Choice of two

[John90]

Hello folks & apologies for another 'which bike' question.

I am about to get a third bike - entry level MTB - and have narrowed it down to two:

Decathlon MTB

or

Orbea Sherpa

Now, I know that at this price point any mountain bike will have limitations, but I can't say for sure how much off-road riding I will end up doing - it could be that I will just be buying a reserve commuter. The most important thing for me is a good frame, so if I do want to upgrade in the future I can add new components, but equally I don't want forks etc that are too shabby to start with.

The Orbea is £125 more than the Decathlon. Do people think there is an extra £100+ of value in the Orbea, particularly in the frame?

The other consideration is that the Orbea would be through my local shop, which I would like to support. But I will leave that for my conscience to think about.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[3narf]

Not sure if there's £100 difference but the Orbea looks nicer!

Sounds like you're weighing up the pros & cons in an intelligent manner. They both look like decent bikes.

You could see if you could find a discounted Specialized Rockhopper. But then, if you've narrowed it down already...

 

[Alembicbassman]

Alivio Deore mix kit Vs SRAM X7 - No contest, SRAM X7 wins as it is closer to the SLX groupset.

Alivio = SRAM X4

Deore = X5

SLX = X7

RockShox Tora better than XCR too

Decathlon 8.1 is the better package.

 

[PaulSecteur]

^^^^

Pretty much what I was going to write, but the orbea looks soo much better!

(But decathlon bikes look a lot better in the metal then their website pics)

 

[John90]

Not sure if there's £100 difference but the Orbea looks nicer!

Sounds like you're weighing up the pros & cons in an intelligent manner. They both look like decent bikes.

You could see if you could find a discounted Specialized Rockhopper. But then, if you've narrowed it down already...

Thanks. The Orbea does look better and is the bike of choice from the local shop. The only other brand they do is Kona & I didn't see one of those that I liked as much. Work is throwing in £400 under the C2W scheme which is great, but probably means I can't get discounted bikes, or use people like Evans.

 

[John90]

Alivio Deore mix kit Vs SRAM X7 - No contest, SRAM X7 wins as it is closer to the SLX groupset.

Alivio = SRAM X4

Deore = X5

SLX = X7

RockShox Tora better than XCR too

Decathlon 8.1 is the better package.

OK thanks, that probably settles it then, as long as I can look my local dealer in the eye when I next go in for an inner tube.