# Which bike should i buy? Opinions ASAP please..



## DanPrice (30 Aug 2010)

Hi all,

Its been a while since ive posted on this forum as i kind of gave my go at road riding a knock on the head as it wasnt really my thing after racing BMX for years.

Ive decided now that i want to buy a half descent MTB to use locally, and around the local XC trails etc.

I want something thats going to look the part and have some descent parts that wont need replacing every 5 minutes.

As mtb's arent my forte im not too sure what parts and spec i should be looking at so i was hoping one of you knowledgeable folk would lend a hand?

I dont really want to spend more than £1000 to be honest.

Ive been looking at a few bikes on Wiggle which i quite like the look/sound of.


Focus Black Forest Expert 2010 £699.99

Focus Black Forest Pro 2010 £899.99

Full suspension - Focus Thunder 3.0 2010 £999.99


As you can see im confused to say the least. So a point in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance


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## DHA (30 Aug 2010)

Hi,

I bought a Black Forest Expert just over a week and a half ago. I looked at the pro and the expert and wondered if the extra money was worth it. Yes you get some better kit on the pro but I decided that given my relative newness to the MTB world I wouldn't really notice the difference. The weight is only 100g less between the bikes as well I think.

It is great fun to ride on trails and is easy to get up climbs, it has been great fun really got me into MTBing and I ride it with a big smile on my face (apart from today when my legs gave up but you can hardly blame the bike!). Wiggle service was great as well, ordered on Sunday and was delivered on the Friday.


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## Cubist (30 Aug 2010)

DanPrice said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Its been a while since ive posted on this forum as i kind of gave my go at road riding a knock on the head as it wasnt really my thing after racing BMX for years.
> 
> ...


Shheesh..... decent budget, plenty of choice

Right. You want a bike that will tackle XC trails.You need to be loooking for a steel or Alu hardtail with quality forks such as Rockshox Reba or similar. With your budget you could choose between a Giant Talon 0, a Genesis Core 40 or 50, a Cube Ltd Race/Team/Pro a Boardman HT Pro, you could move into the Full Susser world and get a Voodoo or Boardman FS team, all of which would do the job. You could even halve your budget and get a Carrera Fury. 

Stretch your budget by 100 quid and get an Orange Crush 2010 from Sunset MTB (hurry of they'll be sold out)
Whatever you do have a read of the reviews and or get a test ride. Focus MTBs tend to be reasonable spec but uninspired.

Current received wisdom would be to get a Boardman FS team, otherwise you're into good quality XC or AM hardtails for your budget.


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## lukesdad (31 Aug 2010)

Mmm....lot of choice out there. I d go for a hardtail. I dont have a bike in that price range so can t really give a personal reccomendation, depending on what review you are reading i d take them with a pinch of salt. Trying the bike is much more important, and personal reccomendation is handy too. If your note getting to serious what it looks like could also be very important to you. Get what takes your fancy I say


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## DHA (31 Aug 2010)

One thing that swayed me towards wiggle was the 30 day trial on any bike. Yes you can ride bikes from shops but I wasn't convinced that I would get to properly ride it, whereas with the wiggle 30 day trial you can ride it as much as you want.


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## ChrisBD (31 Aug 2010)

Might I suggest you take a trip up to Noah's Ark in Stroud; only about 30min from central Bristol.

Bloody good range, lots of advise, and an on site test track.....!!

For me £1k would see me looking at either of these: 

2010 Kula

2010 Zaskar 


2010 Cannondale


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## DanPrice (31 Aug 2010)

Thanks all so much for the replies. Really appreciate the input.

The past 3 days ive been reading review after review after review, and searching high and low.

Im now torn between

Focus Black forest pro for £899.99


&

Focus Thunder 3.0 for £999.99

I really like the look of both bikes, and all the reviews i read about Focus bikes are that there good for there money, which is what i want. Ive read alot about people saying they dont bring "spirit" and "adventure" etc, but ill bring that when riding it hopefully.

Can anyone comment on the spec for the money on each bike?

Another thing which stands out in my mind is that i think a hardtail will be better for me than a full suspension. For the pure fact that coming from a BMX racing background ill want something agile, that i can easily chuck around the trails and i dont know whether ill be able to do that with a full suspension. Opinions?

Thanks again


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## Cubist (31 Aug 2010)

The hardtail above is in my opinion the better bike. The spec is good, with good forks and so on.

The Thunder is a poorer relation, with a fork and some kit that you will find on £500 hardtails. 

Don't discount other bikes at this pricepoint though. I know you like the Focus, but compare it with the Cube Ltd Race on offer at Chainreaction, and see what you could get for the same money. The frame geometry looks very similar, and the overall bike is a claimed 1.5kg lighter.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=44335

Then compare your Focus full susser with a Boardman team FS, and you see real value for money. http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_team.html


It's your money, and of course your choice. Hardtail means you have to do all the work, but you get ample reward in terms of adrenaline and climbing superiority.


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## DanPrice (1 Sep 2010)

As nearly everyone has recommended the Boardman HT PRO & the Boardman FS Team, i decided to go over to Halfords in my lunch break today and have a look.

They both look really nice (as the pictures on the internet dont do them any justice)

In comparison to the Focus whats better for the money etc?

And also in comparison to each other which is best?

I think id like a hardtail, although im very tempted to go for a full suspension. As ive wisened up to the fact that i wont be tearing around on it like i used to a BMX on a track.


Again thanks everyone, your opinions really do help.


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## Globalti (3 Sep 2010)

You need to ride the bikes before you choose; they will feel very different.


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## Cyclist33 (3 Sep 2010)

Globalti said:


> You need to ride the bikes before you choose; they will feel very different.



Hey

If you haven't already bought, I would pick the 700 quid Expert as it's a great spec for that price, feckin light, looks great and you'll have 2-300 quid left over. You have to ask yourself if you really need the higher priced bikes

Stu


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## DanPrice (4 Sep 2010)

Not bought a bike yet, still in about 4 different minds.

I started off not being that interested in the Boardmans, but I've really started to like them now.

I've also seen a Gt Aggressor XCR in Halfords for 799.99, which has 15% off at the moment so it's going for £679.99.

And also a Carrera Banshee X which is £699.99, also with 15% off making It £609.99.

I've tried the whole range of the Boardmans an feel no difference really (because it's a short ride around the car park)

So this hasn't helped either because I can't figure out which Boardman I should go for if I was to choose 1 of these over the other 2. As the differences are purely just parts, which I know relatively little about.

I'm starting to wish I wouldn't have bothered now.


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## DanPrice (5 Sep 2010)

I've been in to my local Giant shop to see what they had in there as I really loved my TCR Advanced road bike I had.

They had the Anthem X4 going for £1100 instead of £1400 which looks really tempting.

The frame and forks alone separately seem to be £995 + £400ish.

They also do a 6 month interest free payment plan too which sounds good.

Does anyone know much about these at all? Better than the Boardman/Focus etc?


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## DanPrice (6 Sep 2010)

Finally.

Bought a Giant Anthem X4 for £1100, on a 6 month 0% finance plan.


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## DaveyB1981 (6 Sep 2010)

DanPrice said:


> Finally.
> 
> Bought a Giant Anthem X4 for £1100, on a 6 month 0% finance plan.



Looks like you've got yourself a good bike there and at a great price. Enjoy riding it!

Dave


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## Cyclist33 (8 Sep 2010)

You've probably wasted 400 extra quid on something you won't use to its potential, but there we go.

Stu


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## RedBike (8 Sep 2010)

> I want something thats going to look the part and have some descent parts that wont need replacing every 5 minutes.



Lol, you're going to be out of luck with the parts lasting more than 5minutes and MTBing! 

A lot depends on where / how you ride. Typically when MTBing you get a lot of mud/grit gets thrown up and onto the bike. This mud acts like a grinding paste and your expensive parts will just get sanded away before your eyes. 

Somewhat irronically buying high end parts isn't a guarantee that they will last any longer. 
Lower end parts often seem to wear better because have less pivots/moving parts and their design means they haven't tried to remove every last gram of weight. 

All you can do is buy parts that are well sealed against the elements. Clean the bike well after everyride but avoid using jet-washes.


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## Kestevan (8 Sep 2010)

Cyclist33 said:


> You've probably wasted 400 extra quid on something you won't use to its potential, but there we go.
> 
> Stu




Jeeeze, you really are a miserable bugger aren't you 

Let the guy enjoy his new toy. If he can afford it, then good luck to him. 

Lets face it how many people are going to get _the full _potential out of any top end items, be that bikes, motorcycles, Ferraris or any thing else.
It's nice to be able to have things we don't really _need _occasionally.


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## Cubist (8 Sep 2010)

Cyclist33 said:


> You've probably wasted 400 extra quid on something you won't use to its potential, but there we go.
> 
> Stu


Oh great! The guy has bought himself a bike he wants. The X4 is very highly rated as a full-suss XCer, even at £1400. He's got it on tick with enough change from the RRP to buy a Carrera and you slag off his choice! 

Sheesh!

Danprice, enjoy, I'm very envious of the deal you got. May I enquire where from?


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## Cyclist33 (8 Sep 2010)

Hmm, yes with hindsight, I was a little harsh (and jealous)! Sorry DanPrice - enjoy!

Stu


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## DanPrice (13 Sep 2010)

Hi all,

Sorry i havent been on in a while ive been making the most of my new bike.

I was up north at my girlfriends at the weekend so rode Sherwood Pines red trail on Saturday which was pretty good, couldn't resist launching off of absolutely anything possible. Stopped off at the dirt jumps on the way down and rode them for half an hour, was a little different to jumping on a BMX but i enjoyed it none the less.

Ended up doing the downhill part 3 times, i like the wooden berms.

All in all loving it so far.

Ive got this week off work also so going to ride as much as possible. Can anyone recommend any local XC trails to me? Im in Bristol.

Anyway thanks to everyone for all there input it was much appreciated, i know the whole topic was all over the place but in the end i think i made the right decision. 

And to those who wanted to know where i got it from it was the Giant shop in Bradley Stoke, Bristol.


Again, thanks all


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