# Help me choose one



## Plax (13 Jul 2009)

Which one should I go for?
Looking at no more than £350 as I probably won't use it much after my trip.


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## Sittingduck (13 Jul 2009)

I see no Poll


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## Plax (13 Jul 2009)

Should be one there now


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## Sittingduck (13 Jul 2009)

Yeah it's there... shame I didnt see this was on the MTB forum before sticking my nose in though. Lol, I know sweet FA about 'em sorry


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## Plax (13 Jul 2009)

Sittingduck said:


> Yeah it's there... shame I didnt see this was on the MTB forum before sticking my nose in though. Lol, I know sweet FA about 'em sorry



Join the club!


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## Sittingduck (13 Jul 2009)

I almost got one a few weeks ago Plax. GT Agressor that was reduced to £350 in H*lfords. Seemed a great spec for the £'s. Carerra Krakken is similar price and spec I think. I have been considering getting one for the Winter!


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## Crackle (14 Jul 2009)

Plax, I honestly don't know any of those bikes. I think at that price point there isn't much to choose between them.

Reading around a little bit I think I prefer the Focus because the frame seems to be the best and by implication, lightest but really there doesn't seem much between them.

I don't like the look of the GT, which is not a reason I know, the Be-One seems slightly better equipped and that would be a high 2nd and I know everyone rates the Carrera but I've never liked them.


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## Berger and Chips (14 Jul 2009)

Hmm 
What about:- 

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-2-black-34963795/

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-3-69568390/

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-xc-disc-34964379/


Here you have a £200 bike as good as some of your options, a £299 bike better in many ways and a £369 bike which is MUCH BETTER even though it goes slightly over your limit.
Basically, you have missed out by a week on the Aspire 1.0 which was shedloads better than the 2.0 and only £35 more, it was an amazing deal with Toras and 27 speed Deore groupset for £275 which is about double the spec of the 10% cheaper 1.0. I was planning to get one myself as a spare and missed out as well.

Personally, I dont know how good Dart 1's are, but the Aspire 1.0 seems to have some really weak parts on it compared to the 2.0, like an ugly, cheesy, plastic coated mild steel Tourney chainset and Altus shifters. These parts are right at the very bottom of Shimano's groupsets. I also have serious doubts about Dart 1's expecting them only to be about as good as Insync Grind or cheap Suntour jobbies but with the Rock Shox cred branding.

The £369 Decathlon blows away the Focus, its slightly lighter, it has a MUCH better, higher end fork from the same company (Suntour), hydraulic disc brakes (which are superior to mechanical discs or v brakes), better (disc ready) wheels than the Focus, etc, etc.
The Focus is otherwise about the same level as the Decathlon, but with cheaper wheels, brakes and forks.

I have a Vulcan V spec (although I fitted £200 Magura Odurs to it), its quite a good bike for under £250 and lasted a couple of thousand miles before the parts started to wear out.

I would find the extra £20 and buy the Decathlon, you may need to ring them and ask them to order one if the nearest store to you does not have the one you want in your size in stock. If you just want a good, cheap bike for one occassion the £199 Decathlon is about as good as the Vulcan or the Aspire and cheaper.

Secondly I would go for the Aspire 2.0 assuming that Darts SHOULD be better than the cheap Suntour forks on the others and because it has £160 off but I am still dubious about the Tourney and Altus bits.
Thirdly the Carrera Vulcan is a good value bike if you go for the V spec. Ignore the Disc spec, they are only crappy mechanical tektro's (which will prove more hassle in the long run) for an extra £100 and the rest of the bike is the same and I cannot see why anyone would want to pay £100 extra for mechanical discs over V's.
I dont know the GT but the Focus has some crap parts at that price, especially when you take the supposed full price into account, unlike the Focus Black Forest which at £700 is basically a bike with £600 forks!


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## Panter (14 Jul 2009)

As above, the Rockriders always get rave reviews for the money although I've never ridden one personally.

Otherwise, out of your choice, I'd go for the GT purely because I like their bikes.


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## Lisa21 (14 Jul 2009)

Plax-I know absolutely nothing about bikesbut mine is a Carerra Vulcan and I am completely 100% happy with him.

ahem, I mean it. With IT.


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## Berger and Chips (14 Jul 2009)

Just been on Chain Reaction and noticed the Avalanche 3.0 at £199.
That is a very sound choice too.
Its basically the same level of bike as the Carrera Vulcan V spec (or for that matter Decathlon 5.1) , with the same forks as the Vulcan, but some people will think GT to be a cooler make than Carrera.
I personally ride both brands, my (10 yr old) GT is converted to a road bike and I ride it to work most days.
Allegedly most cheap mtb frames come from the same factory these days anyway so you might find all of these bike frames were built in the same place.


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## Plax (14 Jul 2009)

Cheers B&C, those Decathlon bikes do look like crackers but I'm over by Llanberis and the nearest store is looking to be in Stockport a 100 or so miles away and it doesn't look like they deliver.
I'm a bit tied at the moment between the Vulcan and the Focus. There's a Carrera Kraken for £380ish similar forks as the Decathlon bike I think (Suntour XCR-D), which has also caught my eye. 
Decisions! Decisions!

Lisa - how do you get on with your suspension? I don't believe you can lock the forks on the Vulcan so wonder how that affects sudden braking & handling etc on flat roads. Don't suppose it would be too noticeable if you can adjust it to suit.


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## Crackle (14 Jul 2009)

Good advice given there. I'm not sure about hydraulic brakes for the intened purpose Plax (which you didn't say in this thread), in fact I'd say avoid them for your Central America tour.


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## Berger and Chips (14 Jul 2009)

The xcm forks don't have lock out.
I used to ride mine (current model Vulcan), still with its original forks, to work when the GT was out of action and it was fine on the road, no excessive bobbing to really eat into the forward motion and no noticeable dive under braking.
They do have pre-load adjusters and if you crank the pre-load right up they will be stiffer, some people say you should always unwind the pre-load after a ride.
You're right, Decathlon do not deliver, I have to drive to Merry Hill from Bristol if I want something, I usually combine it with a trip to Dudley zoo or something to make it worthwhile.


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## Plax (14 Jul 2009)

What's the difference between VCT & XCT forks? the 08 & 09 models seem to have different forks and the Suntour website seems to just list the XCT ones. I'll probably err towards the V-Brake Vulcan(aye Crackle it's for Central America) but now need to decide on the 08 or 09 model which seem pretty similar bar colour and forks.

EDIT - Have they done a typo? The description & spec varies for the 08 model. Says XCM in the description and in the spec says VCT-V2? The pic has XCM on it. 
Have I answered my own question here - 08 has better forks than 09 model?


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## Lisa21 (14 Jul 2009)

Lisa - how do you get on with your suspension? I don't believe you can lock the forks on the Vulcan so wonder how that affects sudden braking & handling etc on flat roads. Don't suppose it would be too noticeable if you can adjust it to suit.[/quote]

Um, tbh iv never played around with anything-got the bike checked over and adjusted properly by my lbs as it had come from halfrauds and i was wary-and since then it has been fine. Iv had to do a few sudden stops and it all feels really steady and comfy and easy to handle, and I know im sounding like a total pleb but im afraid thats all i can tell you. I know the forks are ajustable but as its fine like it is iv not messed with it!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Sittingduck (14 Jul 2009)

I had been looking at the Rockrider 5 XC myself a few weeks ago also Plax. Seems good VFM but I don't like the colour scheme 

Maaan, I sound girly!


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## Berger and Chips (14 Jul 2009)

The 08 model is totally the same bike as the 09 model, except for paint job, saddle design and as you yourself noticed, the £20 cheaper, slightly inferior forks.
The forks look a bit weedier hence will probably flex a bit more. My XCM's were adjustable for preload on both stanchions, the XCT's seem to be only adjustable on one side.
I would advise if you chose a Vulcan to get the 08, unless you really prefer the black of the 09.


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## Plax (15 Jul 2009)

Berger and Chips said:


> The 08 model is totally the same bike as the 09 model, except for paint job, saddle design and as you yourself noticed, the £20 cheaper, slightly inferior forks.
> The forks look a bit weedier hence will probably flex a bit more. My XCM's were adjustable for preload on both stanchions, the XCT's seem to be only adjustable on one side.
> I would advise if you chose a Vulcan to get the 08, unless you really prefer the black of the 09.



Cool, I'm not bothered about the colour (and I usually change the saddle anyway), so I'll go 08 model. I'm after an 18" frame which my local Halfords has in stock, the only 09 one they had was 20" (which would fit ok according to the inside leg measurements (I'm 32" leg), but from personal experience I prefer the 18").

I've reserved online to collect in store the 08 V-brake version if the Vulcan. Collection for Saturday apparently. Hopefully I won't change my mind in the interim!
Thanks for all the help.


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## Sittingduck (15 Jul 2009)

Well done Plax - we'll be wanting piccies after you have collected it


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## Crackle (15 Jul 2009)

Yay. Virtual pint to B&C methinks. Look forward to the first review Plax.


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## Plax (15 Jul 2009)

Crackle said:


> Yay. Virtual pint to B&C methinks. Look forward to the first review Plax.



Raises pint to B&C .

Will provide pics and review when I get it. Mr Plax is going to the football (boring!) on Saturday so I've got all day to play with it without feeling guilty!


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## Plax (19 Jul 2009)

Picked up the Vulcan today. Initial impressions were that Halfords had done a piss poor job of setting it up. The rear mech was pretty much spot on, but the shifting on the front was crap. Wasn't changing between chainrings properly and in the highest/lowest gear the chain was propper rattling on the cage. So sorted that out and now appears to be okay.

Took it for a spin. Must say on the road it's like a slug, truly awful and won't be doing my average speed an favours. Took it along the gravel cycle path along the lake and deliberately went over every bit of protruding stone etc and you couldn't really feel much. You can certainly feel the difference in ride when the suspension is on soft compared to the hybrid. My teeth would have been rattling on that. I tightened up the suspension on the way home and went over all the stones etc again and you could feel that a lot more. So at least I know the suspension is doing its job! It also felt "faster" cycling home with the suspension harder, made riding on the road with 2.1 knobblies a little bit more enjoyable.

I'm off work the last week of July so plan on taking it out on one of the trails and finding out how good it really is. I think it will do the job nicely for it's intended purpose. Certainly won't be using it for any road cycling unless I get some "slicks" for it.

The original saddle was not to my liking so I've just swapped my seat post and saddle over from the hybrid - a Brooks on a MTB!! Looks ok actually as it's a black Brooks. Figure I'll just swap seatposts around the bikes rather than buy a new Brooks for the time being. Still considering whether to buy another set of clipless pedals for it or just leave them as flats for now, or swap the pedals off the hybrid and put those on the MTB (double sided pedals on the hybrid). 

All in all I'm pleased with the purchase and I'm judging it on road cycling which is stupid as it isn't a road bike. Roll on my week off when I can play with it properly!


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## TheDoctor (20 Jul 2009)

Plax said:


> Picked up the Vulcan today. Initial impressions were that *Halfords had done a piss poor* job of setting it up.



Utter surprise. Still, I'm glad it's good now.
This does *not* mean I fancy being dragged all round rocky stuff next time I'm up!


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## Plax (20 Jul 2009)

TheDoctor said:


> Utter surprise. Still, I'm glad it's good now.
> This does *not* mean I fancy being dragged all round rocky stuff next time I'm up!



Oh, come on you know you want to! 

Right, best be off to watch John Barrowman on 5th Gear!


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## TheDoctor (20 Jul 2009)

John Barrowman! Be still, my beating heart...


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