Mountain Bike up to £650

Rybo89

Rybo89

Rybo89

Soldato
Joined
13 Jun 2007
Posts
13,951
Location
Chesterfield
Hello guys,

I did post up in the MB thread but i had no reply, so made a thread.

With the little man being 7yo we have bought him his first decent-ish mountain bike (Boys 20" Carrera Blast). Sooo, i am now in need of a Mountain bike so we can go out together on the bikes.

Use to have a 2011 Kona Blast and it was a fantastic bike.The only Problem was is that i got the 19" when i should have got a 20-21". So sold it and never decided to buy another until now.

My budget is around £650. I have been hovering over the buy button on a Kona Blast 2013 @ £679 but i thought i would post here first to see if there is anything else out there worth considering, what also might save me a little bit of money.

I don't recognise hardly any of the brands these days and have no clue about the equipment.

So the main things i am looking for:

Build quality (reason why i have always loved Kona's)
Looks
Ride quality
Hard tail

Any recommendations/reviews will be greatly appreciated :)
 
Na, nothing crazy.

When i am with friends i might do the odd rocky trail at most. The Kona Blast handled these brilliantly.

Another thing i liked about the Blast was how light it was to.

Think i am basically saying, if anything matches the Kona Blast 2011 (but newer), ill be happy and a bonus if it is under budget . I just don't know anything at all about the equipment in the listings, so can't match things up.

Thanks
 
I like the look of the Specialized. The RockRider looks ok, not sure on the Grey/black and blue theme though.

I know Evans Cycles let you test out the bikes before you buy without any hassle, but they are 25miles away from me (Nottingham city centre). So just cannot find the time to go down between work hours for when they are open.

I have a JE James around the corner from me. Not sure if they let you test out the bikes though? I know their prices are silly compared to places like Evans Cycles.
 
Thanks guys, been reading a few reviews on the bikes listed here and they all have top reviews.

What's the opinion on 29ers? Some people saying they are more dangerous, some saying they ride loads better than the normal 26".
 
Ok guys, thanks for that. I prefer to be able to move easier, rather than speed.

One more question. I am 6ft2 and bought a 19" frame last time after thinking it was ok after a test ride I had at Evans Cycles. Only when I went out on it properly I noticed it was to small and I had the seat stupidly high which just looked stupid and hurt my conkers.

All bikes seem to be 20" and then straight to 22". I think 21" would have been the sweet spot but I am struggling to find this size with the bikes I am looking at. So, 20" or 22"? What do you guys think?

Might nip down and see if JE James is open later after work and see if I can jump on one of their 22" frame bikes. (Doubt they will be open though with it being a bank holiday). Yes, I could just wait till tomorrow but the Kona Blast offer ends in 7 hour and I am still hovering over the buy button for that. :p (never had anything other than a Kona so finding it hard to buy another brand, stupid I know...but can't help it)
 
JE James is open for when I get back to Chesterfield. I'll pop in and jump on some bikes and see if they have any in what is listed on here.

Pretty sure they don't do price match, so doubt I'll be buying anything tonight.
 
Just come from JE James. Spoke to a bloke soon as I went into the shop and asked what is the best bike for £700 and he took me straight to a 2012 Kona Cinder Cone that was £640.

I then seen the 2013 model which is very nice but costs £900. Bloke said it has the exact same equipment as the 2012 though...

Also looked at the specialized Hardrock Disk at £500. Nice bike but the guy said the Kona blows it out of the water in every way?

Was plenty of Cubes with good equipment and decent price tags. Again the bloke said the Cubes had the gear but not the frames.

They also had a Kona Blast in but it was a 18". Not sure if I am keen on the colour though...which is strange for me as it is my favourite kind of blue. Very similar to BMW Estoril blue.
 
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I have bought the 2013 Kona Cinder Cone.

Managed to grab it whilst it was at £764 (now back to £900). Ill be honest and say i only bought it over the 2012 version and the Blast because of its looks.

Will last me some years and hopefully help me get rid of some pounds...

Mrs did not approve, especially going over the budget i told her. :rolleyes: :D
 
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