# Which mtb



## Tat_ (18 Jul 2011)

I have a road bike which I am just getting back into after a long lay off. I intend to buy a mtb and will have about £1000 to spend. I am 56 and won’t be doing any down hill racing. Should I get a soft tail or hard tail? Do I need 30 gears? The Boardman bike I looked at only has 20. When I was a kid we had 3. Is coil suspension a better option than oil?


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## Angelfishsolo (18 Jul 2011)

You have narrowed down your type of riding by removing DH. 

Do you see yourself doing technical trails or mostly fire road / forestry riding? A 100mm travel hard-tail will get you around pretty much anything but will be hard going on the more technical of routes. A full sus would be a bonus on those.

Oil or air shocks are better than springs as they are far more adjustable. Gears - Although most modern bikes have 24 or 27 gears you only tend to use a few. Ie those in the top, middle and bottom range. Look for a large rear cog (32 or 34) as it will help you up the steeper hills 

At a £1000 you will not buy a bad bike, but you could buy the wrong bike so a little more analysis of your requirements will help


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## Tat_ (18 Jul 2011)

Thanks for you reply.
Im not too sure about how technical a route i would ever be capable of to be honest. I see pics of guys who are airbourne which i cant imagine doing. Do MTB guys categories the technicality of a ride. If they do perhaps that might be a place to start

cheers
tat


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## Angelfishsolo (18 Jul 2011)

Tat_ said:


> Thanks for you reply.
> Im not too sure about how technical a route i would ever be capable of to be honest. I see pics of guys who are airbourne which i cant imagine doing. Do MTB guys categories the technicality of a ride. If they do perhaps that might be a place to start
> 
> cheers
> tat



See this page for grading help


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## Tat_ (18 Jul 2011)

Thanks for that the grading thing helps a lot. I would be in the blue for the majority of the time with the occasional attempt at some minor red sections. hopefully not in the green but definately not mainly red with bits of blue.

A great help. Now all i have to do check out the bikes. Ive heard of the common ones like scott, specialized trek, giant etc but there are som many its mind blowing. Ive seen one that looked cool called Jamis, but never heard of them before.


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## Angelfishsolo (18 Jul 2011)

Tat_ said:


> Thanks for that the grading thing helps a lot. I would be in the blue for the majority of the time with the occasional attempt at some minor red sections. hopefully not in the green but definately not mainly red with bits of blue.
> 
> A great help. Now all i have to do check out the bikes. Ive heard of the common ones like scott, specialized trek, giant etc but there are som many its mind blowing. Ive seen one that looked cool called Jamis, but never heard of them before.



I think if you go a hard-tail from any established company you will be very happy with the machine.


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## jethro10 (18 Jul 2011)

It sound to me as if your going to be more Cross Country.
Basically riding the hills n trails and taking them as they come.
A bit like we do, it may get a bit rough at times, and a bit of downhill - taken carefully, but generally trails and grass, out on the fells.

I'm 50 so getting close on age,
I've borrowed FS bikes and for my strength, they offer more of a disadvantage in 90% of the ride than the benefit they give in the 10% of manic down hills. They are heavier, feel more unwieldy, less efficient

So I went for hardtail, more efficient and capable enough for that 10% of stuff as I take it a bit easier at my age ;-)

Going from springs to air shocks makes it easier to match your weight to the suspension and they do provide a superior ride.

Jeff


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## Angelfishsolo (18 Jul 2011)

jethro10 said:


> It sound to me as if your going to be more Cross Country.
> Basically riding the hills n trails and taking them as they come.
> A bit like we do, it may get a bit rough at times, and a bit of downhill - taken carefully, but generally trails and grass, out on the fells.
> 
> ...



+1 (although I am only 40)


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## rodgy-dodge (18 Jul 2011)

Tat_ said:


> I have a road bike which I am just getting back into after a long lay off. I intend to buy a mtb and will have about £1000 to spend. I am 56 and won’t be doing any down hill racing. Should I get a soft tail or hard tail? Do I need 30 gears? The Boardman bike I looked at only has 20. When I was a kid we had 3. Is coil suspension a better option than oil?




Go to your LBS and try some for feel I think its a personal choice. My last bike had 21 gears although I felt I needed more for climbs! However when I mentioned this at my LBS the guy just told me to try harder! I now have 27 which is great but I very rarely use my lower granny gears but they are there should I need them! sometimes its all psychological and its what goes on in the head! 
Some bike shops have demo days where you can try them out on the terrain. Lots of my friends around your age group have Trek and Specialised myself have a Kona and husband just bought a Cube this year, so quite a variety of makes go out on our jaunts. Most of us have hardtails, Hydraulic suspension and disk brakes. Full suspension is really for those who do the real techy stuff. My friend just bought one for her birthday last month and finding it really hard to handle and she's a pretty good off roader.


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## lukesdad (18 Jul 2011)

For that money Hardtail.


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## Zoiders (18 Jul 2011)

On the subject of forks.

They all have either a spring or an air chamber that provides the springy bit.

The difference with cheaper forks is that they only have a spring and/or rubber stacks of elastometers and no form of damping assembly inside them to stop them compressing or extending too quickly which means they can bottom out or kick back at you.

Coil sprung forks with oil damping are fine. 

Also - what Lukesdad told you - get a hardtail.


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## derrick (18 Jul 2011)

Hi i would go full suspenion, air shocks, have been using mine for about 8 years now, i'am 59 and that rear suspension is great, there is a bit of weight differance but i'll live with that, the extra comfort you get from full suspension is nice.
Cheers Del
PS Rockshox all round.


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## abo (20 Jul 2011)

Just to disagree with Derrick, I'd say go hardtail. Something like a Cube Ltd Team, I'd have one if I had a bit more cash lol. I don't think the extra 'comfort' of full sus is worth the extra weight.


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## derrick (20 Jul 2011)

abo said:


> Just to disagree with Derrick, I'd say go hardtail. Something like a Cube Ltd Team, I'd have one if I had a bit more cash lol. I don't think the extra 'comfort' of full sus is worth the extra weight.



We will agree to disagree on the weight bit, lol


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## smithy92 (22 Jul 2011)

Hi Tat,

You say you have looked at a Boardman, I'm assuming the Boardman MTB Pro? It's a lot of bike for the money, I have last years and absolutley love it, no issues, nice ride. Main difference is this years has SRAM 2x10 and 120mm travel (as opposed to 3x9 and 100mm). So I can recommend them as a very good bike.

But as Angelfish said, a hardtail at that price from any of the big companies (spesh, trek, cube, kona, etc) will be a good machine.

The main thing is to get one and get out there on it!


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## Zoiders (22 Jul 2011)

I am not so sure about mid range kit from some of the big names being a match for some of the kit by Boardman or Decathlon, Kona have been under specced and over priced for years now and the Trek range deosnt get rideable until you get well above £500-ish

Spesh are doing quite well at the mo with value for money, avoid Scott though as while the high end kit is great the lower to mid range stuff has been awful.


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## G-Zero (24 Jul 2011)

When I got my full sus in 1999 I used it regularly on fast downhill stuff and it really came into its own, however now that I'm a bit older and wiser (ok - read that as bottle going a bit  ) the rear unit is totally a comfort thing now. 

When the time comes to replace the Scott, it will be with a decent spec hardtail as for me, the cost of a quality rear unit outweighs the comfort factor if that's the only reason you're considering FS. That cost could also reduce the spec of the rest of the bike.

My wife has a good spec Scott Contessa and several workmates have various Scott road and/or MTBs and have never had a major fault with any of them, so Scott will remain high on my replacement list.


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