# on/off road bikes



## shane (7 Mar 2009)

hi im 14 and just wondering if there is any good on/off roading bikes out there or just mountain bike if so front or full suspension 

for about £200 
thnx


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## RedBike (7 Mar 2009)

Theres no such thing as a bike thats good both on and off-road. You're probably best off getting a MTB then fitting narrow slick tyres to it when you want to speed it up on the road. 

As a very general rule of thumb unless you're thinking of spending in the region of £800+ don't even think about full suspension. At £200 I would avoid disc brakes too. 
http://s233299868.e-shop.info/shop/article_GT+Avalanche+3.0+2008.001/GT-Avalanche-3.0-2008.html
http://s233299868.e-shop.info/shop/article_GT+Avalanche+3.0+2008.002/GT-Avalanche-3.0-2008.html


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## 02GF74 (9 Mar 2009)

a new full susp bike for £ 200 is not going to be very good unless you plan to use it once a month on Sundays.

look in the sales and on ebay - you can get decent bike for tham much,m espacially s/hand.

I found a mongoose Otera - I posted about this on this formum - for £ 250 - full suspension and hydraulis dics - RRP £ 550 that I have to admint, am impressed with the componentry for the money - so there are baragins to be had.

don't go to Argos with your £ 200 as you'll be very diappo8inted - again same friend for whom I found the Otero bought one of those and it was rubbish - she was able to get her money back.


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## ChrisCrc (9 Mar 2009)

Yeah i totally agree with 02GF74

If you are on a Budget with only £200 at your disposal then Ebay is definitely the place to look, It does help IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS NOT SO GOOD....

If you are thinking of components,ie SHIFTERS/GEARS/DERAILERS then they start low end (price wise and quality) with Acerra (cheap) STX (Old Skool) but better than Acerra,(DX Which was the poor mans LX but Very good quality and pretty tough,(LX Entry level, good quality and lasts) (XT very good ) & (XTR Excellent Top of the range)

This is just a quick rundown of the components that most second hand bikes on Ebay will have, But prices will vary with the upper end components.

Another option is to purchase a Second hand frame from Ebay, and i have seen some rather cheap frames ie, GT,KONA,CANNONDALE,TREK, Or the BRAND NEW alloy ones that are on there now for £49 BUY IT NOW, And for £50-£60 with delivery for a Aluminium frame is pretty good then you can kit it out with components of your choice.

Like Weinman Rims with Shimmano Disc Hubs ( F & R ) £64.00 BUY IT NOW, You could probably build a complete bike for £200 from buying off Ebay as it all depends who wants it at the time its advertised.

I have picked up some real bargains on Ebay over the years so definitely the place to look if you are on a tight budget...

hope this helps

Chris


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## shane (10 Mar 2009)

this one looks ok http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/makena-12922


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## Gary D (10 Mar 2009)

shane said:


> this one looks ok http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/makena-12922



If you look closely, you will see that it has 20" wheels 

My 7 year old daughter rides a bike with 20" wheels so I guess it might be a little on the small side??  

Gary.


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## RedBike (10 Mar 2009)

Forget trying to find a £200 bike with all the bells and whistles on. 
You can get duel suspension, disc braked bikes at this sort of price but i've yet to see a £200 duel suspension bike that isn't a complete pile of crap!

Your best bet is to look for 2008 models that have been reduced. You'll probably find there's only strange sizes left. It's vitally important that you're not tempted to buy any old size bike just because it's cheap! If you're very lucky you'll stumble upon a £300/£400 bike thats been reduced to within your budget. 

A few years ago at £200 you'd of been well adviced to have stayed away from a front suspension fork as well. The budget forks are improving but they used to be there just for show. They wern't in the slightest bit functional. 
A fork is there to keep the front wheel under control and in contact with the ground. Cheap forks are known to do the exact opposite and actually bounce the wheel off the ground!


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## shane (10 Mar 2009)

wat ur forgetting is im 14 and i buy a bike and ride it till it dies (quite liturally) last year i brought a x rated bike from halfords for £99 in a half price sale and i have rode it about 1400 miles and it is now slowly dieing on me u would of thought that it wouldnt be good and i think that is good for me or any 14year old to be honest


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## RedBike (10 Mar 2009)

shane said:


> wat ur forgetting is im 14 and i buy a bike and ride it till it dies (quite liturally) last year i brought a x rated bike from halfords for £99 in a half price sale and i have rode it about 1400 miles and it is now slowly dieing on me u would of thought that it wouldnt be good and i think that is good for me or any 14year old to be honest



Just 1400miles is terrible!!
I'm clocking up about 300miles a week at the moment, if my bike only lasted 1400miles I would be after a new one every month!

If you don't know exactly what you're after then don't buy from Halfords!!


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## Young Un (10 Mar 2009)

I'm 14 and have a good bike (Giant SCR 2.0), just because we are young doesn't mean we should have bad bikes.

Also if you have 'killed' a bike already I think you need to adjust your maintainance strategy


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## bellys (16 Mar 2009)

shane said:


> hi im 14 and just wondering if there is any good on/off roading bikes out there or just mountain bike if so front or full suspension
> 
> for about £200
> thnx



have a look at Decathlon they do some good cheap bikes.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-2-grey-69566845/

i have been using one of these for the last 6mth http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-6-3-34963775/
i got his as my bike got stolen and needed a bike for a ride i had agread to lead for the club im in and you know what its never let me down and its been hammerd i will not be changing it for a bit.


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## Mr Pig (22 Mar 2009)

Hi there :0)

Firstly, forget a full suspension bike. New full-sus bikes for £200 are piles of cheap crap that weigh a ton, don't work very well and will break/fall to bits/rust away in no time. One of those monsters will put you off cycling for life.

I would buy a used hard-tail (Bike with just a suspension fork at the front). Take your time and find out what brands are good, then take your time buying one. What you've got to remember is that thousands of people buy bikes with great intentions and then never use the things. If you're patient you'll pick up a good bike that's hardly been riden!

Learn what to check for so that when you go to look at the bike you'll be able to make sure it's a solid one. If you buy one with a lot of worn out parts it could easily cost you another £100 sorting it. To be honest, you should be able to pick up a clean, good quality hard-tail for £100. There are a lot of bikes out there.


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## shane (2 Apr 2009)

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-1-men-s-34963402/ does this one look any good


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## Mr Pig (2 Apr 2009)

shane said:


> does this one look any good



To be honest mate, it's not brilliant. I would still advise looking for a used, but not very used, bike close to home so that you can go and check it out. Lots of people buy bikes and don't use them so there are bargains out there.


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## RedBike (2 Apr 2009)

Doesn't look that brillant; but you probably wont get a better bike for the money. 

I would keep saving.


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## Cubist (2 Apr 2009)

Shane
Google "Mongoose Tyax Elite". It got reasonable reviews on Bikeradar, and to be honest you're not going to get much better for your budget. It has it's minus points, with mechanical discs, but the rest of the kit looks reasonable enough. 

I love the way the B'Twin is "not recommended for rough terrain"!


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## Black Sheep (3 Apr 2009)

thought about fixing your current bike?

by X rated i presume you mean the Saracen range that halfords seem to carry?


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## shane (6 Apr 2009)

i would cost like £300 just to get it fixed


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## RedBike (6 Apr 2009)

shane said:


> i would cost like £300 just to get it fixed



Why, whats wrong with it?
It probably wouldn't cost £300 to build a bare frame up if you're willing to accept crap parts like these bikes you've been linking to have got.


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## stewlewis (10 Apr 2009)

I bought a Monggose Tyax Elite a couple of years ago, for £252. I think it's a great bike. Some of the parts are low spec but I'll just upgrade as they wear out. Overall I love it.

This is the frame/spec of my bike's year:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MONGOOSE-TYAX...14&_trkparms=72:1683|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

And depending on what size you are this is the updated model at a great price:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2009-Mongoose...14&_trkparms=72:1683|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318


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## The Rookie (12 Apr 2009)

For about £70 I have built up a nicish bike using second hand Giant ally frame and Suntour forks and then adding bits from my diing bike and other sources (ebay, local tip recycling shop, local community freecycle etc), OK it doesn't llok brand new, but its a joy to drive.

Building it is fun, but better still you learn how everything works and then you can repair it yourself and keep the maintenance going, you can also pick the bits that suite you as you go, I like a short riser stem as I suffer wrist problems so can't be too much weight on them, so no point buying a part that doesn't do what you want!

Simon


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