Which bike to buy

Author
Discussion

vixta

Original Poster:

616 posts

211 months

Friday 18th January 2008
quotequote all
My current bike is going to be binned ! to use a better word it's crap. It's 15 yrs old and the front cog keeps slipping to the granny cog. the back break has gone and the front brake is about to go. I've got a budget of £500 but may push to £700. I would prefer a full suspension to a hard tail - did have a Kona Lava Dome race light at one point in my life and I really enjoyed riding it, but the time has come to bite the bullet and go for a full suspension. I've seen 2 and can't decide which one to go for - Giant Anthem 3 (£780) or the cheaper option Mongoose Otero (£500)? any opinion would be appreciated.

littleandy0410

1,745 posts

211 months

Friday 18th January 2008
quotequote all
If you can afford the extra, I'd go for the Giant. Had a Giant Trance 4, and loved it. (until it was stolen 3 weeks ago)frown

Have you looked on http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/ ? They have some great deals. They've got a Mongoose Teocali comp 2006 down to £550, which would be better than the Otero.

If it was my money, I'd go for another Trance, not sure which one though.

Depends what type of riding you mainly do - do you need the extra travel of the Anthem? The same money would get you an awesome hardtail. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360032357&N=Focus%20Killer%20Bee%20Disc%202008 

Scho

2,479 posts

210 months

Friday 18th January 2008
quotequote all
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Enduro-Expert-Fs...

size might not be right but you get the idea.

second hand you'd get a better spec.

Edited by Scho on Friday 18th January 15:01

littleandy0410

1,745 posts

211 months

Friday 18th January 2008
quotequote all
Scho said:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Enduro-Expert-Fs...

size might not be right but you get the idea.

second hand you'd get a better spec.

Edited by Scho on Friday 18th January 15:01
^^^^^Buy that, ignore what I said!!^^^^^

If that goes for anywhere near £700 I'll be surprised though. Probably go for closer to double that.

Scho

2,479 posts

210 months

Friday 18th January 2008
quotequote all
littleandy0410 said:
Scho said:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Enduro-Expert-Fs...

size might not be right but you get the idea.

second hand you'd get a better spec.

Edited by Scho on Friday 18th January 15:01
^^^^^Buy that, ignore what I said!!^^^^^

If that goes for anywhere near £700 I'll be surprised though. Probably go for closer to double that.
sometimes high starting bid putts bidders off.

when i bought my allez race bike the starting bid was £200.



i was the one and only bidder. bargain.

keep your eye's on ebay.

a enduro comp for 700 is more realistic i think but you might get lucky.

madbadger

11,616 posts

251 months

Friday 18th January 2008
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Go for the lighter bike. You never find yourself wishing you have a heavier bike.

smile

kevin63

4,661 posts

260 months

Sunday 20th January 2008
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Sod the bike, spend what you save on diesel for the Mini, it's a lot easier up those hills.

mat205125

17,790 posts

220 months

Sunday 20th January 2008
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Grad a copy of the current Mountain Biking UK as there is an under £500 group test. Any of these will be 1,000,000 times better than your current steads.

vixta

Original Poster:

616 posts

211 months

Sunday 20th January 2008
quotequote all
Thanks for the input everyone. The realistic option will most probably be a hardtail, and will get this weeks copy of MB uk.

smile

littleandy0410

1,745 posts

211 months

Sunday 20th January 2008
quotequote all
The £500 group test was actually in last month's MBUK - the new one came out on Friday I think, so you'll have to find a newsagents who aren't on the ball, who might still have a copy left!

The winner was the Focus Fat Boy (from wiggle.co.uk), it got 9 out of 10. The Scott Aspect 45 also got 9, the Spesh Hardrock Pro Disc got 8 and the Cube Attention Disc also got 8.