Help Choosing A Mountain Bike

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Chrishazle

Chrishazle

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
5,458
Location
Nr Ashford, Kent
Car
2008 S204 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 facelift SLK280 Auto.
I know there are a few bike fans on here, daughter has decided she wants to buy her hubby a bike as a surprise Xmas present, has a budget of £300 or perhaps a little more. SIL is 6ft2" (1m85) tall and about 14 stone (89Kg), bike must apparently be a "hardtail" to allow for a child seat to be mounted. She says she's looking for a large frame hardtail, so far is looking at these :
www.decathlon.co.uk/p/27-5-st-520-mtb-nlack/_/R-p-327418
www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-aggressor-expert-29-hardtail-bike-2021
Or a canondale trail or a bobcat.
Luckily dear daughter has a rather nice Marin I bought her years ago when we lived close to Marin's warehouse in Hastings and got an excellent discount as a result!

All help greatly appreciated!
 
I wouldn't take anything like that down a bumpy hill! Would last 2 minutes.

If he just wants if for taking the kid out for rides I'd be looking at hybrids.

But out of those the GT I would say, size wise a 29er is on the button.
 
Depends on what and where it's used for , 24 gears is alot and knobbly tyres not ideal for mostly road .
 
I like Scott, here’s an example:

Scott Aspect 970 29" Mountain Bike 2023 | Tredz Bikes

Scott Aspect 970 29" Mountain Bike 2023 - Hardtail MTB £449.00 or just £37.42 per month with 0% APR finance. All Mountain bikes are built by Cytech qualified mechanics, delivered free to the UK mainland & include 14 days free bike insurance. Price Match. Buy Now.
www.tredz.co.uk www.tredz.co.uk
 
I wouldn’t worry too much about tyres, they can be changed cheaply and easily enough. It’s good to have a choice for different surfaces.
 
Obviously chose according to use , but one of the best things I ever done to a bike .


20201207_191513.png
 
I was going to suggest Cube but slightly over the budget unless you can haggle
 
Sorry, guv. Before asking for a solution, explain the requirement.

What are you ACTUALLY hoping to do with this thing?

Town, bridleways, fields, up and down hills ?

On your own, with a kid in the back, or what?

Do you need to remove the front wheel (to put this thing into your car)

If you're intending to ride this things on roads or bridleways, a hybrid will be a better choice. Especially if there's a child out back.

If your riding across fields or up and down rutted paths on hills, (without a kid on the back) then an MTB is the answer.

How far, honestly, are you hoping to ride this thing? 60 ? 30 ? 15 ? 5 miles?
 
Not sure how much they are, but Boardman bikes are generally well regarded.
 
Boardman are Halfords bikes, cheap and cheerful.
Like Mike says, all depends on what its going to be used for.

£300 isn't really mountain bike money, its weekend pottering money.
 
Not how much they are, but Boardman bikes are generally well regarded.
Cabriomat said:
Boardman are Halfords bikes, cheap and cheerful.
Like Mike says, all depends on what its going to be used for.

£300 isn't really mountain bike money, its weekend pottering money.
Click to expand...
They get decent reviews, doesn't matter whose brand they might be.

Certainly, £300 isn't really MTB money though. I'm not sure I'd be bothering with any suspension at that price point.

OP could try the local cycle stores to see if they have any deals or trade-ins available.

Considering what my bikes cost, I'm not necessarily best placed to advise on this price point.
 
Chrishazle said:
I know there are a few bike fans on here, daughter has decided she wants to buy her hubby a bike as a surprise Xmas present, has a budget of £300 or perhaps a little more. SIL is 6ft2" (1m85) tall and about 14 stone (89Kg), bike must apparently be a "hardtail" to allow for a child seat to be mounted. She says she's looking for a large frame hardtail, so far is looking at these :
www.decathlon.co.uk/p/27-5-st-520-mtb-nlack/_/R-p-327418
www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-aggressor-expert-29-hardtail-bike-2021
Or a canondale trail or a bobcat.
Luckily dear daughter has a rather nice Marin I bought her years ago when we lived close to Marin's warehouse in Hastings and got an excellent discount as a result!

All help greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
I would say the GT. The biggest issue with any bike might be finding stock in the right size. You tend to find most off the peg bikes at a particular price point (especially from the mainstream brands) tend to be very similarly specced. So you don’t have to worry too much about buying a lemon if you stick to these brands. The GT in its favour has Tektro hydraulic brakes which are not bad for the price point. I would rather have a cheaper drivetrain than cheaper brakes - cheap brakes can be a pain to set up. The triple will give a good gear range and some important low gears, useful even on the road if your SIL is towing a child/not used to cycling. Tyres can be easily swapped out for some faster touring tyres if needs be.

I would avoid Cannondale, or “Crack ‘n fail” as they’re generally known. You’ll also be paying more for the brand name.

the other option is second hand, but then you need to know more what you’re looking for and you don’t get the nice new bike feeling!

Wiggle are pretty good, I buy quite a bit from them.
 
Chrishazle said:
I know there are a few bike fans on here, daughter has decided she wants to buy her hubby a bike as a surprise Xmas present, has a budget of £300 or perhaps a little more. SIL is 6ft2" (1m85) tall and about 14 stone (89Kg), bike must apparently be a "hardtail" to allow for a child seat to be mounted. She says she's looking for a large frame hardtail, so far is looking at these :
www.decathlon.co.uk/p/27-5-st-520-mtb-nlack/_/R-p-327418
www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-aggressor-expert-29-hardtail-bike-2021
Or a canondale trail or a bobcat.
Luckily dear daughter has a rather nice Marin I bought her years ago when we lived close to Marin's warehouse in Hastings and got an excellent discount as a result!

All help greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles are the same company and sell on ebay under their wholesale name Tri-Sport Resort. May make the £300 budget go a bit further if you can get an auction bargain.

Security measure

www.ebay.co.uk www.ebay.co.uk

Bikes currently listed for sale...

| eBay

www.ebay.co.uk
 
I'd avoid GTs under a grand like the plague. I had one 2 years ago which had a crack appear on the down tube, then it's replacement under warranty got a crack in the seat post.

2 GTs both frame cracked and no I'm not a fatty fatty boom boom.

Wiggle were awful to deal with regarding replacement out of warranty. Each time I was over 2 months without a bike (I cycle to and from work on it), then they lost the GT in their warehouse. I now have a Scott which has been flawless.

Here is the crack in the GT frame (the 2nd GT to crack):
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I knew I'd get useful help on here, many thanks all, I've emailed a link to this thread to my daughter in the hope she can access it rather than having to copy all your responses into an email to her!
 
ChipChop said:
Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles are the same company and sell on ebay under their wholesale name Tri-Sport Resort. May make the £300 budget go a bit further if you can get an auction bargain.

Security measure

www.ebay.co.uk www.ebay.co.uk

Bikes currently listed for sale...

| eBay

www.ebay.co.uk
Click to expand...
I remember going to Wiggles first small shop at the top of Portsmouth, early 2000’s must have been. I remember they were a Cannondale retailer, can’t remember what else. How they have grown! It was a shame when they took over CRC; between wiggle, CRC and Parker International there was always some good competition on prices.
 
ChrisHGTV said:
I remember going to Wiggles first small shop at the top of Portsmouth, early 2000’s must have been. I remember they were a Cannondale retailer, can’t remember what else. How they have grown! It was a shame when they took over CRC; between wiggle, CRC and Parker International there was always some good competition on prices.
Click to expand...
Completely agree Chris. Used to be able to get great deals from Wiggle and CRC a few years back, not so much now. Descriptions of products on their websites are often wrong as well which is annoying. Bought a set of Fox 36 forks a couple of years back from CRC. Advertised as 15mm bolt through axle but when they arrived they were 20mm axle. Had to get a conversion kit for my front hub but they did send me £40 in vouchers for the error.
 
Cabriomat said:
Boardman are Halfords bikes, cheap and cheerful.
Like Mike says, all depends on what its going to be used for.

£300 isn't really mountain bike money, its weekend pottering money.
Click to expand...
My cheap and cheerful Boardman bike was almost £4000.

Boardman is a cycle designer and manufacturer in its own right that is now owned by Halfords.
 
ChipChop said:
Completely agree Chris. Used to be able to get great deals from Wiggle and CRC a few years back, not so much now. Descriptions of products on their websites are often wrong as well which is annoying. Bought a set of Fox 36 forks a couple of years back from CRC. Advertised as 15mm bolt through axle but when they arrived they were 20mm axle. Had to get a conversion kit for my front hub but they did send me £40 in vouchers for the error.
Click to expand...
Wiggle aren’t doing deals anymore and they merged with Chain Reaction Cycles (CRC) a few years ago.
 
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