# Advice Needed



## John -S (13 May 2011)

Hi everyone, im john and new to the forum.... and new to cycling as a hobby.

I have bought a Muddyfox Ascent mountain bike at a good price online, however im a wee bit concerned it's 
not up to the job of doing the West Highland Way and the training that will go into building my fitness.

The Bike.... Muddyfox Ascent hardtail, 21 spd ez fire, with Shimano Tourney set up and V brakes. Stock tyres and the like.


My concerns... Although a decent bike for pottering around with, i have a feeling the components, although 
decentish wont last the pace in training for the WHW, far less the trip itself. I am fairly new to cycling these days and find
the choices of bikes and their components quite confusing lol!!

The wheels seem a bit off centre, by that i mean they seem to need balanced better as they 'wobble' a fraction when turning and therefore catch the brake blocks a wee bit at one point.
Plus the 3 big cogs at the crank area also seem a touch out of balance. 
Also, the crank can make a wee clunk noise when under load in a low gear.
Finally, it can be hard at times to get a gear smoothly.

Advice needed.... would the concerns above be eliminated with a higher price bike? Would a better bike have tougher components?
would this bike be ok for the punishment my training and trip will place on it?

Is the tourney set up rubbish? any recommendations on a bike or component upgrades?

I was thinking about Continental Race King 2.2 protection tyres to replace the stock ones, should i do this?

Many thanks folks, all advice gratefully recieved.


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## Angelfishsolo (14 May 2011)

The Tourney mech is entry level so not designed to take a hammering. 

It sounds as though your wheel needs truing (£10ish from an LBS) and you may have a problem with your bottom bracket hence the wobble in the front chainset and clunking. I would pop it into your LBS for an inspection and see what is said about the bike. 

All that said - If the bike was bought new I would return it and demand a refund.



John -S said:


> Hi everyone, im john and new to the forum.... and new to cycling as a hobby.
> 
> I have bought a Muddyfox Ascent mountain bike at a good price online, however im a wee bit concerned it's
> not up to the job of doing the West Highland Way and the training that will go into building my fitness.
> ...


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## deaksie (15 May 2011)

it all sounds like it needs a proper set up to me. any LBS will do that for you. I agree with Angelfish about the wheels, but any bike will run badly if it's not been tuned


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## Muddy Ground (15 May 2011)

Bike every so slightly rubbish for the task at hand, sorry to say. Need to get up to around £500 mark really. £130 doesn't buy a mountain bike and you're going to struggle with it off road. Singletrack magazine did a feature on £100 bikes, and I don't think they enjoyed the experience at all. I'm not saying you couldn't use it, but one suspects the thing would need constant maintenance along the way and it wouldn't at all be fun.

Go to somewhere like Wiggle and see what they have for around the £500 to £700 mark and that'll do you fine. A £130 bike has to cut corners on the spec somewhere - well everywhere really in this instance! Bit of a liability for the task in hand.

Get shot of it, move on and get something better. Don't waste your time with the thing as it'll just put you off what is a fun sport.

Good luck with the trip though.

MG


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## Angelfishsolo (15 May 2011)

This is of course assuming the OP has that kind of money. I started out MTBing on a 20year old Apollo Kaos and found the experience rewarding. You certainly appreciate the next (better) bike you buy far more.


Muddy Ground said:


> Bike every so slightly rubbish for the task at hand, sorry to say. Need to get up to around £500 mark really. £130 doesn't buy a mountain bike and you're going to struggle with it off road. Singletrack magazine did a feature on £100 bikes, and I don't think they enjoyed the experience at all. I'm not saying you couldn't use it, but one suspects the thing would need constant maintenance along the way and it wouldn't at all be fun.
> 
> Go to somewhere like Wiggle and see what they have for around the £500 to £700 mark and that'll do you fine. A £130 bike has to cut corners on the spec somewhere - well everywhere really in this instance! Bit of a liability for the task in hand.
> 
> ...


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## Muddy Ground (15 May 2011)

I started with a £250 hybrid, but only on bridleways - nothing too challenging, and went on from there. £130 does not a mountain bike make! Need to stretch the budget a tad to make the thing worth the effort. £500'ish new or £300 used is about the bare minimum really. I'm not convinced that the OP's bike is any good - indeed it sounds like a liability already before even being ridden.

Actually you could drop to £200 used and go for a mid 1990's bike - but you'd have to be sure of yourself in terms of both spotting a bargain and then being able to fettle it. My Orange Clockwork is perhaps worth about £175 but it'd do the trip. The Ascent sounds, well, rubbish right from the off. Sorry.

MG


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## John -S (15 May 2011)

Thanks guys... i agree.. its fine for going to the shops but not for cross country stuff like the WHW.

I like the following bikes... Trek 6300, Trek 6700, Ghost recon 9000 and Kona Kula...

they are all about the 700-900 mark and seem far better..... any comments?


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## Muddy Ground (15 May 2011)

Latest Kona's are getting good reviews - very nice looking bikes. New Cindercone at £720 is a stunner. There's also the Genesis Core 20. £700 mountain bike is good enough for just about most things to be fair.

MG


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