What mountain bike please?

[TankRS]

Am being bought a mountain bike by the in laws for my birthday, and it’s been over 10years since I last bought one so am pretty much out of the loop with what’s good an isn’t these days.

I’m looking for advice please on –

Decent bike in the £200 - 250 region as the mrs has hinted, is there anything decent at that price that isn’t Halfords own brand (unless they are decent bikes these days?)

Hard tail or soft tail

Disks or standard brakes

Gears, have had 21 on the old bike.

Frame size - Being 6’3 would it be better to find a local bike shop and try and get ‘fitted’ for a decent size bike then looking for bikes about in that spec at my price range?most of my previous ones have been a little small requiring seat and handlebars set to max height adjustment.



Anything else I should consider or need to know would be a great help too!

I will mostly be using it on mountain trails and forestry roads, as I’m practically on the Brecon Beacons I want to take full advantage of them and am missing my monster rides I used to have!

[blugnu]

For that sort of money you want a hard-tail - a full-suss set up will probably be hopeless, and isn't needed for the cycling you describe any way.

Decathlon do good value bikes - they're their own brand so there is no middle man.

And don't forget eBay.

[Silver940]

Any chance you can add some money? gonna really struggle for 250. 360 ish at Halfords gets you a Voodoo Bantu or a Carrera Vulcan, both ok for that price. In Brecon you'll be wanting some decent brakes, both these have hydraulic disk brakes.

[TankRS]

thanks for the replies both.

with regards to putting money in its quite tight, i could afford a little but not much to the price you've said.

had a quick look on halfords website at prices vs bikes and come up with the following examples.
i know it was advised a hardtail would suit better but most seem to be dual suspensions -

£149 - Apollo Outrider

£199 - Apollo Firecraker

£209 - Apollo Paradox


any advice or critisism would be appreciated.
i'd really prefer to give the inlaws the exact item i want as if i say "i'd like this or something like it" they will turn up with something completely diferent!
as they did with a watch i wanted, a smaller size shed than we'd asked for, to list but a few

[coxyuk]

Another vote for Decathlon, and old review but the current version is still within budget http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mount...

[rhinochopig]

OP ask for cash and scour the classifieds would be my advice at that price point.

[dave_s13]

I just recently stopped my father in law buying a £150-200 bike from halfords. He wants to lose weight and has decided to start cycling to work. This fad may not last.

Trouble with a bike at that price is that as soon as you've bought it, ridden it a few times then got bored it's worth naff all.

So I bought him this (with his money).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261033772980?ssPageName=...

The theory being that if he does decide to store it indefinitely in the garage it can instead be put back on ebay and he should get a good chunk of that back.

[Gizmoish]

Please don't under any circumstances buy an Apollo.

Google for "bike shaped object".

The classifieds, Ebay, Gumtree and Loot are full of very decent bikes that aren't made out of cheap steel that weighs a ton and could have been designed to put people off cycling for life.

[Mr Gear]

TankRS said:

thanks for the replies both.

with regards to putting money in its quite tight, i could afford a little but not much to the price you've said.

had a quick look on halfords website at prices vs bikes and come up with the following examples.
i know it was advised a hardtail would suit better but most seem to be dual suspensions -

£149 - Apollo Outrider

£199 - Apollo Firecraker

£209 - Apollo Paradox


any advice or critisism would be appreciated.
i'd really prefer to give the inlaws the exact item i want as if i say "i'd like this or something like it" they will turn up with something completely diferent!
as they did with a watch i wanted, a smaller size shed than we'd asked for, to list but a few

Avoid all three of those. You need to be spending close to a grand to get any full suspension bikes worth having.

If you want to spend under £250, you HAVE to keep it simple.

- Good V-brakes are better than bad disc brakes.
- No suspension is better than bad suspension.
- Good gears are better than lots of gears

... you get the idea.

My advice is buy second-hand, or buy the most simple bike you can with good quality components.

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

from the review of the paradox - probably tells you all you need to know.... in a funny sort of way.

"i went over a speed bump and manoeuvred around some people at low speed and crashed. disappointed."

as others have said avoid these and get something from ebay. keep it simple and youll get a better bike.

also, have a look here - http://bicycleshapedobject.wordpress.com/

[Issi]

ebay definitely, I just missed out on a 22inch full suspension Marin, that was sold for £64.00.

A fulll service on a bike like that would probably cost 50-75.

So a grands worth of bike for less than £150.

[Digga]

dave_s13 said:

So I bought him this (with his money).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261033772980?ssPageName=...

Beautiful machine.

Another vote for second hand here. Ebay is not your only option - you can try the ads on Pinkbike too: http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/list/?region=5&amp...

(Stick with hardtails at OP's budget.)

[TankRS]

Thanks for all the advice, looks like my best bet is to try and get the inlaws to give me the cash and I’ll source the bike myself!
I know they wouldn’t buy it from eBay or 2nd hand, as father in law likes to have a 'full guarantee’ with everything and anything

I honestly didn’t think Apollo was that bad a brand either?! Thought they were a decent trusted brand, or was that just a long time ago?

Cheers again, time to trawl ebay, gumtree and the like

[Mr Gear]

TankRS said:

Thanks for all the advice, looks like my best bet is to try and get the inlaws to give me the cash and I’ll source the bike myself!
I know they wouldn’t buy it from eBay or 2nd hand, as father in law likes to have a 'full guarantee’ with everything and anything

I honestly didn’t think Apollo was that bad a brand either?! Thought they were a decent trusted brand, or was that just a long time ago?

Cheers again, time to trawl ebay, gumtree and the like

It's not the fact that they are Apollos that is the problem... it's the fact they are trying to be something they are not. You simply cannot build a bike of any quality for that sort of money.

Decatlon have the right idea when it comes to cheap bikes. They keep it simple and you get an OK bike no matter what sort of money you spend.

These cheap full-suspension bikes should be made illegal, because they are a con-trick to part the uninitiated with their cash.

[caiss4]

I've just had a good experience with this guy http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MENS-MOUNTAIN-BIKE-GENTS... . This one of his current listings. I bought a Marin Palisades 19", probably 3-4 years old, newly powder coated frame, fully serviced, new drive train, new tyres. Not the top of the range fittings by any means but you most definitely wouldn't get something new with the spec for £280.

I get the impression he is a professional bike mechanic and his business is to refurb MTB's mainly. Generally has 2-4 bikes per week on the bay. I have no personal connection with the guy, I just think he's a very honest and helpful trader.

ETA: and he's probably not far from you