Best UK Forum?
Discussion
Hi all. After a 15 year break I'm toying with the idea of getting back into mountain biking again, and am looking at getting a hardtail in the £500 to £600 range. After a lot of research I've got a few ideas now, the Pinnacle Peak 4 from Evans is looking like the best value for money at the moment.
To check that I'm getting the right bits I wanted to be able to research on some UK MTB forums (for instance being a fairly bulky chap I wanted to confirm that the standard forks would be ok for me) but all of the forums I've found through google seem to be a bit sparse. I'm sure that there must be an equivalent of PistonHeads for mountain bikes somewhere, so can anyone point me in the right direction?
To check that I'm getting the right bits I wanted to be able to research on some UK MTB forums (for instance being a fairly bulky chap I wanted to confirm that the standard forks would be ok for me) but all of the forums I've found through google seem to be a bit sparse. I'm sure that there must be an equivalent of PistonHeads for mountain bikes somewhere, so can anyone point me in the right direction?
This one's ok, but a touch quiet at times.
Try Bikeradar.co.uk
What forks are they running?
TBH most MTB stuff these days is supertough and unlikely to fail "in normal use". It's worth noting though that MTB stuff comes factory set for 12.5stone riders. If, like me, you're much more than that an air fork will mean it's free and easy to set up for your weight. A coil fork will need a heavier spring to work at it's best.
Try Bikeradar.co.uk
What forks are they running?
TBH most MTB stuff these days is supertough and unlikely to fail "in normal use". It's worth noting though that MTB stuff comes factory set for 12.5stone riders. If, like me, you're much more than that an air fork will mean it's free and easy to set up for your weight. A coil fork will need a heavier spring to work at it's best.
www.singletrackworld.co.uk is the 'pistonheads' of the cycling world. great forum if you give it time to get past the in-jokes and mates stuff.
Very good classifieds too, and also the best paper MTB magazine.
AND there from Yorkshire
Very good classifieds too, and also the best paper MTB magazine.
AND there from Yorkshire
the mtb section of bike radar is a bit tiresome, its full of teenagers who know far more about bikes than you because they read the magazines rather tha nactually riding the bloody bikes! plus they are all funded by bank of mum nad dad so their opinion is worthless when it comes to buying advice, the road sections is full of more level headed types.
yacf is ok but a bit snobbish
stw is good, they are more of the "real riderrs" types who actually get out there
to be honest, although its a car forum, this place is pretty good, the banter is nice and friendly and there are a good mix of people doing different things to make the advice practicla and realistic.
the peak 4 looks ok, the forks are suntour 100m travel jobs whcih should be adjustable. unless you are really heavy on the drops and dont lean back, you wont have a problem. the rest of it is good midddle of the range stuff.
yacf is ok but a bit snobbish
stw is good, they are more of the "real riderrs" types who actually get out there
to be honest, although its a car forum, this place is pretty good, the banter is nice and friendly and there are a good mix of people doing different things to make the advice practicla and realistic.
the peak 4 looks ok, the forks are suntour 100m travel jobs whcih should be adjustable. unless you are really heavy on the drops and dont lean back, you wont have a problem. the rest of it is good midddle of the range stuff.
Thanks for the pointers - I'll start checking those sites out.
I'm currently just below 15 stone (but dropping!) which is why I was concerned about the forks. I wanted to make sure it was possible to stiffen them up a bit to work correctly.
If anyone else has any suggestions then I'm very open to suggestions as I've been out of the MTB world for too long to know much anymore. I'm looking around the £500 mark but am not really fussed about the make. I understand that Pinnacle are Evans 'own brand' which is presumably why they seemed to have a slightly higher spec than similarly priced models from other manufacturers. I'm not tied into using Evans either so will consider anything (although I'm not convinced about red and white colour schemes!)
Thanks again for any help...
P-Jay said:
What forks are they running?
According to the write up they've got Suntour SF10-Raidon-LOD Airs fitted, although the picture on the website shows forks with XCR written on the side - they might be the same for all I know! I did look at the bike in the shop and I'm pretty sure that the forks I saw were Suntour ones.I'm currently just below 15 stone (but dropping!) which is why I was concerned about the forks. I wanted to make sure it was possible to stiffen them up a bit to work correctly.
If anyone else has any suggestions then I'm very open to suggestions as I've been out of the MTB world for too long to know much anymore. I'm looking around the £500 mark but am not really fussed about the make. I understand that Pinnacle are Evans 'own brand' which is presumably why they seemed to have a slightly higher spec than similarly priced models from other manufacturers. I'm not tied into using Evans either so will consider anything (although I'm not convinced about red and white colour schemes!)
Thanks again for any help...
I wouldn't worry about the forks at that weight. I was 18 stone when I bought my 2001 Rockhopper (about £500 if I remember) which had the cheapest Manitou forks on it. They coped fine (I even attempted the Cwmcarn downhill on it), and I've still got the bike today with the same forks (although as of last year they're getting a bit 'Trigger's broom').
I would expect the 2010 equivalent to be more than adequate for 15 stone.
I would expect the 2010 equivalent to be more than adequate for 15 stone.
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