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treblet
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I'm looking to buy a mountain bike... to get rid of my steadily growing beer belly!

basically i have no experience of mountain bikes, its been years since ive been seriously into my biking so i'm REALLY out of touch now, i've been looking at various bikes on the internet sales sites and on gay-bay and i'm still none the wiser!!

I'm looking to get into downhill and cross country stuff as i live out in the countryside so its easily accessible for me to get to some decent trails, I wouold still like a bike thats alright to ride on the road as well though

I have a budget of about £600 as i'm a little bit skint just now and something thats going to be easily upgradable as well so i dont have to buy another bike too soon!

whats the advice then boys and girls???

Edited by treblet
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I'm looking to get into downhill and cross country stuff

Hit a rut... Thats two completely different styles of bike.

Downhill - Long Travel suspension

Cross Country - Short travel suspensioni

If your not gona be going at the downhill stuff too seriously then look at getting a hard tail with around 100 - 130mm of travel on the forks.

Make sure you buy a decent brand. It may be worth visiting an Independant bike shop as they tend to know much more about the bikes and the uses, and will give a more honest opinion.

Hope that helps :)

Looking at getting a bike myself soon, although I've been looking at 24" wheeled BMX's :)

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Chances are it would probably be cross country stuff with a bit of not too serious downhill. I should have said that i was actually looking at hardtails anyway!

Which brands would anyone reccomend?

I want to spend my money wisely and not buy some rip off bike which isnt really what i need!!

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Hi there,

For £600 you'll get a really decent front suspension x-country bike which it sounds like what you need for the trails rather than a downhill bike which will just pee you off as soon as you come to a hill. I wouldn't go for a full suspension bike at that price range it'll just annoy you and slow you down. For £600 you'll get disc brakes now, which I didn't get on my £1200 about 4 year ago!

I'd recommend spending as much as you can afford, there are some good sales around this time of year as the 2009 bikes will be in early next year and in some cases are already in the shops so now is a good time to buy. Try and save some money for a set of decent shoes and spd clipless pedals, these will make a big difference to your enjoyment. They're a bit scary at first but worth getting used to as they're much stiffer than regular trainers.

As far as brands go, you've got all the usual like Specialized and Trek, Marin but there are a few internet bargains to be had from the likes of merlincycles.co.uk and wiggle.co.uk. Merlin are good as they spec some good bits that you won't need to change for a while, just had a loook on the site and they have this for £200 off which has a good spec and not too heavy at 27.5lbs http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&...;categoryId=129.

I'll have a look round for some other bargains!

cheers

dave

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I was looking at the kona shred too, its in my price range and ive heard good things about kona but again thats only what ive heard, anymore opinions?

Probably better on DH stuf than a normal HT but you'll sure know about it's ectra lb-age on the ups!! Very heavy wheels on that one too.

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Wasn't belittling your budget mate, but mountain bikes aren't good value for money. :lol:

Any of the big brands, will make a good starter bike, I'd go for a hard tail.

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i know you werent mate, i'd love to be able to spend more but i just cant afford to at the moment... and ive realised that bikes REALLY arent good value for money, for a few bits of metal its pricey!!

as for the shred, i'll take that into consideration, i think my mate actually has a shred already so i might pinch a shot of it and see how it feels, im not too worried about the extra weight as long as its not mega heavy... either way tho it keeps you fit!!

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Hmm, call me old school or just plain old but these free ride style long-ish travel hardtails just aren't my thing plus I think they put people off mtbing in the long term, if you just want something to blast around for an hour the Norco and the Kona would probably be ok but for me, trail riding, climbing and some road work these bikes will pee you off, they're just too heavy and cumbersome.

I prefer true cross country bikes like Specialized Stumpjumper, Scott Scale series, some of the cannondale bikes. Light weight, lock able front suspension, nimble plus you can ride them on the road at a decent pace with some slicks.

But getting back to the subject, I just searched ebay for you, keyword scott and check out this beauty, check out the extras, more ampage than my lupo lol.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SCOTT-RACING-LINE-CO...id=p3286.c0.m14

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i think to be honest part of the problem is i am really looking for an allrounder bike sort of dirt jump/cross country/downhill combined, im not too sure if a cross country bike would be strong enough for the dirt jump stuff, but i could be wrong?

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i'm 5'6 and i use a 18" ht, i have 32" inner leg, if that's any help. I ride guys bikes cos ladies bikes are too short for me, i'm ape positive, go me!

If you're buying your bike online, find a shop near you that sells it and try it in different sizes. don't assume what size you'll need, each bike has a different geometry to it that you might not like, and you may find you need a bigger or smaller frame than you thought because of the geom.

as everyone else said, don't get a full sus, it'll only annoy you when you want to do flattish trail riding. i did dh on a ht for years before getting a susser with no real problems (apart from me being pants at it).

read a few mtb mags like singletrak, mtb etc they have reviews and stuff floating around will give you some good ideas on what's worth what and what to look for.

don't be too tempted by the new fangled technology and some sales persons enthusaism over something, just cos it's new doesn't mean it's good, ask about stuff don't be afriad to look like you've got no idea, if in doubt come back and ask us :D

also go for rapid fire gear shifts rather than twist shift, if your not use to biking they can take a lot of getting used to (also i hate them and find them annoying). don't get a bike with mechanical disc brakes they're pants, it's hydraulic discs or rim brakes or old fashioned mechanical rim brakes.

and get some biking shorts with chamois in, save your bits some bruising ;)

i think to be honest part of the problem is i am really looking for an allrounder bike sort of dirt jump/cross country/downhill combined, im not too sure if a cross country bike would be strong enough for the dirt jump stuff, but i could be wrong?

you're not wrong.

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One hell of a bike for the money: Norco Sasquatch

cant really go wrong with norco

there good all round bikes...my riding buddy has the bigfoot and uses it for downhill. only thing he had changed is the wheels

was built and tested at whistler bike park in Canada so its a tough all rounder

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One hell of a bike for the money: Norco Sasquatch

cross country on that? no thankyou!

that works! id go for something like that!

i think to be honest part of the problem is i am really looking for an allrounder bike sort of dirt jump/cross country/downhill combined, im not too sure if a cross country bike would be strong enough for the dirt jump stuff, but i could be wrong?

i disagree. i would go for an older model, oldschool ish hardtail. i used to ride a specialised rockhopper, first cross counrty with rigid forks, it was fine, i then upgraded those forks for some judy race and it was the perfect X-country bike for me! i then dabbled in jumps, and there was the obvious bit of heavy downhill riding involved in x-country. it then got turned into a fully blown trials bike! and that is how it stands to date!

no breakages no cracks, and i rode it hard!

so i would go for either...

an old...

trek,

Orange (c16r's are lovely!)

specialized,

kona,

and you can get a wicked (old) bike, awesome set up etc, for the price you want!

hope that helped.

ben

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enduro

bargin for xcountry and downhill

your bike dont need to be amazing for downhill...ive seen kids killing downhill and dirt jumps on saracen's and raliegh max

it all depends on your skill to be fair...if you going to ride fort william then invest in something just for downhill

but if your just riding a little bit while doing x-country then you can get away with doing it on a cross county or hardtail

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trials...

DSC_0035.jpg

old ratty...

DSC_0010.jpg

the master...

DSC_0008.jpg

i also have a bare metal WTP but dont have a photo.

the specialized in trials form and the orange are both there!

in the process of single speeding the falcon too! :P

club lupo's bikes. *clicky*

Edited by Little Green Giant
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