# Help buying an new mountain bike



## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

Well havent owned a bike now for over 10 years but decided id like to cycle again, maybe even take it away with me on short breaks and do some riding in the woods.

Its my 30th Bday soon and been lucky enough for some 1 to buy me a bike but on a £250 limit which i know isnt the highest amount but hopeing to get something fairly good for that.

So far the 3 or 4 bikes ive seen 2 have been carrera and 2 have been diamondback.

Carrera Valour
Carrera Vengance

These are both around the £300 mark, look nice, have front suspension with cable discs, though they are slightly over budget i have some halfords vouchers.



















The other 1 was a Diamond back Beta, jump style frame that is also suitable for regular useage, £240 seems the price you can get it for, front suspension and v brakes, not had a chance to actually sit on this one, only seen pics.










I looked at what i thought were lesser models like apollo in halfords but they felt a bit cheaper tbh apart from a black and red one called apollo phaze which was around £200.










ve been out of the bike thing for a long time so dont really know whats good and whats not, anyone heard of iron horse bikes at all

please fell free to say they are crap

also being 6ft what size frame should i be looking at

:thumb:


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## dandam (Apr 10, 2011)

Size wise probably around a 19" frame, but you need to give them a try really. I ride a 19" Specialized, am 6ft tall

Would you consider second hand ? Also the new ranges should be coming into the shops in the near future (2013 ranges) so the 2012 ranges should be cheap. Winstanley bikes or Chain Reaction can be good for some bargains. Have a look on gumtree and ebay too.

Let us know how you get on


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

£250 won't stretch very far.

2nd hand or 2012 model sale is the way to go.

Here is a GT with 26% off as 2012 model.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/aggressor-3-2012-mountain-bike-ec030570


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## TJenkos (May 6, 2009)

How much is the a Vulcan at now? This would be worth the extra, last time I looked it was £350 however it's not worth buying a lesser bike which is no good after a year?


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

the vulcan is £380 according to the site, when you say a bike may be no good after a year what exactly do you mean, it will break??

Bikes i have had ave always lasted well and not been too expensive are the made crappier now.

I knew £250 wasnt gonna get anything too special but thought it would get summin reasonable, i have looked at second hand though because its a present they wanna buy me summin new


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Clean-my-sxi said:


> the vulcan is £380 according to the site, when you say a bike may be no good after a year what exactly do you mean, it will break??
> 
> Bikes i have had ave always lasted well and not been too expensive are the made crappier now.
> 
> I knew £250 wasnt gonna get anything too special but thought it would get summin reasonable, i have looked at second hand though because its a present they wanna buy me summin new


You don't get as much bike for your money these days as the price of all metals has risen sharply in the last few years.

The GT I recommended above will be a good shout for as far as you can go for the money.

Also you could speak to your company about joining the bike to work scheme. Very helpful if they would do it and if they did, you can buy a bike and whilst you pay it back monthly, you avoid paying tax on that amount too.

The difference between riding a cheap bike and a good bike is more than you would imagine.


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

self employed so bike scheme not an option, tbh ive never really been a fan of GTs, not really sure why but didnt like them when i was younger, i know they are a well regarded brand though.
gonna pop into my nearest cycles uk and have a look at the diamond back though im not sure if they are the same quality i remember, bit like the muddyfox brand as they do some cheap stuff now, ive heard thats the case with carrera aswell though they look stunning i think


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Muddy Fox are awful. The brand was killed many years ago. 

Watch out for the end of year sales which start now. 

You might squeeze a Specialized Hardrock for £250 and this is as good as it gets for the cash.


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## Willows-dad (Jul 12, 2012)

How's your credit? You can get 0% finance for 6 months on anything over £500 I think at cycles uk. And for £500 you can get a specialized hardrock disc 29er. Put the £250 down then it'd be about £42 a month. It'd at least open up your choices. I'm in a similar position and started looking below the £300 mark. I'm now looking around the £500 region because there's so much choice. I was warned away from cable discs too. Hydraulic or stay with the v-brake.


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## Jace (Oct 26, 2005)

Clean-my-sxi said:


> , i know they are a well regarded brand though.
> gonna pop into my nearest cycles uk and have a look at the diamond back though im not sure if they are the same quality i remember, bit like the muddyfox brand as they do some cheap stuff now, ive heard thats the case with carrera aswell though they look stunning i think


Cheapest Diamondback mountainbike at proper retail is currently £280, or like the model below, the Sortie 29r BLACK, that's £4400.

The brand is nothing like muddy fox, infact it's often overlook by the sheep & "me too" type who just go straight to the obvious brands.

You should check out their stand at the NEC show, you won't see "cheap bikes"










Sorry for the rant:lol:


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## dandam (Apr 10, 2011)

I've had Diamond Back in the past, nice bikes and tend to be great value.

You could look at half a dozen bikes at the same price and they will all have the same Shimano gears, brakes, etc, after that it is the quality of the frame, wheels, etc that tends to change between manufacturer. Like so many things biking these days it tends to be slightly fashion led / me too type of thing and the name on the frame makes a difference.

Carrera always end up with a bad rep, part of that is due to the quality of the supplier (Halfords) and their ability to set up a bike. The one local to me is terrific but the one local to my Mum set up a bike so badly that it couldn't be ridden (made worse by the fact that my Mums friends paid extra to have it set up as she knew nothing about bikes).

But this is a good time of year to find a few bargains, hence all of the advice. Get what you like, spend what you feel comfortable with, and if you are still riding on a regular basis in a couple of years time them maybe splash out properly then. I guess all everyone is saying is that £250 is a dangerous point for bikes, it tends to be where there is a lot of bad quality bikes around, £300+ starts to take you towards low end quality bikes.

As we've all said, look at Evans, Winstanley, Chain Reaction, see what you can get a 2012 or 2011 bike for, you could well get a £350 - £400 bike for your budget.

Sorry - bit long for a saturday morning


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## pee (Apr 6, 2009)

Have you tried looking on eBay as there are some bargains to be had if you don't mind going 2nd hand. I've just bought a Santa cruz chameleon for £250 granted its a few years old but it's still a lot of bike for the money and it's in good condition.


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

yeah been looking on ebay but nothing that close to me currently.

I agree tbh i liked the carrera i saw purely on the looks so it does tend to be a trend thing tather then the gear it comes with.

I will be going to cycles uk soon to have a closer look at the diamondback jump style frame one i saw online, think they have it for around £320 but it can be had for £90 less than that online.

i really dont want to be spending any more then £250 max tbhand i know that rules alot out but i dont want to commit too soon to something i may not end up using alot, or maybe ill love it and uuse it constantly


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## dandam (Apr 10, 2011)

Well in that case do some looking around on-line, get the best you can, stick to your budget but make sure you buy a helmet too, that is more important than the bike itself. 

Just remember if you do end up using a lot then upgrade time might come quicker than you think :thumb:


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## DNZ 21 (Feb 10, 2009)

Before I bought my Cube I had a Carrera and couldnt fault it. I didn't want to spend a fortune as I was just getting back into biking and the Carrera fitted the bill. It had a year of solid riding before I bought a new bike and never had anything go wrong, sold it to my mate who is a good 18 stone and it's still going well for him. Just don't let Halfords set it up for you, I did mine myself as I don't trust them after all the bad reports


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

Right following on from my earlier questions i had a real hunt around all the local shops over the last week or so finding out what i could and TBH theres a hell of alot of brands out there that ive just never heard of, Orbea, Cyote,

After a good look i realise that a specialized i would say is out of my price range unless i go second hand or want the bottom of the range one.

Diamondback, ive still yet to go look at the Beta jump style one as its not local, however i looked at the outlook model and whilst looking quite nice, its a fair bit on the heavy side, after looking at that i realised i may have to spend a bit more to get something with a little more quality so i set the bar at around £300.

All the bikes are around the same weight at 14kg

Ive tried to do some research and came up with the following bikes, your thoughts

diamondback beta jump style 2012
Frame: Alloy Dirt Jump frame 14" 
Fork: RST Gila T8 100mm 
Bars: Diamondback 
Stem: Stubby 
Speed: 21 
Front Mech: Shimano 
Rear Mech: Shimano 
Front Brake: Tektro Alloy V 
Rear Brake: Tektro Alloy V 
Rims: Diamondback doublewall dirt jump 
Front Hub: Alloy QR 
Rear Hub: Alloy QR 
Tyres: 2.35 MTB tyres Front 2.35 MTB tyres Rear
Seatpost: Outland 









£230

Diamondback Resppnse 2011 - alot lighter this one then the outlook
Frame: Alloy hydroformed frame
Forks: Rock Shox Dart 2 100mm travel
Gearset: 27 speed Shimano Deore with Truvativ E300 3.0 cranks 42/34/24T
Brakeset: Shimano Hydraulic BL-M445 with 180mm rotors
Wheelset: Diamondback doublewall trail rims on Alloy 36H quick release hubs running 2.35" tyres
Controls: Truvativ Stylo riser bar 680mm width, with Outland stem
Finishing kit: Selle Royal Viper saddle with micro adjust saddle









£330

Carrera Vulcan - highly rated on bike radar, dont know if thats anything to go by
Alloy Rims: Yes 
■Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc 
■Chainset: SRAM S200 3.0 chainset 
■Exact Frame Size: 20" 
■Fork Lock-out : Yes 
■Fork travel: 120mm 
■Forks: Suntour XCM-V3 hydraulic damping and lockout 
■Forks - Adjustable damping : Yes 
■Frame Colour: Black and Lime 
■Frame Material: Aluminium 
■Frame Size: 21-22 
■Frame-: Lightweight 7005 T6 aluminium 
■Front Brake: Clarks SX hydraulic disc brake 
■Front Mech: Shimano FD-M190 
■Gear Shifters: SRAM X4 trigger shifters 
■Gender: Mens 
■Handle Bars: Alloy oversize riser bars (30mm rise) (31.8mm diameter) 
■Headset: Semi integrated 
■Hubs: Alloy with Q/R 
■Number of Gears: 24 
■Pedals: Wellgo alloy platform with toe clips 
■Rear Brake: Clarks SX hydraulic disc brake 
■Rear Mech: SRAM X4 rear mech 
■Rims: Double wall alloy rims 
■Saddle: Carrera 
■Stem: Ahead aluminium stem 
■Suspension: Front 
■Tyre size: 2.1" 
■Wheel size: 26" 
■Approximate Weight (KG): 14.7 









£360 - however i can get it for £300 due to a friend working there

Trek 3500
Frame - Alpha Silver Aluminium, w/disc compatible dropouts, replaceable derailleur hanger
Front suspension - SR Suntour XCT w/coil spring, preload adjustment, 80mm travel
Wheels - Formula DC20 aluminium front hub; Formula DC27 aluminium rear hub w/Bontrager AT-550 36-hole rims
Tyres - Bontrager LT3, 26x2.0"
Shifters - Shimano Tourney, 7 speed
Front derailleur - Shimano Tourney
Rear derailleur - Shimano Tourney
Crank - Shimano M131, 48/38/28
Cassette - SRAM PG-730 12-32, 7 speed
Pedals - Wellgo nylon platform
Saddle - Bontrager SSR
Seatpost - Bontrager SSR, 31.6mm, 20mm offset
Handlebar - Bontrager Riser, 25.4mm, 30mm rise
Stem - Bontrager Approved, 25.4mm, 25 degree
Headset - 1-1/8" threadless
Brakeset - HL 280 mechanical disc w/Shimano Tourney levers
Grips - Bontrager SSR
Extras - Rack & mudguard mounts









£295

Voodoo Bantu
Approximate Weight (KG): 15.2kg 
■Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc 
■Chainset: Shimano FC-M311 
■Fork Lock-out : Yes 
■Fork travel: 120mm 
■Forks: 120mm Suntour Raidon air suspension fork with lockout 
■Frame Colour: Matt dark blue 
■Frame Material: Alloy 
■Frame Size: 19-20 
■Frame-: Lightweight 7005 aluminium 
■Front Brake: Shimano BR-M445 Hydraulic disc 180mm rotor 
■Front Mech: Shimano FD-M310 
■Gear Shifters: Shimano Acera SL-M360 24spd 
■Gender: Mens 
■Handle Bars: Riser 31.8mm 
■Headset: Semi Integrated 1 1/8 Aheadset 
■Hubs: Formula 36 hole Q/R disc hub 
■Number of Gears: 24 
■Pedals: Wellgo LU313 alloy black 
■Rear Brake: Shimano BR-M445 Hydraulic disc 160mm rotor 
■Rear Mech: Shimano Acera RD-M360 
■Rims: Double wall alloy black 36 hole disc rim 
■Saddle: VL-3165 
■Seatpost: 400mm SP-602 alloy 27.2 
■Suspension: Front 
■Tyre size: 2.1" 
■Tyres: Innova 26 x 2.1 tyres 
■Wheel size: 26" 
■Exact Frame Size: 20" 
■Stem: 31.8mm alloy 90mm 16/18 100mm 20"









£359.99 - again i can get for £300


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

got a couple of mixed answers on another site.

Why would i even consider the diamondback?

The diamondback is the best spec one there?

The carrera vulcans is the best spec one there?

Any help here would be great, ive also just added in the voodoo bantu aswell as its the same price as the vulcan which i can also get for £300


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

i dont htink i listed a muddy fox


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## dave-g (Nov 14, 2009)

Trek 3500 adl. Love them, awesome bikes, but depends on what your main use would be


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## Jace (Oct 26, 2005)

Clean-my-sxi said:


> Why would i even consider the diamondback?
> 
> The diamondback is the best spec one there?


The first question is often posted by internet keyboard experts who know everything they read on other forums & in magazines.

Diamondback is a 35yr old brand, so to have lasted that long they must be doing something right, did you go to the NEC Cycle show where they had quite an impressive stand.

& yes the Diamondback will be the best spec for the money pretty much every time..

Anyway, I'm biased, I'll be doing the Viking Challenge ride tomorrow on my Sortie Black, its a 50km off road event.


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

Wll been round evrywhere local now so its definately down to either a carrera or voodoo in halfords or possibly the diamondback response, tbh as said im not up on my bikes for some years now so dont know about specs, the clear difference to me is the shocks, as the carrera has suntour coils, the voodoo has suntour air sprung and the diamondback has rock shoxx

all of them are around the same weight


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

After almost a month, just buy whichever one you prefer already.

You'll be buying it for your 31st at this rate :lol:


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

i did say i wasnt getting it for a while lol


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