Mountain Bike Recommendations

[Stuart]

Guys I know there are some avid mountain bikers on here and I wondered if anyone would like to recommend me a decent mountain bike (budget up to a grand or so).  Will be for soft off road i.e towpaths and tracks + a bit (sometimes a fair bit) of road to get to the towpaths and tracks so nothing extreme needed.  Bit clueless on this but I believe that a hardtail is likely most suited for this sort of use, and I'm a fairly old fart so comfort is important as is light weight. 

 

Any thoughts or suggestions very much appreciated. 

 

[alexander72]

you need to speak to Simon Herbert the bike geek of Earls Barton< Northamptonshire - he's a bike mentalist and builds from carbon fibre bespoke bikes....would you like his number? i can PM it to you...

[XTR2Turbo]

Adam on here runs a bike shop I think

David

[S2T]

30% of your budget but that allows you to spend more on car....check out Halfords Carrera bike £170 off at c£270

[Stuart]

Cheers all - I have had a good root around the www and the Boardman HT Pro is looking favourite at the moment I reckon.  S2T, without going into detail, it's actually a gift so your idea, whilst laudable, wouldn't work!

[BEN99W]

Upon reading your first post, my immediate thought was the Boardman HT. A mate runs a full suspension version which takes the price out of your budget, but as you've already identified, you don't need full sus. We did a lot of research before deciding the Boardman gave the best bike for his budget. He's very happy with it.

Ben

[cast iron]

Stu - from my experience in the £1K bracket

Had a Cube Ltd Race nice bike rode very well, but wasnt enamered with the gear shift

Replaced it after it was pinched with a Trek 29er, slick gear shift but the brakes and handling arent a patch on the cube

Had a look at the Boardman but didnt like the shifters for the gear change

[ALLADDIN]

from the type of usage you expect / describe i dont think its really worth getting too tied up about it ?    from my experience as a fellow fairly old fart biker i would say get a full sus bike just for the comfort ?  i have a hard tail and a specialized xc that i use and find the xc fine on roads when locked off and much easier on my  bones when not !

 

you can get v.good deals on last year ( or even "older") models at a lot of online shops.   

and tyres make a huge difference too, dont get mud pluggers if your always on nice paths, its hard work.

[JustCallMeMac]

The Voodoo Bantu and Hoodoo, (which my son has), are extremely well specified and respected hardtail bikes, at around £360.00 and £460.00 respectively. (With current Halfords discount)

 

Great frames and high quality parts throughout, gives you a lot of 'bang for your buck' if you don't want to spend too much.

 

Here's a recent review of the Hoodoo

 

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-voodoo-hoodoo-12-46194

[Burlers]

Go full suss everytime... I started off with a £600 Stump Jumper which was great for a hardtail with excellent equipment, borrowed a mate's Whyte E-5 full suss and the comfort difference is A M A Z I N G...  I now have a Santa Cruz Blur LT

 

£1,000 should be enough to get you a half decent jobbie - What Mountain Bike is the best guide IMO

[allegory]

I'm curious reading this thread as I cannot see why anyone would need to go anywhere near £1k and full suspension for 'soft off road'.

In my opinion, full sus bike is more parts to clean and maintain and added weight to climb up hills. Keep it simple and reliable and spend some of the budget on kit and extras to make riding more enjoyable at this time of the year.

Sorry for not including a recommendation for a bike here but I'm still bashing around on an old klein aluminium hardtail frame and intend to do the x-tri series next year.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I have to agree with allegory. For tracks, trails and towpaths a hard tail is absolutely the best bike to go for. A full sus would bring with it added complexity, weight and pedalling inefficiencies.

 

After 10years of riding full suspension bikes i last year broke for parts my Marin as it simply wasn't being ridden off road sufficiently to warrant needing rear suspension. It was always a PITA to heep the linkages clean and when riding of the flat there would always be a percentage of pealling effort that was lost in "pedal induced bob".

 

All my riding now is on bridalways and trails, and my current steed is a hardtail Rocky Mountain Blizzard.

[chappers]

if you want more comfort on a hardtail then fit a Thudbuster LT paralleogram linkage suspension seat post. Not the lightest post but the are ace. Make it so much more comfy and way more cushioning than an in-line suspension post like a USE alien. IT enables you to stay seated over some quite rough stuff.

I have one on my Cotic Soul and it's never coming off. You could look at OnOne for hardtails, Ragley piglet or blue pig as well. Carrera fury £500 from Halfords, boardman team etc. as already mentioned.

 

I bought a Vitus Blitz1 full suspension from Chainreactioncycles which got great reviews in which mountain bike. Currently 37% off for £1049. I paid £1509 for mine and don't regret it.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=67800

Regards

Kev.

[chappers]

I'm curious reading this thread as I cannot see why anyone would need to go anywhere near £1k and full suspension for 'soft off road'. In my opinion, full sus bike is more parts to clean and maintain and added weight to climb up hills. Keep it simple and reliable and spend some of the budget on kit and extras to make riding more enjoyable at this time of the year. Sorry for not including a recommendation for a bike here but I'm still bashing around on an old klein aluminium hardtail frame and intend to do the x-tri series next year.

Spending a bit more especially on gearing, e.g. SLX or above does make it much easier to set up and it stays working a lot longer before needing readjustment. Lighter wheels makes it easier than cheap heavy wheels. I agree something like a Carerra Fury for £500 from Halfords would be fine for towpaths etc. though.

We have a Klein attitude Race hanging in our garage at present which still looks ace - unfortunately it's ony 18" so abit small for me. Would happily ride it though (once I fitted my Thudbuster).

[frag68]

The Voodoo Bantu and Hoodoo, (which my son has), are extremely well specified and respected hardtail bikes, at around £360.00 and £460.00 respectively. (With current Halfords discount)

 

Great frames and high quality parts throughout, gives you a lot of 'bang for your buck' if you don't want to spend too much.

 

Here's a recent review of the Hoodoo

 

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-voodoo-hoodoo-12-46194

 

 

I ride a Voodoo Hoodoo both on the road with slick tyres and doing the 7Stanes trails in the Borders with proper jumps berms etc on the off road tyres. The bike has taken a punishment and covered approximately 2500 miles  in 18 months with no issues what so ever. The gear change is good, its a comfortable ride over distances of up to 100 miles in a day and is reasonably light. The gearing is good for road work also, although on the smaller slick tyres you lose a bit of top end speed, but I have had it up to near 50mph on the road. At present I am doing road work with the chunky tyres given the weather just for that bit extra grip. I will easily do trails and paths. Even the front suspension is lockable via the handlebars.

 

The rear change could do with the cable being tightened and the whole bike a good service and clean, but I honestly cant fault it at all.

 

Fraser