going back to mountain biking, advice please.

[InspireTheEmpathic]

I want to buy a mountain bike/cyclocross bike at some point in the future for fast downhill mountainbiking and just general rough off road stuff, not just pootling through some woods at the weekend. I wont be doing jumps or stunts or anything I just want to get a bike thats designed for downhill mountainbiking speed runs i suppose. dual suspension etc i'm presuming cyclocross bikes are a good option, but i dont know what the price bracket is where you stop getting trash and start getting better quality stuff. its around 400-500 for road bikes but how much would i spend on a cyclocross to ensure that it'll last a while?

 

[ColinJ]

There's a world of difference between a cyclo-cross bike bike and a downhill mountain bike! One is light and has no suspension at all, and the other is very heavy and has dual suspension with lots of travel.

If you are not talking about hardcore downhill, I'd suggest a hardtail mountain bike. You can certainly get a good one for £1,000 - I have a 853 Rock Lobster from Merlin Cycles (older model) and am very happy with that.

You could get something pretty good for £600 and I've seen some nice bikes for about £800.

 

[marzjennings]

Agreed, a cyclocross isn't going to be much good on any rough trail. They're fine on grass and mud, but sketchy on roots and rocks. I do know a couple of guys who ride cross bikes on some of the more technical trails, but they ride really lightly, able to man handle their bikes over anything with a great deal of finesse. And they still run slower than the guys on mtbs.

600-1000 will get you an ok hardtail and you'll have to start looking a +1000 for a reasonable full susser.

 

[Hacienda71]

If you have the time might be worth going on one of the well tried mountain bike trails were you can hire mtbs, gives you the chance to try a trail on a bike without the initial outlay to see if it is what you are after. I did the Marin Trail in Snowdonia this year on a hired Giant hardtail. Cracking day and made me realize a hard tail was right for me.