterday. Had a look in store at that and the Spesh Rockhoper pro, and wasnt too keen on the SRAM shifters, so went for the Scott. Pick it up this week hopefully, cant wait! Going to be a little different to my 16yo Ridgeback! Used the promo code too to get an extra £75 off