Old mtb for £200 - prudent or stupid?

Borsch

Borsch

Borsch

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Having never tried mountain biking, I've decided to give it a go, with Lake District being 30minutes away etc...
To begin with it will probably be just causal rides around beautiful scenery along some unpaved roads and some easy trail riding. I also intend to practice some techniques like bunny hopping, stoppies etc as this sounds like fun also :)

I understand that a brand new £200 Appolo bike is not very good for the job, so I've done a bit of research on second hand *decent bikes* and converged to something like this:

Rockhopper 2006 , purely for its style, I like it :) Spec wise there seems to be little difference between it and the latter rockhoppers. (I've narrowly lost an auction on it yesterday, with the bike going for £220)

Also, I'm looking at a more recent Boardman Comp which is a couple of kilos lighter.

The latter is more expensive, but I wanted to know is there going to be a problem with using an older bike like the Spesh above? Is metal fatigue an issue, ie is it likely that rockhopper frame/cranks/pedals will buckle or crack from my noobie jump attempts? I weigh about 80-85kg.
Just looking to avoid broken legs and gashing wounds if possible :D
 
I'm no expert on mountain bikes, but no, there's certainly nothing majorly wrong with buying older bikes, as long as they're structurally sound. They might require a bit of general maintenance, but that's the same for any second hand bike. Thing to bear in mind is that there's a lot of variation within "older mountain bikes", some of them might have been great in their time, most of them were probably more or less the same as entry level hardtails these days. Alright for most purposes, nothing special. You have to question whether it actually is any better than what you can get new for similar money. Eg.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-520-mountain-bike-275-black-id_8350582.html

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/raleigh-nova-mens-mountain-bike

or, if you're riding on light trails where you might not even need suspension

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-division-1-2016/
 
Problem with older bikes is you can easily spend 100-200£ on replacing parts if lots worn and depending on the level of kit I.e. slx, xt, deore.

Depends on the bike really and used can be hit and miss.

Decathlon for value IMO if new.
 
Cheers for the replies!
So, metal fatigue is not a common issue? I've read somewhere that aluminium parts should be replaced after 5 years of casual riding or 2 years of competition riding (cant find the source now), but this is not a consensus view in the mtb community - correct?

I did have a look at Decathlon, but I thouhgt that used higher grade parts should be better than new lower grade ones. Like Shimano Tourney 2016 vs Deore 2006-2010, wouldnt Deore still be significantly better? Likewise, Juicy3 hydraulic brakes 2006-10 vs Promax Mechanical Disc 2016 etc etc.

Plus the Halfords bike weighs 16kg (Decathlon doesn't say) vs 13kg for the old Rockhopper and 12kg for Boardman... To say nothing about the brand coolness factor :D

If horror strories about old bikes snapping in use are not common, then I think I'll go with my original plan - I just wanted to make sure :)
 
Well, most older bikes had low end components to start with, so it's hard to say without comparing specific bikes. In general though, I think there's less of a gap between significantly older mid range stuff and modern entry level stuff than some people make out. Especially when the older stuff has had years of use and is often in need of maintenance. The drivetrain on the b'twin is mostly SRAM X4/X3 level stuff which isn't bad by any means. And cheaper stuff is often more durable anyway. Says it's 14.7 kg in M, but weight isn't everything. Just depends on what sort of deals you can find second hand, in the right size, and how patient you are.

I don't know anything about your situation, of course, but have you checked to see if you can use a cycle to work scheme?
 
How does that scheme work? I commute from manchester to liverpool, so that's a bit extreme for a morning/evening bike ride :) Does the government check if the people who get the bike actually use it for commuting?

Decathlon looks good, but this looks better ;) : https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/specialized-mtb-upgraded-.like-new/1161657796

But yeah, I get your point about the shrinking gap. My bet was that the mechanical engineering does not advance at the rate of knots that we are used on this forum, so I still bet on the older upper range stuff... The main concern was danger to health, little niggly things I can live with/fix etc...
 
Cheers, will have to ask out about the scheme then :)
Will arrange a viewing for the Spesh above as well.

Thanks for your help, appreciate it.
 
Shame you don't live closer, I'm looking to move my 2004 Specialised Hardrock Pro Sport Disc which is both mechanically sound and in good condition for £100 :)
 
pumaz said:
Shame you don't live closer, I'm looking to move my 2004 Specialised Hardrock Pro Sport Disc which is both mechanically sound and in good condition for £100 :)
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I've already became a bit of a bike snob, so Rockhopper is the lowest I could go now :D

Unfortunately the gumtree ad is already gone :( Looking for something similar now.

This is my favourite Rockhopper (black or grey only)- looks wize anyway :) Hopefully I'll find something similar.
12112008959.jpg
 
Size- I am 6ft so I guess 17-18" frame, I'd rather keep it on the smaller side as, like I said, I want to practice some *technical riding* stuff and smaller frame should be easier to handle :)

Can't afford Canondales- too expensive for little spec, plus dont like white. (sorry if I come across as overly fussy, I certainly don't expect people to look for good deals for me - that's what I am for:) I'm in no rush, so I will find a bike that genuinely like - hopefully soon :))

After a bit more reading, I've now updated my preference to the 2009-2011 M4 framed Rockhopper (grey, maybe black), needs to be in good nick and ideally with a spec like in the gumtree ad above haha :) Once again - I don't expect anyone to actively search, but if you do accidentally see one - do kindly let me know :)

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PermaBanned said:
One thing you haven't mentioned at all so far is sizing. Which is important.
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Went to my local bike shop today, wanted to make sure that my sizing estimates are in the right ballpark. They were, 17.5" frame is the right way to go, although they did not have ANY bikes with 26" wheels (!), so I tried the 29" and 27.5" bikes with the 17" frames. Apparently all Rockhopers are 29" only this year, to try the 27.5" (650b) I was given some lower model. Happy that I've done this, I now understand that I hate the massive 29", and still don't particularly like the 27.5 - so Boardman Comp is ruled out now.
 
Can you test ride it?
Chances are the frame is fine but it might need new things like chain, cassette, bottom bracket.. That could run into a few quid..

Ride it if possible, if it rides nice, and shifts smooth, it's ok.
 
Not sure what you mean, test ride today was just to get the measurements. Have not found the second hand bike that I'd want to buy yet,but will definitely try it before buying.
 
Got an m4 frame rockhopper (grey silver) sitting in the shed. It defiantly needs some tlc but on the brakes (bleeding etc) but I never got round to doing anything with it.
 
It loads ok, the bike looks good. Ideally I would prefer a darker colour, but this looks nice also. What is its condition now (apart from the brakes needing bleeding), how much would you like for it, where abouts are you (when you are not on hoilday haha) and when are you back in the UK? But yeah, definitely interested :)

EDIT: Also what is the frame size?

EDIT2: Completely forgot about trading outside MM rule, sorry!
 
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