MTB recommendations

[akb]

Morning All,
After some recommendations for a MTB if you please as an addition to my current Hybrid.
Use will be:

Winter commuting in snow/ice - 26 mile round trip.
Local Hill riding with dogs
Trail riding with friends (eg. Thetford Forest etc)
Will be purchasing via the C2W scheme so most likely have to purchase from Evans.
Dont really want to spend more than £400.

Thanks in advance.

 

[akb]

Also, another quickie. Whats the difference between a Hard Tail and Full Susp? Are hard tails front forks only?

 

[GilesM]

Yes, Hardtails have just front suspension, an a rigid rear end, (hence, hard tail), and full suss have front and rear suspension, if it's an mtb with no front or rear suspension, it's a fully rigid mtb.

As to the choice of bike, for the money you want to spend, and what you want to use it for, then don't go full sus, a hardtail will be fine, there are many bikes out there, but the problem is at less than £500 the equipement on the bike will usually be quite low spec, the big thing is really the forks, just to give you an idea most hardtails at that price area will probably have forks with 100mm of travel, or possibly 120mm, for most riding, and certainly when you are learning, 100mm is perfect, however a good set of forks (not the best, but decent ones) will normally cost about £250 to £300, although you get more for your money when you buy a complete bike, you can see that they are not going to fit the best forks on a sub £500 mtb. However, don't panic, look through what Evans have got in their sales, some not bad offers right now, this caught my eye, as being not bad for the price:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/nunu-2011-mountain-bike-ec026534

A useful point would be to look at the bikes that have Rockshox, rather than Suntour forks, the suntours are not great, also, being able to lock out your forks will help with any road riding.

 

[akb]

Thank you Giles. Appreciate the response. Advice from elsewhere has guided me down the hard tail route, and yes Kona as per your link is what I had been looking at.
Very useful info about the shocks too.
Cheers again.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Go and look at the Boardmans in Halfords and see if your employer will register with them for C2W

 

[Crackle]

I was looking at that exact one Gilesm linked to but it's only in a size 14, which is a shame.

 

[GilesM]

I was looking at that exact one Gilesm linked to but it's only in a size 14, which is a shame.

Sorry, I didn't notice that.

This also looks pretty good for the money, even Avid brakes, which are not too bad.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/jarrah-four-mountain-bike-ec027473#select

 

[Crackle]

Sorry, I didn't notice that.

This also looks pretty good for the money, even Avid brakes, which are not too bad.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/jarrah-four-mountain-bike-ec027473#select

That is very nice and pretty well specced.

 

[GilesM]

That is very nice and pretty well specced.

It does look very good for the money, and not a bad frame to upgrade around as bits wear out.

 

[akb]

Thanks for the comments. Shame about the sizing for the Kona.
The Pinnacle is another one on the short list.

Thanks for the input Greg, just checked with employer, and they only deal with Evans.

My current shortlist for now is:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-sport-disc-2012-mountain-bike-ec030674 - althought this does have Suntour forks which have not been recommended compared to Rockshox.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/jarrah-four-mountain-bike-ec027473 - looks the part, with Rockshox and but at the top end of my budget.

Ive also been recommended the Halfords own Carrera Vulcan. Any one have any experience of this? It has SRAM compenents but Suntour forks. I could probably buy this without the need for C2W. Linky here: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_810709_langId_-1_categoryId_165499#tab1

 

[GilesM]

Thanks for the comments. Shame about the sizing for the Kona.
The Pinnacle is another one on the short list.

Thanks for the input Greg, just checked with employer, and they only deal with Evans.

My current shortlist for now is:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-sport-disc-2012-mountain-bike-ec030674 - althought this does have Suntour forks which have not been recommended compared to Rockshox.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/jarrah-four-mountain-bike-ec027473 - looks the part, with Rockshox and but at the top end of my budget.

Ive also been recommended the Halfords own Carrera Vulcan. Any one have any experience of this? It has SRAM compenents but Suntour forks. I could probably buy this without the need for C2W. Linky here: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_810709_langId_-1_categoryId_165499#tab1

I would definately go with a C2W from Evans, Hardrock would be okay, however if you ride much off road stuff, I am thinking about your wish to go trail riding with friends, you could very soon want to replace the Suntour fork, my experience of the suntour forks is all they do is sap your energy, but don't really help you over the rough stuff.

 

[akb]

Again cheers for the advice Giles. Very much appreciated.
I think the Pinnacle would be the route to go down. I guess the predominant use would be for weekend trials. We have a couple of pretty decent trial routes around here, being Woburn and Chicksands so purchase should be made on that basis.

 

[GilesM]

Again cheers for the advice Giles. Very much appreciated.
I think the Pinnacle would be the route to go down. I guess the predominant use would be for weekend trials. We have a couple of pretty decent trial routes around here, being Woburn and Chicksands so purchase should be made on that basis.

Sounds good, have fun.

 

[Crackle]

I would definately go with a C2W from Evans, Hardrock would be okay, however if you ride much off road stuff, I am thinking about your wish to go trail riding with friends, you could very soon want to replace the Suntour fork, my experience of the suntour forks is all they do is sap your energy, but don't really help you over the rough stuff.

Confirmed. I've just and I mean just, replaced the fork on my son's bike from a Suntour XCM to a new Rock shox. He hasn't ridden it yet but I can tell from just bouncing it and trying it that it's a million times better, the Suntour just didn't work and it's bloody heavy too. Waste of time Suntour shocks.

 

[akb]

Thanks for the advice Crackle.