First budget MTB

Caseh · 18 Jan 2011 at 15:08

Hey, I'm looking for my first MTB with a budget of about £400. I know almost nothing about Bikes. All I really know is I'm not going to get anything fantastic, and that I need a Hardtail for the money.

Thanks in advance, Cas.

booyaka · 18 Jan 2011 at 15:18

Carrera Vengeance Ultimate - halfords

Amazing spec for £320 if you can find one in your size!

Matt-Page · 18 Jan 2011 at 15:46

What will you be using the bike for? What surfaces will you be riding on?

Caseh · 18 Jan 2011 at 16:12

Matt-Page said:
What will you be using the bike for? What surfaces will you be riding on?

Errrrrr

I guess it's mostly going to be Dirt Trails I go on.

SDK^ · 18 Jan 2011 at 16:20

Spend a bit more for a Boardman Sport : £470
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_561395_langId_-1_categoryId_165499#dtab

A bit less : Focus Northern Lite 2010 : £300
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/focus-northern-lite-2010/

booyaka said:
Carrera Vengeance Ultimate - halfords
Amazing spec for £320 if you can find one in your size!

Not a bad spec but it weighs 15kg :eek:

Caseh · 18 Jan 2011 at 18:25

Thanks for the advice guys. That Carrera Vengeance Ultimate look's good, is 15kg too heavy? Doesn't seem much heavier than the other bikes.

I'd love to get the Boardman bike, but I'm getting a bike in this price range so that I can get riding for the summer. I'll be buying a better bike next year, when I've had some time to save.

booyaka · 18 Jan 2011 at 18:36

[Cas];18258858 said:
Thanks for the advice guys. That Carrera Vengeance Ultimate look's good, is 15kg too heavy? Doesn't seem much heavier than the other bikes.

I'd love to get the Boardman bike, but I'm getting a bike in this price range so that I can get riding for the summer. I'll be buying a better bike next year, when I've had some time to save.

15kg is heavyish for a bike -the boardman is 12.8kg or so as an example

Jonny ///M · 18 Jan 2011 at 19:31

Look at the gt avalanche 3 disc(cable and hydraulic) and the mongoose tyax(elite/comp).

Last years Avalanche 3 hydraulic got a great review in a magazine last year.

gcaster · 21 Jan 2011 at 01:55

Avoid anything with Suntour forks - they don't work. I found this out years ago when I bought a GT Avalanche as what I thought was my first real MTB.
My advice for a budget of £400 is to go second hand. Have a look on the Singletrack World classifieds, for £400 you'll be looking at getting a bike that cost double that a year ago.
One thing I've learnt with bikes over the last few years is, unless you're budget is huge, buy used. My MTB build has cost me about £1200 but new I'd be looking at paying about £3k.

"andy" · 21 Jan 2011 at 02:20

new suntour forks arent anywhere near as bad as they used to be to be fair.

gcaster · 21 Jan 2011 at 02:44

I'd still stay away from them personally. The price

erformance ratio of a budget bike speccing suntour is a lot worse than for say a set of tora 318s which are a damn site better courtesy of the MoCo cartridge.

gcaster · 21 Jan 2011 at 02:45

That's meant to say price: performance.
Bloody phone doesn't like the edit button!