Big Bike Thread

kieranv · 29 Dec 2013 at 17:55

Had an awesome day on the bike today with this lot. Spot the famous faces!

My bum.

AtreuS said:
Heya all after a bit of advice.

I am not a mountain bike nut so my knowledge is about zero

I am after a mountain bike for myself to get me back biking and fitness level up... I am big lad ( 17 stone ) and for starters I will be doing mainly country rides along trails... so fairly level gravel, dirt, grass etc

Now my budget is £400 MAX and I would prefer £300 really... so I know for that price I am getting a mass produced consumer bike but there does seem to be a little bit of choice. The one that stands out currently in the http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_991971_langId_-1_categoryId_165499 on half price deal at Halfords. Now I have had Carrera before and they always seemed to have good build quality. Now this bike seems perfect but I am a bit suspicious as to why its on half price deal?

The other bike I saw was the voodoo bantu http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_786851_langId_-1_categoryId_165499 but is this really worth £100 more?

Any input would be appreciated.

Out of the two Halfords bikes you've mentioned, the Bantu is by far and away the better bike. The bike varial posted has better gears, but the Bantu has better forks IMO.

W!ll · 29 Dec 2013 at 22:17

ArreuS listen to KieranV this difference is immense, Bantu is a lot better than the Titan (it was never a £600 bike, hint hint).

andrew_simpson · 30 Dec 2013 at 11:20

Hi, I've currently got a 2012 Voodoo Hoodoo and am looking to get a new bike in the new year I've been looking at the 2014 Boardman Team FS
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_991934_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

I've got a discount off the price bringing it down to around £900 at least just wondering what people's opinion of it is.
Is there any other bikes I should be looking at?
Thanks.

daz.rathbone · 30 Dec 2013 at 12:17

andrew_simpson said:
Hi, I've currently got a 2012 Voodoo Hoodoo and am looking to get a new bike in the new year I've been looking at the 2014 Boardman Team FS
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_991934_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

I've got a discount off the price bringing it down to around £900 at least just wondering what people's opinion of it is.
Is there any other bikes I should be looking at?
Thanks.

I had the 2012 Team FS, and also the Comp HT. Boardman bikes are usually nicely built (although your Halfords mileage may vary), and a great spec for the money.

The main problem I had, however, was in support. You have to go through Halfords, and their knowledge is next to useless. If you ever manage to talk directly to the Boardman support, they are even less helpful. Getting hold of any parts that are not standard is either a pain or expensive.

For example on the 2012 FS, the rear shock bushings had a habit of wearing quickly, lots of play in only 3 or 4 decent rides. I think Halfords wanted about £60 for a set of them - in the end me and a couple of friends had our own ones fab'd and cost us around a fiver.

Also info on their site was always next to useless. Some of the basic dimensions were there, but no info on things like seat post internal diameter (for a reverb etc).

Good luck. They're good bikes, and I'd have one again, but I think around the £1k mark there are alternative (if not necessarily better) options.

Phil W · 30 Dec 2013 at 15:30

Went on my first mountain biking experience today at Llandegla Forest. Didn't quite know what to expect but the ascent was quite hard, bitter cold winds at what seemed like 50mph meant a few stops on the way up.

The forest sections were great, nearly had an off but managed to avoid it!

Bike is a 2008 model Specialized Rockhopper that has lived in the shed for most of its life. I've concluded I need better brakes (V-brakes at the moment, looking at Avid BB7's), a better seat and better pedals.

Loved it though, great experience!

PapaLazaru · 30 Dec 2013 at 16:11

andrew_simpson said:
Hi, I've currently got a 2012 Voodoo Hoodoo and am looking to get a new bike in the new year I've been looking at the 2014 Boardman Team FS
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_991934_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

I've got a discount off the price bringing it down to around £900 at least just wondering what people's opinion of it is.
Is there any other bikes I should be looking at?
Thanks.

Save yourself £300?

http://www.mbr.co.uk/bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-review-2013/

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_907521_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

VooDoo Bizango 29er, MBR Hardtail of the Year, £600 category

MBR Verdict -

It’s rare that we test a bike that totally wipes the floor with the competition, but that’s exactly what happened with the VooDoo Bizango 29er. Thanks to the superior performance of the Suntour Raidon fork, a no-holds barred spec and an attitude that screams ‘bring it on’, the VooDoo isn’t just better than its £600 rivals, it bests most of the £1,000 hardtails too. Fast, fun and up for anything, it poses the tricky question: why spend any more when a £600 hardtail is this good?

andrew_simpson · 30 Dec 2013 at 18:27

Thanks for the responses, The halfords near me is ok but there's a raft of bike shops around so I mostly use them at the moment.
That Voodoo is good but i've got a hard tail at the moment and looking for a full suspension really.

varial · 30 Dec 2013 at 23:25

Totally at a loss of where to go this Saturday, based in Scarborough and ideally want to travel about 2-3 hours which brings up places like Grizdale, Gisburn, Hamsterley, Whinlatter, Sherwood Pines. Having been to wales and Scotland im hoping to find some thing as fun as spooky woods decent which left me grinning for days and didn't mind the climb for. Defiantly don't want to end up some were like Dulby Forrest!

Any suggestions?

Caseh · 30 Dec 2013 at 23:53

varial said:
Totally at a loss of where to go this Saturday, based in Scarborough and ideally want to travel about 2-3 hours which brings up places like Grizdale, Gisburn, Hamsterley, Whinlatter, Sherwood Pines. Having been to wales and Scotland im hoping to find some thing as fun as spooky woods decent which left me grinning for days and didn't mind the climb for. Defiantly don't want to end up some were like Dulby Forrest!

Any suggestions?

If you're wanting to have any fun at all, don't go to Sherwood Pines. So so boring!

varial · 31 Dec 2013 at 00:33

CasKirensys said:
If you're wanting to have any fun at all, don't go to Sherwood Pines. So so boring!

cheers dude, i think we are going to camp on fri/sat up at glentress and take our new lights with us ti spice things up, I just cant resist!

Andelusion · 31 Dec 2013 at 00:35

The hope line at Gisburn is similar to spooky wood but no where near as long. Lots of jumps and berms though.

SpudMaster · 31 Dec 2013 at 04:15

varial said:
Totally at a loss of where to go this Saturday, based in Scarborough and ideally want to travel about 2-3 hours which brings up places like Grizdale, Gisburn, Hamsterley, Whinlatter, Sherwood Pines. Having been to wales and Scotland im hoping to find some thing as fun as spooky woods decent which left me grinning for days and didn't mind the climb for. Defiantly don't want to end up some were like Dulby Forrest!

Any suggestions?

Can't really comment on the others but if I travel 2-3 hours and rode Gisburn I'd be very disappointed

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2013 at 09:18

Oh man I'm so close to pulling the trigger and ordering one of these:

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=3269

Such incredible value for money (I know it's still not cheap, but other make bikes of this spec are £6-7k!)

Not sure if I should go for the model below instead. Hmmmm.........

jimferno · 31 Dec 2013 at 10:08

Nice mid life crisis bike...

I went for the YT Tues 2.0 but the Canyon DHX was second on my list. I usually build my bikes frame up but couldn't justify dropping £2.7k+ on just a frame when full bikes from YT & Canyon cost the same.

Insane spec for the price!

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2013 at 10:11

Yeh I've been looking at the YT bikes too. Great value for money too, but you'd expect that as they're a 'direct from seller' make too.

I wanted to build my own bike this time too, but as you say, as decent frame is over £2k, and the DHX rock zone is £2400 for a complete bike with a very nice spec.

The flash zone (above) is 'only' £800 more, and look at the kit you get!!

jimferno · 31 Dec 2013 at 10:15

Last time I built, I spent close to 5k on a fully tricked out Demo..

Couple of months later I discovered the direct to consumer German brands and was gutted about how much I had spent...

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2013 at 10:19

The main problem is, the pictured bike isn't in stock until the end of March

Lower spec one is in stock. Not sure what to do.

jimferno · 31 Dec 2013 at 10:24

If you look in the 'outlet' section they have last years top end model, Torque FRX, available for £2600... See if that floats your boat.

Similar spec to the DHX but fork is a coil sprung 40.

Liam8 · 31 Dec 2013 at 10:52

My friend bought last years flashzone, such a great looking bike, the blue/black looks great plus you get fox 40, mavic deemax and cane creek double barrel

The Outlet ones are £2650 and that's an absolute steal.

I have a YT Tues 2.0 Comp which Dirt have voted DH bike of the year
Another great speced bike for not an awful lot of money

http://www.pinkbike.com/u/liam8/album/

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2013 at 11:27

ah man the 2013 bikes look very tempting too! I hate buying out of date stuff though, but that is an incredible spec for £2600!!