spec me a mountain bike please

garymcq23 · 20 Sep 2015 at 20:20

hi just wondering if any of you mountain bikers could spec me a decent mountain bike i could spend around £1300 or so on a bike i will not be doing any competitive racing just riding for pleasure mostly on trails noting to extreme. this will be my first proper mountain bike at the age of 28 last time i had my own bike i must have been around 14 lol.

these are the two bikes i have been looking at

http://www.mcconveycycles.com/store/product/22182/Giant-Xtc-Advanced-27.5-3-M/

and

http://whyte.bike/gb/models/trail/trail-hardtail-27-5-650b/901-2/

it would be great to have some input from any of the experienced riders on these bikes or if there is something better out there for the seem sort of money or cheaper

also if yous could tell me what size of frame i should get im 5"11 and weigh around 12 stone

Supercow · 21 Sep 2015 at 09:39

Those are pretty poor choices for £1300 (imo)

What kind of Riding will you be doing / where will you mostly ride?

If new and hardtail, then I wouldn't look much further than:

http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero.html

Ask them for a version specced with a 1 x drivetrain and dropper post if possible in budget. Go for a large, with a short stem.

garymcq23 · 21 Sep 2015 at 17:17

ok thanks i dont know much about mountain biking with all the different running gear but those bikes you posted look nice.

ill just be doing some blue trails and maybe red if im good enough at it lol

this is the sort of places i will take the bike
http://www.mountainbikeni.com/

Supercow · 22 Sep 2015 at 11:13

The Bird is still a good recommendation.

Begbie · 22 Sep 2015 at 14:42

You won't get a dropper at £1300 with Bird, but I love my Bird Zero. Great fun.

So much better specced than the other two, it's laugable.

Supercow · 22 Sep 2015 at 18:47

Fair enough, dropper can wait for a later upgrade, he won't know what he's missing in the meanwhile.

garymcq23 · 24 Sep 2015 at 14:27

if i was to up my budget to £1500 should i go for the bird zero 3 with upgraded fork and dropper post or go for the bird zero amx?

Supercow · 24 Sep 2015 at 15:15

The bikes can be configured so vastly differently - can you post which specs in particular you're referring to?

Gambisk · 24 Sep 2015 at 15:57

The trails here in NI are pretty tame compared to similar graded trails on the mainland. Definitely go with a hard tail, you will have way more fun, my full sus make it a little to easy and is a pain in the ass to pedal. You will be hitting the red runs on your second outing no bother.

Real Cycles in temple have this on sale at the minute its a very well speced bike for the price http://www.realcycles.com/m1b0s378p6402/MARIN_Rocky_Ridge_7_6_2015

go in store and have a yarn with the manager and you can probably get a little bit extra off if you're buying kit as well.

This is also well worth a read if you are just starting, it helped me no end.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Mountain-Skills-Brian-Lopes/dp/0736083715

garymcq23 · 24 Sep 2015 at 18:02

Supercow said:
The bikes can be configured so vastly differently - can you post which specs in particular you're referring to?[/QUOT

i was thinking this http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-3f.html with the rockshox Sektor Gold RL Forks and dropper post which would take the cost to £1445

or just get this with no extras. http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-amx1.html

garymcq23 · 24 Sep 2015 at 18:12

Gambisk said:
The trails here in NI are pretty tame compared to similar graded trails on the mainland. Definitely go with a hard tail, you will have way more fun, my full sus make it a little to easy and is a pain in the ass to pedal. You will be hitting the red runs on your second outing no bother.

Real Cycles in temple have this on sale at the minute its a very well speced bike for the price http://www.realcycles.com/m1b0s378p6402/MARIN_Rocky_Ridge_7_6_2015

go in store and have a yarn with the manager and you can probably get a little bit extra off if you're buying kit as well.

This is also well worth a read if you are just starting, it helped me no end.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Mountain-Skills-Brian-Lopes/dp/0736083715

thanks for the the reply mate good to here from someone that has ridden the trails here in n.ireland. had a little look at the reviews for that bike on bikeradar and they gave it 2 stars just, where as the zero got 4. can these magazines be a bit biased against some manufactures?

Supercow · 24 Sep 2015 at 18:44

Great spec on that Marin but the geometry lets it down... So no bias, numbers don't lie.

Ill have a look at the specs later on..but basically try get the best fork in your budget, then dropper (1x drivetrain is a must)

Supercow · 24 Sep 2015 at 18:48

Ps..it's worth waiting and keeping an eye on pinkbike...for example
http://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/1809566/

It might be a touch too small, so you can wait it out for a large

garymcq23 · 24 Sep 2015 at 21:31

i noticed on the zero website that they dont seem to do a large frame i could only see small and medium.

why is 1x drivetrain a must? i thought more gears the better

Begbie · 25 Sep 2015 at 04:56

garymcq23 said:
Supercow said:

The bikes can be configured so vastly differently - can you post which specs in particular you're referring to?[/QUOT

i was thinking this http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-3f.html with the rockshox Sektor Gold RL Forks and dropper post which would take the cost to £1445

or just get this with no extras. http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-amx1.html

Click to expand...

Amx over the sektors. The x fusion forks are more than good enough!

And less gears are best gears, less mechanic issues and 10 gears at the rear with the right cog on the front will have you climbing just about anything.

Supercow · 25 Sep 2015 at 11:16

^^ What he said.

With a 1 x drivetrain, and with their wide cassettes, these days you can attain the same gear ratios as a granny ring. AND most importantly of all, it's much more silent.

Can't be dealing with clang clang clang clang as you ride,

If you can't see your size, I'm pretty sure they must have it. Call them up and speak to a chap called Ben Pinnick.

Gambisk · 25 Sep 2015 at 12:32

Ah didn't look closely at the geometry on that Marin, its very much let down by that.

Regarding gears, a 2x9 in theory yields 18 different gear ratios but many of them overlap very closely and therefore don't get used. Its also prone to chains falling off and is a pain to maintain chain alignment on. 1x setups are less pain to maintain, you can get similar spread of ratios, they are more reliable and you can get a narrow wide front ring to minimize chain drops.

GaryMcG, give me a shout some time when you get your bike if you want to head out.

One more thing to throw into the mix is pedals, generally high spec bikes are not supplied with pedals as its quite a personal thing.
I've had these for 6 years and done nothing to maintain them and they still work as good as new
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wellgo-v12-copy-flat-pedals/rp-prod665

Mr-White · 25 Sep 2015 at 12:44

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mtb/grand-canyon/grand-canyon-cf-5-9.html

MW

garymcq23 · 25 Sep 2015 at 20:03

cheers guys ill make sure to get a 1x10 drive train. im still not sure what size of frame i should get would a medium be fine for me? 5"11 around (11,1/2) 12 stone.

yes gambisk i will do, would be good to be showing the ropes by someone that knows what they are doing, although not to sure when i will be getting the bike as i have to pay off me and the girlfriends holiday to Florida first. hoping i can work out a cycle to work scheme so that i can get it a bit sooner or even if a good second hand one pops up

dunker · 27 Sep 2015 at 01:59

whats with all this 1x10 sillyness? my mtb spins out at 40mph but can drop onto my 22 granny and spin up 25+% climbs. 3x9 ftw! or 3x10? or 2x10? 1x10 just no.