new hardtail

shadowcreaper

shadowcreaper

shadowcreaper

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Joined
29 Jul 2008
Posts
692
Just decided to see if you guys know anything about bikes, i been around bike forums but just wanted to see some more insight.

i looking to get a hardtail bike and got upto 400quid to spend.

atm i looking into getting a specialised rockhopper sinse it seems to have the best spec on the market and good value.

i also looked into scott 60 though it hard to find one under 400 and those tht are go fast.


anyone got any other ideas, i looked at a few gt, ect blast, but the forks suck or the shimo set is pretty poor ie below decore.

cheers for any insight..also if you know any good shops tell me so far evans seems the best.
 
If you can still find last year's v-brake rockhopper, those were an awesome buy, £350 a while back... Good fork, good components allround. Lovely. But I'm not sure if those are still around to buy.
 
That's really nice... Obviously a wee bit over price but it's really nice, frame is basic but it works and the forks, wheels etc are all better than you expect at that price. A mate of mine has a higher-spec Malt 1, but it's still basically the same bike- rides very nicely indeed.

Hey, are you blablablacksheep on Bikeradar by any chance?
 
aye yes, i been all over the forums:)

just checked and found merlin bikes way way west UK and im london, going to be interesting trying to figue out a test ride....or do i dare order without test ride..
 
Difficult to go wrong with that Merlin tbh. Cracking bikes - again a friend has one (specced up mind) but it's a corker. :)
 
i still trying to find this:
Merlin Malt 1 (09) | £525
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...alt-1-09-33656

atm can only find the decore special bike.which still a good bike, anyhow.

it either this decore special malt 1 or a rockhopper 2008 disc break,both simular priced

I ended up with a Carrera Fury for £480, which I'm delighted with.
Click to expand...

Id never get hallfords so that bike out of question, had to many issues with them with my old bike and just type hallfords into bike forums and you allwas get bad reveiws and issues with terrible quality.

still at least you got a good one:)
 
Nah, the Carreras have no real quality issues... they're well made, frames made by Merida IIRC, good level gear- that Fury has Rockshox u-turn forks (Recons is it?), SRAM drivetrain, Truvativ and Formula drivetrain and wheels... And nicely put together too. The general spec beats the Spesh, and it's more versatile too, bigger hitter. Halfords taint themselves with their lower end brands but there's no connection at all between their terrible Apollos and the Carreras and Boardmans, they're not even made in the same country, and share literally no parts.

Still, shop backup varies a lot. My local place was good- all enthusiasts, and when I had my Kraken they came through really well with my warranty claim (even though I had no warranty rights as second owner!). But you can equally get bikehuts staffed my idiots. So that's a definate downer. Then again, if you're buying over the internet you'll have no local support either so it's no worse- either way you'll end up in your FLBS.

If the Carreras were sold by a different shop, everyone would be all over them, at the end of the day- they're almost all good bikes at good prices.
 
I've got no problems at all with my Carrera so far, and I've not exactly been gentle. It'll be going in for its free service soon, and I fully expect a decent service from them :)

For the price, the spec is unbeatable (especially the Recon forks).
 
tbh at the moment the merlin guys seem to have the best spec and good reveiws behind them, i going to try a rockhopper disc out at evans and see if they have it in stock and what sort of deal i can get on it.

also spec wise the merlin do seem to have better gear,

main reson though is that i just dont trust hallfords, also their returns policy is rather lame, being you cant get money back when you buy from them only vouchers or gift certifs or store credit, so if it goes wrong theres no option for money back.

still if you get a good hallfords bike your very lucky:P

tell us how you find the bike as you ride more sinse i found after about 1 week-2 weeks the gears on hallfords bikes tend to become quite bad, ie slipping gears or unable to shift smoothly, also found the breaks tend to be either over tight or very loose.

so let us know how it rides as time goes on:)
 
Nah, seriously, Carrera are as well made as any other major manufacturer (as are Boardman, Halfords other quality brand) No luck involved. You're less likely to have a problem with a carrera than with a cheap cannondale.

The Malt 1 Deore is just brilliant value, I think I said in the bikeradar thread though that I'd still choose the Fury- the Malt does what it does well, but the versatility of the Fury would outweight that for me. It depends what you're after, the Malt will be better for basic XC but the Fury is definatley the better trail centre bike.

The vouchers thing doesn't apply to defective or faulty products btw, it doesn't affect your statutory rights of return and refund at all.
 
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