# Wanted...New MTB on budget



## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

So I am after a MTB for around £300 (my original budget was £200 a few weeks ago, but I've upped it for a bit better bike hopefully!).
Obviously I'd prefer discs, hydros if possible, I hate gripshift style gears and by the seems of what I've been reading I want a rigidback with lockout front forks.

But I am very open to suggestions to change my mind as I'm new to the scene.

The best bet so far I think I've seen is:

RockRider 5.3


but is it really worth an extra £120 over:

RockRider 5.2


So please recommend away!


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## e-rider (8 Apr 2011)

I'm not sure about £300 but Focus have some amazing deals on MTBs (wiggle.co.uk) 

Full XT with Fox forks for a little over 1K


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## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

tundragumski said:


> I'm not sure about £300 but Focus have some amazing deals on MTBs (wiggle.co.uk)
> 
> Full XT with Fox forks for a little over 1K



Cheers they only have two that hit my budget which are the GT Aggressor 3.0 & Giant Revel 3, but still don't know how they compare as I don't know what frames/gears/brakes etc are better than the next.


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## PpPete (8 Apr 2011)

http://www.gooutdoor...in-bike-p143987

Similar to the Rockrider 5.3 except 3x8 Shimano instead of 3x9 SRAM and £50 cheaper.

Just got one for my son (13th Birthday presie) in a black & blue colour scheme like this. Personally I think a white saddle on an MTB is folly, but he loves it.


or - depending on size availability .... http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=62400
a bit more like the RockRider 5.2 (V brakes)	
Been an expensive couple of months - the youngest (10) got one of those for his birthday


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## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

[QUOTE 1360938"]
Both good bikes. I'd go for the 5.3. I bought a 5.2 last year and fitted disc brakes, so it's virtually the same now.
[/quote]

Yeah I'm thinking although its an extra £120 it is probably worth it as otherwise I'll end up upgrading in 6 months.


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## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

PpPete said:


> http://www.gooutdoor...in-bike-p143987
> 
> Similar to the Rockrider 5.3 except 3x8 Shimano instead of 3x9 SRAM and £50 cheaper.
> 
> ...



So it that Raleigh otherwise pretty much the same as the Rockrider 5.3 then? As £50 saving for just a 3x8 instead of 3x9 sounds good to me! Other than the nearest stock is 51 miles away! None in stock in my 3 local stores!


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## Angelfishsolo (8 Apr 2011)

Could always take a look at this Kona Lana'I 2011


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## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

Cheers so far, quick responses from you guys I love it!

Just got an email from halfords stating certain bikes are 50% off (RRP though) for this weekend only.

Carrera Vulcan - £224.99
Carrera Vengeance Limited Edition - £274.99

Any views on these 2 vs Rockrider 5.3?


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## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

Angelfishsolo said:


> Could always take a look at this Kona Lana'I 2011



How does this compare look alright but V brakes? But then I suppose good V's are probably better than crap discs?


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## DrDre2010 (8 Apr 2011)

[QUOTE 1360946"]
Carrera are good bikes (I've got a Virtuoso roadie), but Halfords doesn't have the best reputation for customer service or technical ability. Plenty of stories around of bikes not being set up properly.
[/quote]

Doesn't surprise! Well I'm just trying to read some reviews on them both now and compare to the 5.3


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## Zoiders (8 Apr 2011)

Angelfishsolo said:


> Could always take a look at this Kona Lana'I 2011


I wouldn't touch one with yours.

They offer the worst value in MTB spec level out of nearly all the manufacturers at the moment.


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## Angelfishsolo (8 Apr 2011)

Zoiders said:


> I wouldn't touch one with yours.
> 
> They offer the worst value in MTB spec level out of nearly all the manufacturers at the moment.


Really? All the old Konas I have come across have been a dream.


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## billflat12 (8 Apr 2011)

not familiar with the carrera vengance but If your not fussed about fancy respected names like kona, specialized, etc. the Carrera kraken has always been a well respected good solid spec model, always comes with excellent value components at full retail price . Never owned one myself but know of 3 close friends who started out on them before splashing out on the above more well known expensive names , if your not too limited for choice i would recommend you take full advantage of halfords 50% off offer to buy the best bike you can afford within your budget , just remember to avoid rear suspension and v brakes if you intend to upgrade to hydro discs later because strong replacement aftermarket disc hub wheels can be quite expensive. ( if you do go for a hydraulic disc model within your price range just try to avoid some of the poorer quality unbranded components, ie, wheel hubs, cranksets, wheel rims. etc. " important & usually more costly to replace" ).

new carrera kraken offered here ( furnished with pink bits so may be the female specific model )
http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item415852db0f

halfords typical kracken 09 model spec. as follows



 *Approximate Weight (KG):*  13.64
 *Brake Type:* Hydraulic Disc
 *Chainset:* Truvativ Isoflow with Power Spline BB
 *Fork Lock-out :* Yes
 *Fork travel:* 120mm
 *Forks:* Suntour XCR 120mm Travel
 *Frame Material:* Aluminium
 *Frame-:* 7005 Aluminium
 *Front Brake:* Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes
 *Front Mech:* SRAM X5
 *Gear Shifters:* SRAM X5 27 Speed Trigger
 *Gender:* Mens
 *Handle Bars:* Kalloy Alloy 31.8mm
 *Headset:* Semi Integrated
 *Hubs:* Formula Alloy Black
 *Number of Gears:* 27
 *Pedals:* Wellgo Alloy Black
 *Quick Release Wheels:* Yes
 *Rear Brake:* Tektro Auriga Hydraulic disc
 *Rear Mech:* SRAM X5
 *Rims:* Double Wall Alloy
 *Saddle:* Carrera
 *Seatpost:* Kalloy Alloy 31.6mm
 *Stem:* Kalloy Alloy 31.8MM
 *Suspension:* Front
 *Tyre size:* 26 x 2.3
 *Tyres:* Continental Speed King
 *Wheel size:* 26
 *Frame Colour:* Grey


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## Zoiders (8 Apr 2011)

Angelfishsolo said:


> Really? All the old Konas I have come across have been a dream.


And this is the problem.

The lower end bikes are shockingly bad for the money - they have been trading on the name and good reviews surrounding it back in the 90s for about 10 years now.

They do make some OK kit but you either have to pay over the odds for something that is still under specced for the money or see if you can pick something up in a sale.

The Lanai has got a cheap screw on freewheel rear wheel - thats never a good start.


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## Makins (8 Apr 2011)

If you don't mind V-brakes then in my opinion the specialized hard rocks are the best 

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=24779&categoryID=60 A little over your budget, but you could probably get a 2010 disk version for £300 . I've been told that the frames are brilliant, allowing you to upgrade components but keep the frame when you want to and still have a very good bike. On the other hand the components are less brilliant, and the fork doesn't have a lock out :/


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## RecordAceFromNew (8 Apr 2011)

Zoiders said:


> The Lanai has got a cheap screw on freewheel rear wheel - thats never a good start.



Untrue. Both Angelfish's link and Kona's official link indicate it has the HG30, which is an 8 speed cassette. 8 speed freewheels have gone the way of the dinosaurs for nearly 10 years for good reasons, I can't imagine any major manufacturer offering one today.

But back to the OP it seems of all the bikes mentioned perhaps only some have the lockout feature that he said he wanted. They include the Rockrider 5.3 with the XCR, the Kraken and the Vengeance with RS Dart 1 but only if it is a recent vintage. I would certainly recommend the OP committing only after test riding.


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## Peter88 (8 Apr 2011)

2 more that fit your budget but a lower spec than the Rockrider. I have a Nevada 1.0 and am very happy with it .

Fuji Nevada 4.0 

Trek 3500


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## e-rider (8 Apr 2011)

Zoiders said:


> I wouldn't touch one with yours.
> 
> They offer the worst value in MTB spec level out of nearly all the manufacturers at the moment.




Kona have gone down the pan since Joe Murray left about 5 or 6 years ago, and I agree that their current range offers very little across the board. I was a big fan of Kona bikes from the early 90s until about 2002/03 - would never buy one these days.

The Specialized hard rock basic model is about £300 and pretty decent.


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## DrDre2010 (9 Apr 2011)

Wow! Cheers guys, well I'm going to at least have a look at the two Carreras from Halfords tomorrow, although the vengeance does sound tempting. I think the extra for the hydro brakes is worth it but the rockrider has the lockout feature which will be useful for my on road experience. 
The specialized also looks pretty good, I don't mind V brakes but just seems disc brakes can be better and have practical advantages as well.

I'll check them out tomorrow and see what is what!

Thanks again.


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## e-rider (9 Apr 2011)

DrDre2010 said:


> Wow! Cheers guys, well I'm going to at least have a look at the two Carreras from Halfords tomorrow, although the vengeance does sound tempting. I think the extra for the hydro brakes is worth it but the rockrider has the lockout feature which will be useful for my on road experience.
> The specialized also looks pretty good, I don't mind V brakes but just seems disc brakes can be better and have practical advantages as well.
> 
> I'll check them out tomorrow and see what is what!
> ...




if the manufacturer has speced discs then they've made cuts elsewhere - and cheap discs are not the same as expensive discs (and at this price the discs will be a cheap model)

The Specialized hardrock is a solid well made bike by a world leading manufacturer - it might have V-brakes but it wont dissappoint!!!

My MTB has full Shimano XT, Mavic factory wheels and Marzocchi forks (worth about £1500) and I have put XT V-brakes on it - they are light, work well enough and are easy to maintain and adjust! Now, perhaps second time around on a bike worth £1500 I might (I would) choose discs, but my point is that if you spend £300 I wouldn't base my decision on what brakes the bike has!


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## Angelfishsolo (9 Apr 2011)

OK well thanks for letting me know. You live and learn 



tundragumski said:


> Kona have gone down the pan since Joe Murray left about 5 or 6 years ago, and I agree that their current range offers very little across the board. I was a big fan of Kona bikes from the early 90s until about 2002/03 - would never buy one these days.
> 
> The Specialized hard rock basic model is about £300 and pretty decent.


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## billflat12 (9 Apr 2011)

at £300 your only going to get low spec components , especially with the high end manufacturers, hopefully if you choose carefully an accept older technology with better known brands you may get a reasonable spec. , If you only intend riding on the road & well serviced paths then v-brakes are fine but hydro discs maybe a bit too sharp , but get your wheel rims wet an clogged with mud then there,s no question that discs are loads more efficient.

The biggest advantage i find with good hydraulic brakes is the ability to brake heavily with one finger while gripping the bars on extreme terrain.
Also with some cheap lockout forks if you forget to unlock an hit a bump you just blow the fork seals 
on another note the 2 kona,s i have owned since 2005 have both been great bikes and more importantly kona,s Kona Clump frame geometry has been spot on. , I did notice in the link to the 2011 v- braked kona lani already Has disc ready wheels fitted ?
(Has the cheaper integrated brake levers though, so a hydro disc conversion would also require upgrading the gear levers ) also evans cycle stores have now reduced their last few 2010 gt avalanche,s with lockout forks & cable discs to £279 
If possible without dismissing Halfords bikes/offers etc. , i would recommend any newbie to visit a more dedicated cyclestore like evans,s before buying from just any local halfrauds store*.
*


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## Angelfishsolo (9 Apr 2011)

+1



billflat12 said:


> at £300 your only going to get low spec components , especially with the high end manufacturers, hopefully if you choose carefully an accept older technology with well known brands you may get a reasonable spec. , If you only intend riding on the road & well serviced paths then v-brakes are fine but hydro discs maybe a bit too sharp , but get your wheels clogged with mud there,s no question that discs are loads more efficient.


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## Makins (9 Apr 2011)

I completely agree with the points above, although alternatively you could increase your budget a bit more and get the hardrock disc? That way a conversion to hydraulic disc brakes would be easy and fairly cheap to do, if you really felt the need. Also I can vouch for the hardrock (v-brake version) being a good bike, I've just got back from a 35 mile ride on one with no problems what-so-ever  Not only that I was comfortable for the entire ride, which IMO is the most important thing 

Also I would say don't waste your money on cheap shocks with fancy features, they always make sacrifices elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if riding with the rockriders forks felt like riding rigid forks! You would be better of deciding if you definitely want to do mountain biking then investing in better forks such as rockshox tora or dart, both of which come with lockout but aren't too expensive.

Having said that, most of the specs on the rockrider 5.3 do look good - Whatever you decide make sure you try before you buy


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## Makins (10 Apr 2011)

Sorry, I forgot to say that there is a chance they might be fine  I wouldn't actually know without having tried them before


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## Zoiders (10 Apr 2011)

RecordAceFromNew said:


> Untrue. Both Angelfish's link and Kona's official link indicate it has the HG30, which is an 8 speed cassette. 8 speed freewheels have gone the way of the dinosaurs for nearly 10 years for good reasons, I can't imagine any major manufacturer offering one today.
> 
> But back to the OP it seems of all the bikes mentioned perhaps only some have the lockout feature that he said he wanted. They include the Rockrider 5.3 with the XCR, the Kraken and the Vengeance with RS Dart 1 but only if it is a recent vintage. I would certainly recommend the OP committing only after test riding.


Screw on freewheels are still availiable and I have seen plenty of manufacturers use them, Raleigh for one were still knocking out 8 speed screw on freewheel bikes until recently, I have seen Diamondbacks with the same arrangement and few Scotts as well.

Kona may have switched over to a cassette for this years model but the Lanai was still equipped with a screw on freewheel a year or two back.


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## DrDre2010 (10 Apr 2011)

Well all sounds like great advice guys but didnt get a chance to read it before I made my purchase this morning of the Carrera Vengeance Ltd Ed with a kryponite lock, mud guards and Giro indicator helmet too.

I will be using it off road as well thus ideally why I wanted discs, well we will see how I get on with it but the ride home it seems alright but will have to try and get out on it now properly!

Is there any good sites to find all the good ride areas? As I'm fairly new to this area.

Thanks once again for all the advice.


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## jethro10 (11 Apr 2011)

DrDre2010 said:


> Well all sounds like great advice guys but didnt get a chance to read it before I made my purchase this morning of the Carrera Vengeance Ltd Ed with a kryponite lock, mud guards and Giro indicator helmet too.
> 
> I will be using it off road as well thus ideally why I wanted discs, well we will see how I get on with it but the ride home it seems alright but will have to try and get out on it now properly!
> 
> ...



Hope you enjoy it, I've seen a few of these out and about and they look great.

for routes, I use http://connect.garmin.com , select Explore and zoom into the area your after.
click show filters, and choose Activity -> Mountain biking.
When you find the ride you want, you can export the KMZ file and import it into google maps to explore it on a bigger map.
No need for the Garmin GPS unit to do this!

Jeff


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## Cubist (11 Apr 2011)

DrDre2010 said:


> Well all sounds like great advice guys but didnt get a chance to read it before I made my purchase this morning of the Carrera Vengeance Ltd Ed with a kryponite lock, mud guards and Giro indicator helmet too.
> 
> I will be using it off road as well thus ideally why I wanted discs, well we will see how I get on with it but the ride home it seems alright but will have to try and get out on it now properly!
> 
> ...



Sound purchase, looks to be a good bike for the money.

Whereabouts do you live... one of teh best ways is to explore using an OS map, heading for bridleways and BOAT's, using Mapmyride or walkly or whatever, to confirm the routes are passable. Another option would be to go to a trail centre and ride the blues until you're confident, then up to some reds or beyond.....


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## DrDre2010 (12 Apr 2011)

jethro10 said:


> Hope you enjoy it, I've seen a few of these out and about and they look great.
> 
> for routes, I use http://connect.garmin.com , select Explore and zoom into the area your after.
> click show filters, and choose Activity -> Mountain biking.
> ...


Excellent sounds good cheers, I've got 48hours off work from 6pm, tomorrow so looking forward to giving it a go!




Cubist said:


> Sound purchase, looks to be a good bike for the money.
> 
> Whereabouts do you live... one of teh best ways is to explore using an OS map, heading for bridleways and BOAT's, using Mapmyride or walkly or whatever, to confirm the routes are passable. Another option would be to go to a trail centre and ride the blues until you're confident, then up to some reds or beyond.....



I live in SE London next to the Thames. Cheers as I have no idea!


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## e-rider (12 Apr 2011)

Zoiders said:


> Screw on freewheels are still availiable and I have seen plenty of manufacturers use them, Raleigh for one were still knocking out 8 speed screw on freewheel bikes until recently, I have seen Diamondbacks with the same arrangement and few Scotts as well.
> 
> Kona may have switched over to a cassette for this years model but the Lanai was still equipped with a screw on freewheel a year or two back.



.......but in 7-speed

8 speed freewheels are like hens teeth - SunRace are the only manufacturers and only new old stock exists 

The Scotts would have either been 7 speed screw-on or 8 speed cassette


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## Zoiders (12 Apr 2011)

tundragumski said:


> .......but in 7-speed
> 
> 8 speed freewheels are like hens teeth - SunRace are the only manufacturers and only new old stock exists
> 
> The Scotts would have either been 7 speed screw-on or 8 speed cassette


No in 8 speed.

And you can get 8 speed screw ons without a problem from variou suppliers of generic unbranded kit - Raleigh for one if you actualy have the trade brochure and not the naff online catalogue.

And yes Scott have indeed used screw on's as just like Kona their low end kit is extremely bad - worse even.


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## Alimo! (13 Apr 2011)

Hi,
Just touching on the 'try before you buy' thing. I am looking at the Rockrider 5.3 as well.
The local Decathlon said that they only let you ride around the store. Is that the usual story? Not sure how much use that would be. Halfords didn't even offer that much.


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## DrDre2010 (13 Apr 2011)

Alimo! said:


> Hi,
> Just touching on the 'try before you buy' thing. I am looking at the Rockrider 5.3 as well.
> The local Decathlon said that they only let you ride around the store. Is that the usual story? Not sure how much use that would be. Halfords didn't even offer that much.



Yeah that's right with Decathlon thus not much use of knowing what its like in the real world but give you a quick hands on feel.


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## billflat12 (14 Apr 2011)

few trail centres will be running free demo days , depending on the style of riding you intend to do it may give you a better idea how frame geomertry affects a bikes off road handling.


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## billflat12 (17 Apr 2011)

[QUOTE 1360974"]


The 5.3 is a good bike. All you need to know really is how it fits you, and the assistant should be able to help you out with that.





[/quote]

Started to question the 5.3,s forks after reading this ?
https://www.cyclechat.net/


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## Shrimp_Stu (26 Apr 2011)

I am after a mountain bike too. Liking the look of the Carrera range in Halfords especially as 50% off at the moment - either the Vengeance or the Vulcan. I did sell my 10 year old Vulcan to a mate last year for £30 , wish I had dissed off-roading as now I want a bit of that action. Plus I want a good sturdy bike to attache my kids tag-along bike.


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