£300 from Evans Cycles

alexthecheese · 26 Apr 2007 at 16:53

Claiming through insurance for a new bike. Previous (until Sunday

) was a Trek 4300, t'was a good bike.

Any suggestions from their website: http://www.evanscycles.com/

Any suggestions? Just a hardtail mountain bike for circa £300 with front suspension would be dandy. I dont know much about the makes!

syke · 26 Apr 2007 at 17:13

Specialized Hardrock Sport?

alexthecheese · 26 Apr 2007 at 17:17

Are they better than the Treks? Cant say I've heard of em, but I havent heard of most tbh.

"andy" · 26 Apr 2007 at 17:20

Syk3 said:
Specialized Hardrock Sport?

gets my vote

all bikes at that price range aare pretty much equally specced though

buy the one you like the look off

or the best way would be to test a few and decide that way

Baker · 26 Apr 2007 at 17:20

Not a bike fanatic, but my brother is, and he's always thought of Specialized as a good range of bikes.

syke · 26 Apr 2007 at 17:24

Specialized are one of the best brands in bikes, a lot will agree.

They are strong and last as long as you want.

Used to have a HardRock Sport myself, was great.

For £300 cant get too much better.

SDK^ · 26 Apr 2007 at 18:14

Specialized are probably the top main stream brand.

They were the first company to market and sell a mass produced mountain bike in 1981 and they also own the patent to the horst 'FSR' 4 point suspension linkage.
Their S Works range are used many by Pro's for cross-country riding; and the Demo for freeride and downhill mountain biking.

benjo plz. · 26 Apr 2007 at 22:01

Have a look at the Genesis Core.

2Thumbs · 26 Apr 2007 at 23:28

Phnom_Penh said:
Have a look at the Genesis Core.

They're over budget, not on Evans' either!

I'm going to agree with the consensus, the HRS is on my short list along with a 2006 GT Avalanche 1.0

benjo plz. · 26 Apr 2007 at 23:32

2Thumbs said:
They're over budget, not on Evans' either!

pfft, I thought they were cheaper than that :\, and Linky.

DarkShadow · 26 Apr 2007 at 23:35

Another recommendation for the Hardrock, great bike for its price

2Thumbs · 26 Apr 2007 at 23:47

Phnom_Penh said:
pfft, I thought they were cheaper than that :\, and Linky.

Didn't know they were made by Ridgeback! :eek:

I was looking for just "Genesis" in the navigation bar.

alexthecheese · 27 Apr 2007 at 08:19

Wow, the thread is overwhelmingly in favour of the Specialized!

How exactly is it better? It seems that the front forks are slightly better with 20mm longer travel, but what about the gears etc.?

Specialized: Shimano Acera M-330 front and Shimano Acera M-340 rear derailleur
Trek: Shimano FD-C050 front and Shimano Alivio rear derailleurs

I might be able to push for the disc brakes on the Trek 4300, though I'm not certain. Would they be worth it? I've heard before that cheap discs aren't worth the hassle - is that the case with the Trek?

syke · 27 Apr 2007 at 11:23

alexthecheese said:
Wow, the thread is overwhelmingly in favour of the Specialized!

How exactly is it better? It seems that the front forks are slightly better with 20mm longer travel, but what about the gears etc.?

Specialized: Shimano Acera M-330 front and Shimano Acera M-340 rear derailleur
Trek: Shimano FD-C050 front and Shimano Alivio rear derailleurs

I might be able to push for the disc brakes on the Trek 4300, though I'm not certain. Would they be worth it? I've heard before that cheap discs aren't worth the hassle - is that the case with the Trek?

Specialized are the best allround really.
Dont get disc brakes unless they are Hydraulic which near your budget wont be.

Specialized bikes are built for everything, a mate of mine works in a bike shop and a guy brought in a 20 yr old specialized and it was in perfect working order, and he rides it every day.

alexthecheese · 27 Apr 2007 at 11:36

Syk3 said:
Specialized are the best allround really.
Dont get disc brakes unless they are Hydraulic which near your budget wont be.

Specialized bikes are built for everything, a mate of mine works in a bike shop and a guy brought in a 20 yr old specialized and it was in perfect working order, and he rides it every day.

Well, I've got a Specialized Hard Rock with disc brakes coming through. Quite chuffed really, should be a nice bike!

I had a feeling that disc brakes might be a bit overkill or not quite good enough for the price, but I went for them anyway. They can't be worse than v-brakes, can they? I suppose I could always upgrade them if needed.

7-10 working days and it comes fully built, all I have to do is stick on the pedals and point the handle bars in the right direction.

Link

syke · 27 Apr 2007 at 11:55

For a little bit more i woulda gone for http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=5328

The Disc Brakes will be OKAY, but nothing great.

Preferably you probably should have got the standard HardRock, but should be a good bike anyway.

alexthecheese · 27 Apr 2007 at 12:01

That would've been too much mate, it's to replace a £300 bike, they knew that and it would've been pushing it a bit!

I'm sure it'll be fine for what I need.

syke · 27 Apr 2007 at 12:03

alexthecheese said:
That would've been too much mate, it's to replace a £300 bike, they knew that and it would've been pushing it a bit!

I'm sure it'll be fine for what I need.

Yeah it will

Maybe in time try upgrade to some Hyraulic Discs though.

alexthecheese · 27 Apr 2007 at 13:41

Shimano hydraulic brakes These kinda things?

Cheaper than I thought actually

Raymond Lin · 27 Apr 2007 at 13:53

alexthecheese said:
Shimano hydraulic brakes These kinda things?

Cheaper than I thought actually

Those are the cheaper ones you can get, decent ones starts around £100.