£275

[Parijat]

Hey
Well I've just had my bike stolen and so I have got £275 (maybe £330) to spend on a new mountain bike, if you could please give me some reccomendations and list some websites.
I dont really know much about bikes but I used to have a Giant Boulder so I want something of that quality or higher.

I've got some questions:

. Could I build my own bike buy buying individual parts (would this be cheaper than buying a bike that already has everything coming with it?)

. Is there some sort of guide to help out noobs like me?

. Could you please give me some reccomendations and list some websites for mountains bikes

If you need anymore info please ask.

Thanks

Parijat

 

[Duckwah]

You could build your own bike but it would cost you a lot more than buying one thats complete.

For that price range i'd look at models by giant, merida, norco and see what kind of deal you can get. Around this time each year is when the bike stores clear their old stock so if you do some hunting you might pick up a bargain on a 2004 model.

 

[jaz]

Since your from the uk check out http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/acatalog/Sale_Bikes.html if you can stretch to £350 you could get a Merlin Malt 1 Limited Edition on sale, Merlin bikes are really well setup & specced for the money, you get a more custom style bike @ less than an off the shelf model.
That bike looks great for the money with proper handbuilt wheels, a full Deore groupset & a quality frame, also as Duckwah says look for a bargain on a previous years model, but that Merlin looks hard to beat on a budget.

Other trustworthy good UK cycle sites I have used include
http://www.bromleybike.co.uk/index.html
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/
http://www.supercycles.co.uk/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/default.asp
http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/

Heres a pic of the Merlin>