MTB Opinion/Pricing

Sin_Chase

Sin_Chase

Sin_Chase

Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2004
Posts
21,009
Posted in Big Bike thread but it gets a lot of traffic so posting separately! :p

Looking into buying a bike for commuting and some odd off-road use. Not looking to spend a fortune but don't want to buy cheap and be left with something broken either.

Second hand came across the following. 2 questions, how suitable do you think it is for daily commuting and for the off bit of use elsewhere as I fancy it? It's being advertised at around £350, seems reasonable or not? Might be some movement on that price. Advertise as the 10 model but I think it's an 09 from the spec.

Commencal Combi Disc

Cheers in advance.
 
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Sin_Chase said:
... how suitable do you think it is for daily commuting and for the off bit of use elsewhere as I fancy it?
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I imagine it would depend on the ratio of commuting to off-road use you have planned. If your commute is only a mile or two then you'll get away with locking out the suspension, but I personally wouldn't want to ride it much further.
 
You could probably haggle a little bit but it's a fair price.

It will be fine for a commuter. You see lots of similar specced bikes being used as such. I used to commute 5 miles each way on my 34lb full sus. It's all about the rider! ;)
 
weescott said:
You could probably haggle a little bit but it's a fair price.

It will be fine for a commuter. You see lots of similar specced bikes being used as such. I used to commute 5 miles each way on my 34lb full sus. It's all about the rider! ;)
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What you have neglected to mention is you were also late for work everyday :p
 
You could commute of a penny farthing if you insisted upon it, and I am sure plenty of people have done it, but that doesn't necessarily make it the right choice ;)

I'm not saying that it's a terrible idea either, it's just not especially efficient for the task of commuting. It won't be fast, given the weight and those wide, knobbly tyres. Unless you want it for a specific reason (i.e. you weigh 120kg+ or something) you'd be better off with a cyclo-cross bike, or just a bog standard road bike if you can forgo the off-roading.
 
Saundie said:
You could commute of a penny farthing if you insisted upon it, and I am sure plenty of people have done it, but that doesn't necessarily make it the right choice ;)

I'm not saying that it's a terrible idea either, it's just not especially efficient for the task of commuting. It won't be fast, given the weight and those wide, knobbly tyres. Unless you want it for a specific reason (i.e. you weigh 120kg+ or something) you'd be better off with a cyclo-cross bike, or just a bog standard road bike if you can forgo the off-roading.
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That's why I have a CX bike for commuting now ;) But there nothing wrong with a HT for commuting. In many cases it's ideal.
 
weescott said:
It will be fine for a commuter. You see lots of similar specced bikes being used as such. I used to commute 5 miles each way on my 34lb full sus. It's all about the rider! ;)
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I commute on an old Muddyfox full sus without any problems, ideally, you don't want a full sus as they tend be a little bit harder to ride (have to pedal harder/more often), but, on the plus side, you'll get fitter. ;)

In all fairness, though, a HT should be fine for commuting. This will be my next buy when I get around to getting a new bike.
 
Sin_Chase said:
I'm no pro MTBer but I want the option of some offroad stuff also.

Easy enough to change the tyres to something more road suitable?
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You could put some slicks on it (I have Schwalbe Kojaks on my 26" wheel commuter) which would make road riding more pleasant/faster, but you'd have to change them again for going off road. It's not difficult to change the tyres, just time consuming.
 
Cool, thanks for the opinions chaps.

Fitness is a concern, and I'm no pussy so pedalling harder is not a problem :p

Worst case I could put slicks on for commuting as it will heavily outweigh offroad stuff, at first at least. If I decide to move more into offroad stuff I can take a view then. Think I will stick to looking at hard-tails.
 
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I'm glad I've not put you off of getting a bike, I realise now that I may have impressed too heavily on the downsides of an MTB. Who knows, you may find yourself wanting to be even more masochistic and end up getting a fixie ;)
 
I used to ride a BMX to school and back :p 1 gear.

The 2nd hander I was looking at has too small of a frame so I am looking at other stuff. Unfortunately where I live there is next to no second hand market, not an accessible one anyway.

Found a local shop with a discount scheme for my place of work and seeing what they stock/pricing. Decent hardtails are looking to be about £500+ new so yeah, will need some thought on it.

Stock the commencal Ramones for example but that is muchos expensive. Plenty of Trek stock, but expensive also. (6000 series f.ex)

What do you lot suggest I should be looking at? Not pro, don't want cheap, don't want to spend the earth either. Retailer is here: http://www.thecyclecentrejsy.co.uk (If you want to see brands accessible via them at least)
 
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^ How secure is your cycle storage at work?

Where I work, despite having 24hr on site security and CCTV cameras, I still had a commuter bike stolen from approximately 120 yards away from the security office (although there's no direct line of sight)

It might be worth picking up something slightly cheaper, but still perfectly rideable so that you'd stand to lose less in the event it did get stolen?

Pessimistic view I know, but I commute on £240 worth of Carrera Vulcan, which currently has a siezed front mech due to the ravages of winter. (New one being fitted tonight/tomorrow)
 
Basement secured (security cards) carpark directly under the offices.

Going pop into local place today and have a chat/look around.
 
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