UKC

I'm looking at buying a new mountain bike, last time I bought one was a Rockhopper in 1998 and I'm sure that things have moved on a fair bit since then! 

Any advice, tips, recommendations would be much appreciated. 

I'm unlikely to be doing any super hard-core downhill, mostly fairly average trails.  I'm thinking hardtail rather than full suss, not looking for a gravel bike.

Not sure on budget, I'll be going through cycle to work scheme - what do I need to spend to get something reasonably good? £1k?  £3k?

What features and brands should I be looking at? 

Thanks!

Specialised, Trek, Orbea the list is quite long.  Specialised tend to be a bit pricey for what you get. I bought an Orbea Wild FS EMTB last year for £39950 from Bikester in Germany.  It was £5400 in Leisure Lakes which was still over a £1000 cheaper than a similarly speced Specialised.

Where are you based?

if its south yorks area  look on fadcebook for the group called Coggers.

ask teh same question in there.

I got a Cube Reaction carbon hard tail in 2019 for £1700 (I guess £2000 these days for similar model) - I do quite like that and do more or less the rides you are talking about and have done some bike packing too. (I do have a full suss bike or steeper rougher stuff).
The Cube is nice and light. Handy for lifting over the odd gate.

A 1 x 12 drivetrain seems the norm now on a decent mountain bike - doing away with the front mech. The Cube has SRAM Eagle GX gears (10-50 teeth cassette) and has almost the full gear range as an older 3 x 10 gear bike i used to have. Shimano do similar gears too.

100mm front suspension travel would be ok. Hydraulic disk brakes. 

Been pretty happy with that - a friend was impressed with it too and bought the same - though a couple of years later.

Most makes will likely do a similar bike.

Hope that helps. Plus loads of other stuff about mountain bikes on here too.

Why didn't you buy it from Leisure Lakes and save yourself £34550?

think he meant 3950 maybe one day i'd pay that for an e-bike, but i reckon my nearly new gt avalanche expert 1x12 bought for 530 will serve me well-  don't mind the few extra kg for that price.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/gt-avalanche-expert-hardtail-bike-2022/...

Based in Hayfield - speaking to some guys round here they seem to suggest going for a full suss due to the trails and roughness etc

You need to give more details.

What age are you?

Is your back solid  or a bit dodgy?

Which trails do you want to do?

From Hayfield there are loads of wonderful MTB trails, which ones have you done or want to do?

Have you been to Shooting Cabins? Which way did you go, did you like it?

Whaddaya thing to the Bridleway up to Jacobs Ladder summit? Would you want to go over the other side to edale?

Or is the old railway line path west from Hayfield centre more your type of thing?

Which of the pictures on here appeal?

https://gbmtb.com/en/peak-district-guided-mtb-rides/

Do you want to do long mellow rides, or long techie rides, or short gnarly stuff?

Assuming you've been mountaineering, did you see mtbs out on helvelyn or anywhere? Did you think yes, or hell no?

Personally speaking I have no use for a hardtail mtb. In fact I just dropped off two of them at Chorlton bike charity hub this afternoon. My 50 year old back doesn't like hardtails and I'm fed up of bending seat posts.

And I can pedal up and down much more on a full suss.  They're great skills compensators

Having said which, you get far further up the quality curve for a hardtail than for a full suss for £1-£2k.

I'd not buy a full suss below about £2.5k these days, and spend twice that if it's for the wife or me. But we do a lot of cycling ( 40,000m of descent in August )

In short, I totally agree that a full suss is the way forward to get the best from Hayfield area

Given you're not sure you what exactly you want, try out a few of your mates' bikes first? 

If you're just going to stick to blue and red trails, a hardtail is fine - but you may find it more difficult to keep up with people on full-sus bikes over gnarlier terrain. FS are more comfy of course as well; downsides are expense and complexity. 

I ride with my partner - I introduced her to MTB buying her a HT with a big fork, wide bars, dropper post, modern flat pedals and good tyres when she wanted to join me mountain biking. At the time I'd just bought a Banshee Rune FS bike (was a last-year model, circa £2800) with a coil shock, 160/160. It flew and flattered my riding hugely. Technical ups and downs were suddenly rideable, and it absolutely cruised on easy ground. The speed was a bit scary at times - easy to see how MTB has become a more dangerous sport (esp. with advent of e-bikes). But she likes to ride behind me, to see my lines and avoid my advice (fair enough!). I was dropping her all the time and it wasn't down to fitness or just lack of consideration - there's simply a speed differential due to the capability of the bikes. OK I'm a bit more skilled than she but not by much, she's a natural.

After riding her bike a few times, I sold the Rune and bought one like hers second hand. I enjoy riding it more than the Rune even though I'm slower and less able on the gnarly stuff. I don't worry about breaking it, and we're now pretty level pegging on pace. We ride the crap out of them (within our limited abilities) and have a lot of fun. But - we don't ride black trails, and both of us are happy being out of the saddle for the vast majority of a ride. All in all, FS is a better solution but it's very much down to what suits you.

I was very much in this camp. Till this week. The rear shock failed last week (no damping) and guess what? It was a non-standard 'special' made just for this bike and you can't get a replacement and no one (I tried) wants to fix it. New frame? Or I'll just try an 'best nearest fit' shock and hope it doesn't bu**er up the suspension performance too much? Grrr! 

Yeah this is one of the major downsides. A surprisingly high number of manufacturers use unique or hard-to-source parts in their FS systems. This fact put me off one make despite their bikes riding incredibly well - I never wanted to be massively out of action / pocket for want of a replacement part.

Good luck getting it sorted - you might do well to have a chat with TFTuned, they were mega-helpful with finding me a spring for an old Fox fork, they sold it me for well under cost, not much more than postage. 

All your stuff about the types of riding around Hayfield is spot on, but on bike choice I'd say it's all relative. I've ridden Jacobs ladder a few time on my old no-suspension MTB (plus tyres but that's it) and thought it was about the most fun you can have with your clothes on! But then I've ridden the Pennine Bridleway around Mount Famine and down to Hayfield on a CX bike (with 32 mm tubed tyres) with bikepacking kit on it! 

But this summer I finally caved in and bought a Sonder Transmitter, 150 mm front suspension and very slack - it is a lot of fun and I don't regret not going full sus (my back is now 49!).

For the OP, it might be worth if over in Hathersage to pop into the Alpkit shop to see the Sonder range - they're not as cheap as they used to be but still good value.

Oops, my first post on UKC and I cock it up. Lets hope I do better next time.  It's good to see people pay attention though

Totally agree with what you both say.

And to balance my earlier post  the best fun I had for years at Llandegla was when I swapped my carbon Ibis fully with my mate's old Stumpie Hardrock for a lap. It was so much more fun and engaging....

But that was llandegla. There's no way I'd have wasted to repeat the experience on a 50km peak district loop.

Age 38, back is in good nick.

I know all of those trails like the back of my hand... running.  I'm currently a road cyclist only - keen to get into a bit of off road so this is my first foray.  Up and around the shooting huts I'd like to think would be ok, as would around Lantern Pike and Chinley Churn.  Descending Jacobs Ladder into Edale looks terrifying! 

Not too concerned about budget - I'd rather pay a bit more now to future proof.

Does that help?!

Also - long and mellow with increasing amounts of tech as I get used to it.

Have seen bikes on Helvellyn - that would be cool 

A mountain bike is a strange choice to for cycling to work.

You ain't seen nothing yet. I recall the Halford dude telling me he'd sold pairs of kids bikes with stabilisers on C2W.

Utterly stupid scheme, but we don't make the rules.

OP. I reckon a fullsuss 29er with between 120 and 140mm of travel. 

Why?

and while you are there arrange a visit to Cotic in Calver. I’m very pleased with my Cotic Flare Max

This made me grin. As a 17-yr old I used to ride about 8-9mi into work daily. This was in mid-Wales. There was a section on the way down to the village where I worked that was about 3k, all off-road. You'd enter via a gate straight into a track consisting of boulders - babies heads to small TV-size, I'd always try to do it without dabbing / falling off and never managed it in months. This was followed by a delicious DH section first on technical doubletrack then smoothish fire road with a few bumps to get some air... It was a great commute. 

Thanks - I've been doing homework all evening and I think I agree with a 29er FS.  I'll head to Alpkit Hathersage and also Trek Wilmslow tomorrow to have a look at a few things.  Any other decent shops open on a Sunday I should look at?

18 bikes in Hope.

open tomorrow.

Alpikt hathersage has sonder which seem decent. Good sale on at the moment aswell.

Ends I think in the next few days so not ideal for cycle to work. They do have nice bikes though.

For OP to reiterate what others have said 1k will buy a decent hardtail and 2k into very nice. Beyond that it will be electronic gears (not necessarily a bad thing but...) or getting into stupidly hardcore downhill or ultralight xc race machine.

For full sus unlike in 1998 the limitations on climbing etc have disappeared to the point of them beating hardtails. Only advantage of the latter is maintenance especially over the winter months (my fs is about to hibernate). Took me until a couple of years ago to switch and now the hardtail only comes out in winter or very occasional summer play sessions.

So it's either a Fuel EX or a Remedy. Fuel EX is a great XC bike ( by which I *don't* mean xc race, I mean you pedal it along, up, and down). I think they categorise it as Trail. Perfect for long rides in the Peak.

( I test rode one and regretted not buying it initially instead of my Occam [ till I took the Occam to the Lakes and realised what it was really for])

Remedy is burlier, heavier and longer travel. Think it * might* be classed as an enduro bike, but don't quote me on it. IMHO designed more to endure the uphill and enjoy the downhills. Given your roadie proclivities and desire to do long rides then less suitable for you in the Peak IMHO. If however you are fit as feck but technically useless then it may be just the thing to nurse you down Peak trails ( but I don't reckon it's a great plan)

Remedy would be the dogs bollocks on Helvellyn for example.

You can hire Remedy and a rather lovely Trek EX at bike garage in hope/ Bamford if you want to try one.

Have fun

I'll leave Cotic for others not employed in the lower reaches of the public sector. 😉 They do look lovely bikes though...

You seem to have already decided on full suss, but just to say that i agree that for riding around Hayfield full suss is much more fun, both climbing and descending. You could go anywhere from 120mm to 160mm of rear travel depending on how downhill focused you want it to be and that encompasses a huge number of very capable bikes

Thanks everyone  - off to check out some shops today!

Cyclespace down the road in Disley are a distributor for Cube and Merida, staff are happy to chat options.

Also pop over the High Peak Cycles in Glossop (just off High Street East), I very very nearly bought a road bike from there but stock availability at the time was the only killer. He does Cannondale and Nukeproof from memory.

If you decide FS, then ditch btw and buy 2nd hand.

These guys in Sheffield are getting a reputation for rebuilding and selling on good quality bikes.

https://www.facebook.com/sussedbicycles

But why?

Unless my googlefu is failing me that nukeproof mega carbon 275 they are advertising at £3750 retails for £4,400

On C2W he would be paying either £2500 or £2900 for a brand new one. Why would he want to pay another grand for a second hand one?

( I'm guessing they are slightly different spec, but still don't see the benefit in the second hand one)

Depends on his ctw limit.

And yes, it will all be about the spec wrt to new model versus 2nd hand model. As you know the cost difference bottom to top of a range is at least 2x.

Having watched those guys for a while. He will get something thing worthwhile sub 2k for a fs.

... as the op did say his budget was £1-2k not £4k.

Other option is Pinkbike, but that will be riskier if the op doesn't know mtbs that well.

Went to a few shops today and all staff were great - really useful to see the bikes in the flesh.  I never knew dropper saddles were a thing, never heard of them, but they look great and i can see the clear advantages.

Current front runner is a Trek Top Fuel 8, c£3800, C2W makes it c£2200.  Just need to check that HR are happy with that budget.

Budget is flex, just keen on good value and future proofing.

Definitely get a dropper, drop it and it amusingly feels like you're riding your childhood BMX. They make a huge difference to what you'll be willing to ride down and make jumping off when you over estimate your skill much easier too! 

Going up to ~£4k limit with c2w opens up a whole different world of bike choice!

If they will only give you a £1-2k, then FS options at that RRP via c2w are going to be 'somewhat' limited.

Trek would be a fine choice, but definitely also look hard at the Remedy options as well as the Top Fuel. ... Things can get pretty chunky in the Peak ...

My Cotic didn't seem overly expensive compared to other brands, the basic “bronze” build has better components than the “higher spec” options for other brands

was going to ask for budget recommendations but saw a used rockshox reverb stealth 125mm drop (maybe not enough for tall person?) for cheap price (£65) so had to buy (along with bleed kit). reviews mention not that reliable esp in cold..

The older ones are not that reliable at any temperature!

Speak to TF tuned

They'll sort you out

What bike-year-model is it?

some inspiration for your new c2w bike:

youtube.com/watch?v=LkMBvntR1cM&

Perfect to test and tune the 120mm of travel on the Trek Top Fuel.

Giant Trance X4 2012. Yes, I know it's a museum-piece by some people's standards, but I like it! Apart from the frame, stem  and rear shock (sic) there's nothing original on it any more but it's still the same bike (!?). We've survived a lot of crashes together - I'd feel a heel to give up on it now.

I've still got my old 2003 Giant VT ! (spare/pub bike): still works

Try and find a Fox RP23 or Rock Shox Monarch: I think its a 184mm x 44mm / 7.25" x 1.75 unit?

I think you may be able to run a 7.25" x 2.0" shock as well

You'll might need an LBS to get the right bushing setup .

or buy a cheap Trance frame with shock.  Search Ebay for these items:

"Giant trance1 frame inc. race face evolve xc crank And Fox Shock 4.2'

"GIANT TRANCE X4 2011 IN VERY GOOD CONDITION"

Yes, I've sourced a 184mm Monarch which is about 5mm longer than the Giant shock that died. Hoping I can 'tune' round that difference.

I think I can reuse the old Giant bits

Thought about that, but decided any such frame/shock is likely as old as mine and liable to fail soon again.

I'm just waiting for a bushing tool now... Fingers crossed!

?
They're pretty good value. I have two (a Solaris Max and an Escapade) which I built up myself and in both cases I think I've a lot of bike for the money.

OP: Alpkit's in house brand Sonder do some good looking bikes at competitive prices.

Sounds like you'll keep the Trance going for a while yet

Top Fuel 8 ordered - it's in stock so hoping I'll be able to pick it up at the weekend! 

Nice one.

Agree with you. I have a 2020 Remedy at it is an awesome bike. I ride it at bike parks and for proper trail riding in the mountains. I've done plenty of 40 to 50km day epics on it and it. The Fuel is also an awesome bike, a great all round trail bike. When I replace mine though I'll go for a Trek Slash as I'm hankering after a 29er. Incidentally, I got my bike under the cycle to work and actually use it in my job a lot.

Great choice. Trek are superb bikes and the Fuel really is a Jack of all trades bike.

I got a Sonder Transmitter this summer - I'm not claiming it's a better bike than the Cotics or anything like that, I've never ridden a Cotic so don't know, but happily accept many people say they are superb and I think they look great. But the cheapest version of the BFe Max (pretty similar type of bike to the Transmitter) is a thousand quid more than I paid for my bike. And that version comes with a MicroSHIFT groupset (might be great - don't know, but sold as a budget option) while mine came with Deore, and it doesn't come with a dropper for that price, which mine did.

Cotic of course do make steel frames (my Sonder is aluminium), although their intro video says most are made in Taiwan now not in the UK, and Sonder also makes steel framed bikes for just about 100 quid more than their aluminium framed similar models.

I'm definitely not trying to say Sonder are the best and Cotic are rubbish or anything like that, but only when I was looking for a new bike Cotic were completely out of my price range.

Most Cotics have 853 main triangles, posh tubing and not cheap. I suppose I'm comparing them like for like, i.e: with Shand which are made in Scotland and are about twice the price.

Nothing wrong with Taiwanese frames BTW, other than the the environmental cost of shipping. Taiwan has a very highly developed cycle manufacturing industry and the only thing you really get extra from a homegrown frame builder is custom sizing/speccing and the cachet.

If you get a Slash, avoid their carbon wheels, they are softer than warm butter (based on two friends experience of multiple wheesets on their Slash bikes).

Yep - Taiwan is the centre of global bike industry now! Cotic did originally build all their frames in the UK didn't they? But I'm sure they have excellent partners for their frame building in Taiwan, as moving your manufacturing there I suppose loses some of that cachet (even if the Taiwanese frames are as good or better).

It's a bit like top end mountain clothing manufacturing - I remember interviewing the Jöttnar guys when they set up. They said that the idea of manufacturing in the UK was really nice and they knew lots of customers would really like it, but as they studied it, there just isn't the skills base here any more, and the best cutting, sewing, taping etc. facilities and skilled workers are now all in China, so that's where they had to go.

No sure about the early Cotic days, I think they built their own prototypes but production was always Taiwan. Shand build some of their frames, or bits of them, the full sussers.

Yes, was talking to a friend at the weekend who'd wanted Slioch on Skye to make some kit for their business so as to support local trade but it was too expensive.

I think its Five Land Bikes, rather than Shand, that make some of the Cotic frames now.

That really is quite impressive.

So how's the new ride working out?

I've got an old Trek Top Fuel 8 and it's still going well, bought second hand as well - they has just upgraded to the Fuel Ex - very nice!

Great on rides like the Borrowdale Bash in the lakes and I used to be able to get round the whole of Whinlatter in 1hr 30mins (both reds and blue) it's a great all rounder and climbs like a mountain goat. Only 100mm on the front but plenty enough.

Went on my first proper ride on Sunday, c35km loop from Hayfield heading around Lantern Pike, over to Marple Bridge, and back.  My mate was an excellent tour guide!  Got a bit scared on some of the more technical downs, got nackered on the ups, managed to ride it all, half a lager and a random cake thing halfway... loved it!  Very pleased with my bike choice, glad I can easily lock both front and rear suspension.  Dropper saddle was amazing!

That's so fab to hear. Great stuff.