Which hardtail????

[Ben Jk]

Ideally new.

£800 max


Go.....

[Antony Moxey]

Specialized Rockhopper.

[SammyW]

Canyon Grand Canyon Al 6.0?

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...

[shouldbworking]

SammyW said:

Canyon Grand Canyon Al 6.0?

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...

That looks rather good for the money.

[Ben Jk]

Being slightly out of touch in the MTB scene, are Canyon a good brand? Never really heard of them before?

[Gren]

Yep, good brand. Only downside is they are mail order only so you don't get to try before you buy. Many, many satisfied customers and they win lots of awards in What Mountain Bike etc.

Another good brand to look at for that price would be Cube. The LTD is a great hardtail....but I am biased in this case.

[Ben Jk]

I like the Cube's, I must admit.

[Fluffsri]

Cube are knocking out some nice stuff at the mo, sapec is reasonable but the forks can be a lower spec than the bike...a future upgrade

[Ben Jk]

This is the prob...i've not got a clue which forks etc are good these days!!

When I was last up to date with MTB's, Rock Shox Mag 21's were the must have's (1996?)!!!

[Gren]

Look for RS Recons (pref Golds) at this price, possibly even Rebas if you get a really good deal. Defintely look for air models if you want light and adjustable.

[Mr Gear]

I got one of these for £850:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/iroko...

Loads of good bits on it, and I love the chrome paint.

They are now even cheaper, but not many sensible sizes left online. You might be able to find one in-store though.

Rockshox Recon Gold and Shimano SLX...

[Ben Jk]

Thats nice. I've been browsing the Pinnacles. Its Evans cycles own brand isn't it?

[Mr Gear]

Ben Jk said:

Thats nice. I've been browsing the Pinnacles. Its Evans cycles own brand isn't it?

Yeah. It's a good quality bike with a good spec. I wouldn't have paid the original £1,100 for it, but at the discounted price it's hard to beat. It got good reviews in the mags too.

There is a cheaper version called the Iroko 1 which is green. Similar bike, but cheaper forks, on sale for £650 at the moment I think.

[benny.c]

I paid around £800 for a 2011 Orange Crush which was second hand but immaculate. I was very tempted by the Cubes too but couldn't help thinking I'd get fed up with the graphics before too long, no matter how good the bike was.

http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/archive/2011/cr...

Library photo:

[Bacon Is Proof]

SammyW said:

Canyon Grand Canyon Al 6.0?

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...

Glad you posted that.
It looks like it could be an excellent replacement for my crippled and aged 2000 GT Zaskar X. It's even the same colour!

Now where's my nearest stockist...

[Ben Jk]

Popped into Evans earlier.

Sales guy I spoke to said for the money this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/nitro-63... is spot on, especially with it having a RS air fork. He was saying air is definatley far better than coil? Haven't really heard of Norco before, and also what is the Sram stuff like?

[lotusandy]

If you can stretch to £832 do as I did & get one of these.
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/ht_pro.html
List price is £999 but if you follow these steps price drops to £832. (The numbers in this guide were for a different model)

1. Join British Cycling (10% discount on Halford gift vouchers) via Quidco from £13.50 http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/ - possible £12 cashback
2. Buy £810.00 of Halford gift vouchers via British cycling for £729.00
3. Order your bike on the Halfords website using the NUSAPR12 discount code, this reduces the amount payable to £809.99
4. Use your gift vouchers (delivered in a few days) to buy the bike instore.
Thanks to panclan for the tip!

I've had the bike a couple of weeks now, really pleased with it.

[anonymous-user]

Ben Jk said:

Popped into Evans earlier.

Sales guy I spoke to said for the money this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/nitro-63... is spot on, especially with it having a RS air fork. He was saying air is definatley far better than coil? Haven't really heard of Norco before, and also what is the Sram stuff like?

What Evans said said:

this is spot on

What Evans mean said:

This is what i have in stock in your size today

to be fair, the Norco is a good bike, Canadian origins, been around for years, various UK distributors in the past, some who care passionately about the brand, others less so hence the rarity of them on the trails.

yes it has an air shock, but its a low end air shock and probably on a par with a mid to high end coil shock like the sektor. Sram stuff is fine, X5 is somewhere around Deore but in my opinion not as well finished. Interesting that they are branding the "elixir" brakes as Sram now not Avid.

[anonymous-user]

Bacon Is Proof said:

SammyW said:

Canyon Grand Canyon Al 6.0?

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?...

Glad you posted that.
It looks like it could be an excellent replacement for my crippled and aged 2000 GT Zaskar X. It's even the same colour!

Now where's my nearest stockist...

canyon are german and thus mail order only, they do offer a 30 trial and there is UK support. getting the size right isnt rocket science if you spend some time studying the geo and there are hundreds of very satisfied UK customers now.

[Bacon Is Proof]

Cheers.
I've mail ordered before so appreciate it doesn't have to be completely blind.