# New MTB advice



## mickthegreek (15 Jun 2009)

Hi all

After having a few "build-quality" issues with my current bike I have decided to look at upgrading my ride.

Could anyone give me advice on my options or even recommend anything better?

Specialized Stumpjumper HT Comp 09
Specialized Rockhopper Pro Disc 09
Genesis Core40
Genesis Altitude20

Thanks in advance for all your help.


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## RedBike (16 Jun 2009)

Nothing wrong with any of the above. The only way to decide is to actually try them.


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## roadjunkie (16 Jun 2009)

Could be worth giving your nearest specialised concept store a call. You can hire a bike for a day or two, and then if you decide to buy they will knock off the hire cost...I don't know alot about Genesis I have to say.


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## GrumpyGregry (16 Jun 2009)

Boardman HT range (FORGET that Halfords sell it, just look at the spec for the price)

Boardman is the only brand capable of making me be unfaithful to Spesh and Kona


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## Mr Pig (16 Jun 2009)

I have an Altitude 00 and like it. What I would say is that you REALLY need to try the bikes and think very hard about what you what to use them for. The way that the Genesis and Specialized bikes ride is completely different. 

The Hopper is light, fast and twitchy but not the most comfortable of rides. The Altitude is very much set up for off road and is very comfortable, you can sit on the thing for hours.

The Core shares the same great geometry as the Altitude but with an aluminium frame, so is kind of between the two.

All I can say is that after trying the Altitude 00 it took me thirty seconds to dismiss the Rockhopper. If I had the money I would buy the Altitude 20, no question.


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## mickthegreek (16 Jun 2009)

Thanks for all your advice folks.

I want the bike for trials and commuting but I live in a very hilly area so lockout forks are a must. Do the Genesis bikes have these?

I have also been told by my local bike shop that the Genesis bikes (which he sells funnily enough) are the way forward becasue they match Shimano components. Is this good advise?

Thanks again everyone. After spending lots of time reading this forum I'm realising the REAL value comes when you participate


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## 02GF74 (16 Jun 2009)

mickthegreek said:


> Thanks for all your advice folks.
> 
> I have also been told by my local bike shop that the Genesis bikes (which he sells funnily enough) are the way forward becasue they match Shimano components. Is this good advise?



Shimano components can fit any mountain bike - so is rather strange advice.

depending on how much you wanna spend, the cube bikes - CR - someone posted about them here look dead nice, which isn;t the best recommendation I know. linky

you won't go wrong with the Specialized bike and can still probably pick up 08 models cheper than 09.


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## Waspie (16 Jun 2009)

The only bike out of your list that I've tried is the Rockhopper. My pal has one and I was very impressed with how good a climber it was, very light and absolutely flew up the hills. Couldn't comment on long term comfiness though.


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## RedBike (16 Jun 2009)

I'm not sure what he means by matching components. 

On a MTB the higher groupsets are lighter but they don't really tend to offer any major performance benefits (other than weight). Nothing works spot on once it's got covered in crap a few times. 

For example I've found myself down-grading from XT chainrings which are made of cheese to Deore because they're made of steel and last a lot longer. 

Spend the money on the best frame, fork and wheels you can get and forget about everything else. If you're serious about MTBing you'll have replaced most of the groupset due to wear within a year anyway. 

My vote would be Malt or the Lobster from Merlin cycles. You can't beat handmade wheels, they come with good forks through out the range and the frames are all absolutely top notch.


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## GrumpyGregry (16 Jun 2009)

I found an 08 Lobster to be a bit flexy (I looked like RedBike's avatar at the time) and thought the mud clearances were not overly generous.


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## RedBike (16 Jun 2009)

GrumpyGreg said:


> I found an 08 Lobster to be a bit flexy (I looked like RedBike's avatar at the time) and thought the mud clearances were not overly generous.



There are advantages / disadvantages of most designs. 

It's the flex in the frame that give the bike the comfort. The disadvantage is larger riders find it flexy. 

The shorter closer seat/chain stays mean the bikes accerlates like a scaulded cat and the traction uphill is fantastic, the disadvantage is you have to use slightly narrower mud tyres in extremely muddy condtions. 

The bottom bracket is relatively low making it very stable and quick in the bends, the disadvantage is it's easy to hit rocks with the pedals. 

This is why the OP really need to test a few of these bikes. They've all got their own quirks!


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## Mr Pig (16 Jun 2009)

Genesis are distributed by the same company as Shimano so the bikes feature a full set of Shimano parts rather than the mix and match you often see on bikes. It's not that big a deal but it does give them a nice coherent look and the bikes do seem generally well thought out with good attention to detail.

Most forks above entry level have lockout these days, it's one of the current 'must have' gadgets. My Tora fork doesn't have lockout and when I first got the bike I was pretty unhappy about it and planned to change the fork. To be honest though it's just not that big a deal, the fork works fine. Where I live is very hilly too and it's not a problem. 

What is a big consideration is that your local shop stocks Genesis. I would say that buying a bike locally is almost as important as which bike you buy. My Altitude was back to the shop quite a few times getting stupid problems sorted out. That's not that uncommon and would be a nightmare if the shop were a long way away. Buy a bike off your local shop owner and you'll have a friend when you need one.

Revue of old Altitude 20: LINK


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## GrumpyGregry (16 Jun 2009)

Mr Pig said:


> Buy a bike off your local shop owner and you'll have a friend when you need one.



I prefer not to pay my friends in £50 notes. YMMV but that is not always consistently the experience of what happens _after_ you buy a bike from your LBS. Many are particularly bad a warranty work if posts in here are anything to go by.

Buy your bike from wherever you can get it for the best overall deal, which will vary person-to-person, and then learn to service and fix it yourself. It's an MTB; there ain't no LBS up on the tops and it's always, imo, a really long boring walk to the nearest one.


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## marzjennings (16 Jun 2009)

I'd go with the stumpjumper as I prefer fox forks over rockshox and as I've test ridden one briefly I did like feel and geometry of the bike.

As other have said go test ride the bikes and then go find the one you like for cheap online. I've stopped buying much of anything from my LBS and only use them for services.


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## mickthegreek (16 Jun 2009)

Thanks one and all for all your excellent advice.

The problems I have had with my current bike I have had to bite the bullet and take to my LBS to sort out (and pay for!)

My idea this time round was to buy a better quality bike from a local bike store with an excellent reputation for sorting any niggles there and then.

I appreichiate you may be able to save £50 or maybe even more on the net but I would prefer to have some comeback this time if anything goes wrong.

I've had the bike for 3 months, spent £80 already fixing problems with the gears, wires etc and more importantly I've missed over 2weeks with it being in a workshop. I'm even currently riding round with a rear brake lever held on by 1 screw and half a clamp as it snapped 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting for a replacement under warranty. My current bike is a Dawes XC2.2 but am losing confidence in its reliability which is a big issue as I want to do some long rides soon including a coast 2 coast.

As advised above I'm going to try and ride a few bikes this weekend and take it from there. I've also found a local shop selling Cube bikes which I had never considered before - they look awesome!

Thanks again for all your continued help - I'll keep you all posted. In the meatime if anyone spots any bargains in the North East area give me a shout.


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## Mr Pig (16 Jun 2009)

mickthegreek said:


> you may be able to save £50 on the net but I would prefer to have some comeback if anything goes wrong.



I think you're being wise, I hope it works out for you. You're never guaranteed that things will be plain sailing but having the person you need to deal with nearby is definitely a good start. I've bought five bikes over the last five or six years from Dales and Alpine Bikes in Glasgow and they've both been great to deal with. You're quite right, I could have saved a few pounds buying over the net but when I've had an issue these shops have cheerfully sorted it out as quickly and they could. 

None of the bikes you've shortlisted are junk, they're all good kit, so I'm sure you're going to get a good bike. Just take your time and try to get the one that's right for you.

Talking of trying bikes. When I was thinking about the Altitude I was struggling to find a shop with one in my size to try. I found a shop in Stirling that had one so drove up one Saturday to try it out. Looked nice, had a chat with sales-bod and said "Can I try it out?". "No, we don't do test rides"!!!

"What? I've driven for an hour and you expect me to just buy a bike without even trying it out?" His answer? "You can sit on it in the shop" So they lost a sale and Alpine Bikes got one.


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## RedBike (16 Jun 2009)

> My current bike is a Dawes XC2.2 but am losing confidence in its reliability which is a big issue as I want to do some long rides soon including a coast 2 coast.


To be perfectly honest on paper the specification of the dawes isn't that bad. It's basically...

Deore kit, which is normally solid dependable stuff. Upgrading to lx,xt wont make your gears any more reliable. 

Avid huicy 3 brakes, lower end kit from Avid but their stuff is normally very well made.
It's probably one of the best buget brakes available. 

Rockshox Dart 2 fork, not the best of forks but Rockshox forks are normally pretty reliable. 

All in all buying a new bike like the Stumpjumper / Genesis probably isn't going to sort out your problems. I would expect you to have quite a few problems with any new bike you buy too. The thing is, the parts on the bikes you've listed aren't really any more reliable than what you've currently got! 

My advice if you want a MTB thats as reliable as possible is to talk to the LBS about having a single speed bike built up with Hope hubs and brakes. - Seriously!


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## Mr Pig (16 Jun 2009)

Interesting that the Altitude 20 is nearly 5lb lighter than the Dawes! That's a lot, and the Rockhopper is a pound lighter again!! Even the entry steel Altitude 00 is over a pound lighter than the aluminium Dawes, it's a heavy bike.

I agree about the spec of it not being that bad though, it should work ok. I've heard of a few folk having issues with the Jucy3 brakes but mostly just problems setting them up.


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## Cubist (17 Jun 2009)

Look at this for the same price as the Rockhopper. 
http://www.cube-bikes.de/xist4c/web/LTD-TEAM_id_31069_.htm#anker


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## mickthegreek (18 Jun 2009)

Thanks for all the great help.

Cubist I love that bike. It looks great! Thats the second recomendation now for a cube bike. I had never heard of them previously (been out of the bike world for a good 15 years) are they a reputable brand?


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## Cubist (18 Jun 2009)

mickthegreek said:


> Thanks for all the great help.
> 
> Cubist I love that bike. It looks great! Thats the second recomendation now for a cube bike. I had never heard of them previously (been out of the bike world for a good 15 years) are they a reputable brand?



Yes, they are. They're german for a start. My son has an Attention, and in the 8 months he's owned it it has suffered the sort of wear and tear that a bike used by an extremely enthusiastic 11 yr old will suffer, but nothing major. 

Santa very kindly got me a Cube Ltd Comp. I love it to bits, and now I've upgraded the forks to Reba Race it's light, very good-looking and a joy to ride. The spec on the Ltd range is very good for the money. It's definitely trail/XC oriented. I have a 34" inside leg, and went for an 18" , which gives a good standover, and a fast riding position with the seat above the bars. Brakes are good at the Ltd Comp level, (hayes stroker ryde) but the Ltd Team has the Reba race shocks as standard (they are awesome, plush, tuneable, well damped and very light. )and OroK18 brakes. The saddle is very good, in fact I would say it's as good as any I've ever ridden on. The wheels are light, with Shimano M525 hubs, and the tyres are awesome, the Racing Ralph on the back is grippy coupled with a Nobby Nic on the front. That rarely puts a foot wrong, gives great traction and control. 

The ride itself is great fun. Handling is like a thoroughbred. Let it have its head and pick the lines well, and it's very rewarding. It can get a bit twitchy in places, but then who wants dull and uninspiring? You need rider input, it won't do it for you!

It even behaves well on -road. At full pressure (55 psi) the tyres roll fast, and it's capable of good speeds on the flat. Kept clean and well-maintained my Ltd has not shown the slightest bit of wear. 

And the looks? What can I say. That green looks the bollocks, but the black is just pure porn. 

I like Cubes so much I bought another ten for my team at work.


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## mickthegreek (24 Jun 2009)

Just a bit of an update.............

Well, I've bought my new bike. After lots of searching and test riding I opted for the Stumpjumper Comp HT '09. This bike is fantastic, and although I’ve only covered a meagre 10 miles so far I am very impressed with the suspension, brake, super quick gear change and most of all the weight (or lack of it!). This should be ideal for climbing the hills and banks where I live.

I opted for the 18" frame which is perfect for me and gives a great riding position. 

It's a really quick bike and I'm very happy with my choice - even got 15% off through the Edinburgh Cycle weekend sale!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to all who helped me make an informed decision!


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## Mr Pig (24 Jun 2009)

Nice one dude. I'm sure you'll enjoy it :0)


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