UKC

Thinking of getting into mountainbiking, but I'm a bit clueless. I've found one of these cheap locally:

http://www.flowbikestore.com/megamo-bike-26-open-replica-2013-black

All the advice I've had is you need to pay £500+ for even an entry-level bike for it to be worth it. Is that really true? What does a bike like this lack?

In reply to humptydumpty:

I would buy a 2ndhand bike at £500 rather than that. It is not so much what it lacks as what it offers: it'll weigh a ton, the wheels will be heavy and probably not very strong, components like the forks, bottom bracket, headset and hubs will likely fail without much use and it will be generally unpleasant to live with. It would be ok for going to the shops on but even using it to access hills let alone 'proper' mtbing would probably lead to lots of swearing about wishing you'd spent more.

For comparison, I sold a very light full sus bike (Kona Kikapu) with high end components and hand built wheels on ebay for about £400. Also look at singletrack classifieds for used bikes. Or spend more. Hope that helps.

In reply to humptydumpty:

I'd say it lacked gears - most are 10 or 11 speed not 7

V brakes will potentially limit you from stopping. If you get into going fast, you'll need stopping ability to match. Worked fine for many a year mind you.

Someone more knowledgable will no doubt be along any minute to examine the forks & wheels!

In reply to humptydumpty:

I mountain bike on a cheap mtb (around £300) and for me it works well. I know it's not as fast as a posh bike and it did need a new bottom bracket (£30) but it definitely gets me out mountain biking doing some reasonably difficult routes even some downhill.

In reply to AlisonSmiles:

I didn't notice it had Vees. Good vees on good rims can still do the business, but I'll bet that bike has neither. (I'll never go back from discs mind you).

In reply to Removed User:

Riding disc brakes on the cross bike on the road for my commute, have saved my bacon on many a slippery wet Manchester road! Had some interesting V brake related rides in gritty wet conditions in the past.

In reply to humptydumpty:

The bike I've been riding for the last 2 years cost me under £250 as it was last year's model and a low end kona. I'm updating to disc brakes but it's still been a fun bike to ride. The only thing is recommend is to buy from a reputable manufacturer with known parts. The best bargain I've seen recently is go outdoors who are selling the calibre two two for about 360 quid with quite reasonable spec. My philosophy is that I'm not racing so I don't need absolutely the best bike to save weight. I just ride and have fun (and regularly overtake people on much more expensive bikes! ).

In reply to humptydumpty:

Not so much now. You can get a reasonable bike for 300-400 new. However it will probably wear out a tad faster.
Main disadvantage with cheaper bikes is the weight and the suspension will generally be crap and heavy.
Companies like Decathlon do good bikes at lower prices.
Or go for last season bikes since occasionally can get nice deals there.

In reply to dissonance:


Good advice. I managed to get a pretty decent Kona with hydraulic discs for £450, reduced from £700, as it was 2 years out of date. I upgraded the forks from Dart 2s to Reba Races but nothing else has needed to be changed on it. Helps if you're at the extreme end of the frame size spectrum, they only had 14" frames left in the bike I bought.

In reply to humptydumpty:

I bought a second hand 90s Specialised mountain bike for a tenner. Have cycled all over Scotland with it now, it's brilliant.

Thats maybe an exception, though!

In reply to humptydumpty:

Heard a comment on a podcast today - no suspension is better than poor suspension- and after trying out a £400 bike that a mate bought from Decathlon I have to agree. But I'm used to riding mid range bikes, my mate is very happy with it and it has got him out riding, albeit on easy trails

In reply to humptydumpty:

I'm no expert but a brand new Specialised for £340......

http://www.dalescycles.com/2015-specialized-pitch-650b-gloss-black-charcoal...

Why buy cheap crap when you can buy a decent make for a few quid more. Given this deal took me seconds to find with a bit of effort you'll find (as others have said) fantastic deals on either second hand or out of date, but still unused, models.

In reply to Father Noel Furlong:

Thanks for all the opinions. Heavy bike definitely sounds less fun; poor longevity is much less a problem.

Regarding this:


I know so little about mountain bikes that I have no good way of differentiating them, apart from price and break type. This is why I'm tempted to buy something cheap now, and upgrade it if I really get into it. Hopefully by that stage I'd be a bit less clueless!


In reply to Chris the Tall:


If a £400 bike is unrideable for you, how much is a mid-range bike?

In reply to humptydumpty:


Likewise and tried that.

Started off with a £100 (20 years ago) Raleigh with no suspension. Weighed a bloody tonne and yes i took it on forest tracks but it wasn't much fun. Then moved onto a Saracen with no suspension. Much better bike but once i came off and needed stitches in my knee where a rock went in i decided i needed suspension if i was going to get the best out my biking. Then moved up to a Marin Pine Mountain (£1100 but got it online for less than £700). It got nicked (bastards!!). That was a bloody brilliant bike and that's when i realised a good bike makes all the difference. With the insurance i got a Trek 8500 (top of the range hardtail in its day). As soon as i got on it I though wow. It just went exactly where you pointed it. It's unbelievably responsive and a pure delight to use. I still have it (over 10 years) and use it regularly.

In short if you buy a better bike you're more likely to enjoy it. If you buy cheap ie heavy you'll wonder why everyone raves about cycling and possibly give up.

Maybe try renting at a trail centre as they'll likely have decent bikes. That way you get to find out if it's for you.

Good luck with your choice

In reply to humptydumpty:



2k for my full suss, 1200 for my hardtail. I could have spent more, but it's a question of diminishing returns and the fact that wouldn't appreciate the difference.

Forks are a good case in point - you can pay anything from £100 to £1000. The more you pay, you get a smoother ride and more features, but those features are only worth it you put in the effort to set it up right and adjust according to the trail you are riding. My problem is that I want a bike I can set up, leave it and forget about. And whilst I can lockout both the fork and rear shock - better for climbing - if I do I invariably forget to reset when I start the descent, and may not realise til I'm down (and wondering why the bike is bouncing all over the place). On the other hand I have a very cheap fork on an old bike (was going to be a spare MTB, now a commute bike) and when I do bounce down some steps I can really feel it.

All depends what you are likely to do. Obviously you don't want to spend 2k if you aren't sure you'll get into MTBing, but you might find someone else whose made that mistake and has a decent bike to sell. Or spend £600-700 now, ride it for a few years and even if you decide you want something better you'll still have a useful spare or commute bike (the n+1 rule applies more for MTBs than road bikes - they are more likely to need work).

Demo days are a really good way of trying out bikes, have a look round for any near you. Or go to a trail centre and hire one,

I guess my point is that a good bike will be fun to ride and encourage you to get out riding, if you don't enjoy it, the bike will be neglected and a waste of money. It was pissing down yesterday, but I still did an extra lap of Kirroughtree because I was having so much fun !

In reply to humptydumpty:
Depends on what you want to do with your mountainbike. Some call a little bit of off-road gravel mountainbiking, others do a little harder stuff...

- If you have to climb a lot; a 3x10 or 3x11 speed is nice. I use the full range of gears mountainbiking in the mountains.
- Any serious bumps and you want a decent fork.
- If you climb a lot or use it on the road to, a fork with lock out is great
- Hydraulic diskbrakes are awsum

I would say a good entry level bike would be:
- Shimano Deore group set (shifters, derailleurs, brakes); have most of the features of higher end models, not too expensive, parts are availible everywhere (high end stores sometimes don't have the cheaper stuff in stock or some of the cheaper stuff are just rare).
- Proper fork with lock out. Suntour is really low end. A mid range is usually made by Rockshock and decent.

note; manufactures sometimes slap a higher end rear derealleur on there bike and advertise that groupset, while the rest is of a lower class groupset. So check what you actually get. Cheaper bikes generally have cheaper parts; (cheaper derailleurs, cheaper tire, etc.) which are not always easy to spot.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

So it's not just me that forgets to undo the lockout on the fork before a descent?

In reply to humptydumpty:
I started out on a Decathlon bottom of the range hard tail. It did good service for a year, at which point things like the forks started to show signs of wear. It did me proud, it really did, and after a year I knew I could justify something with better, more reliable components. I'd previously been a commuter / utility cyclist, simple hybrid bike only. Gave the Decathlon one away on freecycle 12 months old, to a dad who was looking to go out with his kids. I like to think of it out there, still giving joy.

I reckon you're right, get something cheap and see if you like it, but I reckon the likes of Decathlon or Halfords might give a better spec than the one you've linked to. The second bike, however, that's the one to spend time thinking about ... I look forward to your thread in 12 months time ...

In reply to humptydumpty:

Some of the Voodoo mountain bikes at Halfords are very good for the money, and the Calibre ones at Go Outdoors also look decent. Just do a bit of research before you buy, and talk to staff in the shops, to see if they know what they're doing. Some are really good bike mechanics, but others couldn't set up a game of snap.