MTB - what to go for?

John Small · MTB - what to go for?

MTB - what to go for?

I’ve been looking at getting a new MTB for a while now. It started out as a 'do for now' idea so that I could ride the easy trails with the wife and child on holiday. Since my best mate got interested a few months back it has turned into a quest to replace my last, sadly broken, MTB (Specialized Stumpjumper M2) so the budget has started to grow rapidly! It's only really going to do trails but it would be handy if it could cope with a bit of XC-style racing if necessary Wink

Certain aspects I'm solid on:

Hardtail (i.e. no rear suspension): Too old to do anything too mental

Steel frame: Not overly keen on aluminium's ride.

As British as possible: I realise most (if not all) MTB frames are made in Taiwan but I'd like one that was at least designed in Britain.

Taking that into consideration I have been looking at Orange (my mate went for the P7S - very nice), Dialled, Cotic, On-One and Pastey. My current favoured option of these is the Cotic Soul which is only available as a frame (not a complete bike). This could lead to other potential problems such as how long it would take me to build the thing and whether I could do a decent enough job not to be worried about it falling to bits at the sight of a gnarly bit of singletrack.

Would be interested to hear any opinions?

Cheers,

John.

mick smith

Horses for course old chap. Here at Chateau Saxon House the mount of choice is made by our Californian friends at Marin.

You don't have to be "mental" to opt for full suspension. A big day out in the countryside is soooooooooooooooo much more enjoyable with a bit of springing under the nether regions.

Decide what make/model/type of mountainbike you are after, then source your local PROPER bike shop (i.e. NOT Toys'R'Us) and ask them when their annual sales are. I just found a lovely new Marin Rift Zone marked down from £1,599 to £1,099. I was cheeky and asked them to "call it a grand" and they did!

But you don't need to jump in that deep. Between £350 - £500 will get you something nice.

Avoid like the plague those "catalogue returns/ two for eighty quid" Saturday newspaper bargains. A shopping trolley would give you a better ride.

John Small

Wise words Mick.

Sounds like you got a bargin with your Marin Smile

though sadly I've never been one to haggle so I expect that I'd be lucky to get it lower than the asking price.

Never been keen on the 'just a little stronger than a shopping trolley' catalogue bikes either Wink

. No doubt I'll get something good though being very picky it may not be from a LBS (Local Bike Shop) as they don't seem to have my particular taste in bikes round here.

Cheers,

John.

mick smith

Its worth spending a Saturday taking a trip to whichever town has a big bike shop which stocks your bike of choice which you will have decided upon after a bit of surfing via Google.

I've always been crap at haggling too, other than in my day job. But I couldn't justify the new bike and didnt have the money, so asking for yet more discount was my way of escaping with self esteem intact and a "I tried my best" feeling. Sadly, they agreed! But WHAT A BIKE!

John Small

Update

Decided on a 'Cotic Soul' in the end, so I'm now the proud owner of a forkless frameset!

Sadly going to have to 'fork out' for a set of forks not to mention nearly every other component necessary to build a bike Wink

.

It is unlikely to see the trail for a good 6 months (given my current component snobbery and financial situation).

Cheers,

John.

mandissected

Personally I can't recommend building up a bike enough. As well as getting it the way you want and an enormous sense of achievement it also gives you so much more confidence about fixing faults and helps you to maintain the bike to a better standard.

So have you got yourself any goodies to put on that shiny new frame of yours?

MTB - what to go for?

There may not be nine million bicycles in Beijing but there’s at least that many in the cycle sheds in the summer.