Decent cheap mountain bike?

[Mark Bolam]

I am after a hardtail mountain bike for as cheap as I can get away with.

 

Want hydraulic discs, EZ-fire shifters, 20" frame, and the rest doesn't bother me.

 

I can get a brand new Kona Fire Mountain which ticks all the boxes for £400, and a boxed Raleigh Freeride AT40 for £270 (needs assembley).

 

It's only for hacking through trails in the woods, and I'm a crap rider, so I can't justify spending more.

 

Any thoughts on these or other similar bikes would be appreciated, or does anyone have anything for sale locally in this spec? I'm in Ashford Kent.

 

Thanks.

[Gareth Smith]

Hi mate, love my bikes and been riding for a long time. In my opinion the konas aren't made like they use to be which is a shame as they were bloody good bikes. I personally rate cube bikes and gt still manufacture their bikes really well. I would say pick a bike you like and shop around as the prices do vary. Try the likes of cycles uk , winstanleys bikes and Evans cycles. Best of luck

[Leyburn Lad]

Hi mate, love my bikes and been riding for a long time. In my opinion the konas aren't made like they use to be which is a shame as they were bloody good bikes. I personally rate cube bikes and gt still manufacture their bikes really well. I would say pick a bike you like and shop around as the prices do vary. Try the likes of cycles uk , winstanleys bikes and Evans cycles. Best of luck

 

try merlin in leyland preston lancs, you will get a good malt 1 for that money, best bike ive had:thumbup1:

[redmoosefaction]

dare I say 2nd hand ebay but you must see the bike before you part with cash.. you could pick up something quite decent then. Prices have gone up dramatically over the past couple of years so there are no real bargains (new) anymore. Oh and buy in January if you can.

[Ty Unnos]

Have you looked at Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative?

 

I have a cheap bike from their 'revolution' range which has proved to be superb value for money.

 

What about this one:

 

Revolution Cuillin Pro '11 (was £449.99 Then £382.49) (£369.99)

[Breton monkey]

have a look round all the big bike shops, try chainreactioncycles.com or leisure lakes bikes. over the next couple of months, all the bike companies will start to bring out the 2012 models, so all the 2011 bikes will start to get really interesting prices.

i got a Orange bikes, crush for a really good deal, its a really good hardtail, great spec and i'd recommend it if you can strech your budget a little bit.

i'd also recommend looking for having sram shifters. the X7 or X9 are really good. and if you can fox forks are so smooth.

 

heres my ride Orange crush 08 - rate my mountain bike - moredirt.co.uk

[WoodED]

might be tempted to sell my kona cindercone in a few weeks,, i dont relly ride it,, its mint, £400

[Rupe]

20 inch frame!! Do they make such a thing!

 

I have met you and I know you dont need a 20inch frame! My Giant that I put pics up of before is a 15inch and it was a toss between that and 17 and I'm glad I went smaller. You can put the seat right up to get the height but dont do it by getting a big frame.

 

my Old saracen that I have just restored is a 21inch and its way too big for any serious off road, even though we all have big bike years ago it was a mistake then that should not be repeated now. Get the smallest you possible can and put the seat up high!

[Simon R]

Voodoo do some cracking bikes, but unfortunatley they are only available from halfords.(buy online coz the shop staff are a bunch of idiots)

 

I ride the original Bantu that got 10/10 and won the mtb awards.:001_smile:

closest model to this spec is now the bokor,new bantu has been stripped and aint a patch on the old

[Mark Bolam]

You're spot on with the frame size Rupe, managed to bamboozle myself with Google overload on bike sizing!

 

Should have a Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc, used for a week, for £250 this weekend if all goes to plan.

 

Thanks for your input fellas.