What Mountain Bike?

[Dan Wilko]

I would recommend a hard tail, but not a fully rigid.

[gwilson]

Im 5'10 ish with short legs, I had a GT XCR which i got of ebay for next to nothing. It was 17" frame, I tried a mates who had next frame size up and that was to big. best thing is get to a shop try a few out for size then either ebay for it or look for last season deals in MTB.

It can be another expensive "oh i could just do with that" hobby.

[dorset_diver]

One more point is that as Paul Burgess said beacusae its more light off road and a bit of uran riding what u need is suspension at the front when u need it but not when ur on a road, other wise u jst exert wasted power, so again id recoment the Avalanche setup (i dont know about muddy ofr or the spcialized ones) but the forks on these have an adujstable lock out system on the forks, so when ur going bump across the new forest u get a nice soft ride on the wrists, but as soon as you hit a bit of road one flick of a switch and you've got a fully rigid for the road.

Chris Middleton
aka student guy

[troc]

Originally Posted by DIVE BUDDHA

get urself a nice dbr mountain bike ! rock shox forks !
xtr running kit ! and panneracer tyres ! that should see u rite !

Hmm, He said 400 pounds, not 1400 pounds.

[MartinS]

Ian
I bought a Trek 4500 (05 model) last year for a lot less than the RRP as it had been superseded by the 06 and 07 models. Evans website has a clearance area for bikes, and it's much better going for an older model. Most older models won't have discs, just Vs, and as has already been stated, steer clear of the bikes with front and rear suspension - you need to spend a minimum of £700 to get something decent!
I did lots of research when I bought mine, and luckily have a mate who knows his stuff - I printed out half a dozen bikes in my price range and he went through them and helped me pick the bike with the best component quality overall, and am really pleased with it.
One thing to think about - make sure the bike is upgradeable - mine has disc ready frame/forks but the wheels weren't (I did know this when I bought it) so I'm currently replacing both wheels with hope hubs/new rims and adding Hope hydraulic discs. Admittedly, both new wheels and brake sets cost more than the bike, but I really like my bike and it was always my intention to upgrade.
Last thing you want to do is spend £400 on a bike and then decide in 6 months/ a years time that you want to do some upgrading to make it more suitable for your needs (as they change) but then find you can't.
I do quite a few miles of light offroad, but go out every month or so and do 20+ miles relatively hard off road, so needed to buy something that I wouldn't trash on a hard push offroad. I'm also planning to do the ride up in London later this year for Leukaemia - will probably just do the 26 mile one as am not sure I'll be fit enough for the 52 miler!
HTH
Martin
[EDIT]
Evans currently have the 4500 07 model on sale HERE
Pretty much the same spec as mine. I've got the 19.5" frame and I'm 5'10" with 32" inside leg.
[/EDIT]

[Spike Jackson]

A great source of info is the mag "What Mountain Bike" which frequently runs reviews of bikes in various categories and price brackets. They hav a useful quick reference buyers guide at the back as well.
In your price bracket the hardtails that they rate well are: Giant XTC4, GT Avalanche 1.0, Mongoose Amasa Comp, Pace Rc303, Trek 4500. All of these rated 9/10 and reatils for between £400-£500
Of course you could buy a Cove Hummer, titanium hardtail dream machine. Frame only £1700!

[Rod]

Ian,

Have you looked in Decathlon at Lakeside yet? They do a bike called the Triban trail 7.
It has 24 gears, cable brakes, adjustable front suspension, and a very comfortable thick gel saddle with a suspension thing under the saddle.
My wife uses hers for work every day on road and light off road (10 miles each way). It has a pannier rack if you want to get some, Never let her down and even has pucture resistant tyres.
I have used it a few times on roads, canal towpaths and forest paths and it is really great.
Cost - £279

[milldog]

Originally Posted by nickb

23!! how tall are you Graham?

just looked i think its a 21 but im not cleaning it to find out

Graham

[JAG]

Thanks for all your advice guys.

After popping into Evans Cycles and having a chat I think I've narrowed it down to three:

GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc 2007 Mountain Bike

GT Avalanche 1.0 2006 Mountain Bike

Trek 4500 2007 Mountain Bike

If you had too, which one would you go with?

Cheers,

Ian

[Dan Wilko]

Probably the TREK