Newbie - Advice Wanted Please!

Hello,

Decided to buy a mountain bike - but I have absolutely no idea what to get I want one mainly to get
some exercise - ride around town and some off-roading!

I'm 5' 5" if that helps in any way!

What's good? What should I look out for? What should I completely avoid?

My budget is around £200.

Cheers

Lee

 

"Kidda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> Decided to buy a mountain bike - but I have absolutely no idea what to get I want one mainly to
> get some exercise - ride around town and some off-roading!
>
> I'm 5' 5" if that helps in any way!
>
> What's good? What should I look out for? What should I completely avoid?
>
> My budget is around £200.
>
> Cheers
>
> Lee
>
> my first mountain bike after a while of not being active was the claude
butler rock it retails at about £275-300 but its built in britain and can be modified as and when
needed/more finances become available. i just got my new bike from ruining the rock i had and its
the claude butler olympus lot of money but a bloody good bike

hope this helps

John jp(dot)curley(at)ntlworld(dot)com

 

i'll probably get some aggro for this but anyways

first £200 is not really enough for a true off-road bike but we'll address that later - for now keep
saving every penny u have - £300 would give you many many more options

1st make sure you dont get a bike too big for you - local bike shop should be able to size you up

2nd get a fully rigid bike - any bikes with suspension at this price point are crap and you'dd be
better off getting a good rigid bike than a crap one with suspension

3rd cosyour limited budget i would recommend you try and get your bike mailorder at a large
discount. last years models always go cheaper. this is where local shops come in letting you size
yourself up then order it online or mail order - like i said a kinda shady way to do it but if you
only have £200 you need all the help possible to get a decent bike

4th - get a helmet !!!

Steven

"Kidda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> Decided to buy a mountain bike - but I have absolutely no idea what to get I want one mainly to
> get some exercise - ride around town and some off-roading!
>
> I'm 5' 5" if that helps in any way!
>
> What's good? What should I look out for? What should I completely avoid?
>
> My budget is around £200.
>
> Cheers
>
> Lee

 

> i'll probably get some aggro for this but anyways

Fire away, sir!

> first £200 is not really enough for a true off-road bike but we'll address that later - for now
> keep saving every penny u have - £300 would give you many many more options

I see - so the price break on something half decent is around £300? I only said £200 as I thought
that would be a nice all-round figure - and not a total loss of dosh if I don't get on with it!

> 1st make sure you dont get a bike too big for you - local bike shop should be able to size you up

Only shop round here is Halfords - Would you trust those monkeys? No ....thought not!

I thought most bike were of similar size....?

> 2nd get a fully rigid bike - any bikes with suspension at this price point are crap and you'dd be
> better off getting a good rigid bike than a crap
one
> with suspension

OK....but how do you know what the difference is between good and bad...all the suspension does is
take shock of impact.....or am I missing the point here?

> 3rd cosyour limited budget i would recommend you try and get your bike mailorder at a large
> discount. last years models always go cheaper. this
is
> where local shops come in letting you size yourself up then order it
online
> or mail order - like i said a kinda shady way to do it but if you only
have
> £200 you need all the help possible to get a decent bike

Hey - no worries - I do that all the time! What's the point in buying a £400 TV from Currys when you
can buy online for £250? OK - You wait a few days - so what!

> 4th - get a helmet !!!

Goes without saying.....any other protective clothing required?

Cheers 4 your advice!

Lee

 

"Kidda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> Decided to buy a mountain bike - but I have absolutely no idea what to get I want one mainly to
> get some exercise - ride around town and some off-roading!
>
> My budget is around £200.
>

First, pick up one (or more) of the mountain bike mags. "What Mountain Bike" is my preferred one,
but there are several others. It has a monthy list of everything available, reviews etc.

For £200 you would probably do better buying 2nd hand than new. Plenty of people buy bikes, use them
twice, decide it is not for them and sell them. Try to find one of these. A well-used second
mountain bike probably being sold because bits are starting to wear out - avoid.

For riding around town, gravel tracks etc. you could just about get away with £200, but you will
probably find the gears don't change that well. For something that will be enjoyable to ride on
rougher ground, and hold together on it for more than a couple of months, you really need to spend
substantially more.

You also need,: helmet, gloves (save your hands if you fall off), puncture repair kit and some basic
get-you-home tools, pump. Probably around £70-80 total on top of the bike. If you buy 2nd hand they
might throw some of these
in.

 

by all means go to halfords and have a good look round - it will be worth your while.

however don't let them pressurise you into buying anything.

to get the right size frame make sure you have AT LEAST 3 inches of space between your crotch and
the top tube when you stand over the bike - offroad can mean you need to jump off the saddle and put
feet down - too big a bike - busted balls

second £300 is the price point where components start to become serviceable - that swhy i suggested
it. Most parts at this price point are branded too.

However any suspension fork on a bike under £500 is hardly worth it because you can add a much
better fork later on - the ones on sub £500 bikes are absolute CRAP. If you want to know a decent
fork - buy a mountain bike magazine and have a look in the adverts - these are the forks which will
have spares available and trust me you will need them.

apart from that the choice is really up to you - but a decent small bike shop is still worthwhile
going to - if only to pick their brains about the best bike for your budget.

"Kidda" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > i'll probably get some aggro for this but anyways
>
> Fire away, sir!
>
>
> > first £200 is not really enough for a true off-road bike but we'll
address
> > that later - for now keep saving every penny u have - £300 would give
you
> > many many more options
>
> I see - so the price break on something half decent is around £300? I only said £200 as I thought
> that would be a nice all-round figure - and not a total loss of dosh if I don't get on with it!
>
>
> > 1st make sure you dont get a bike too big for you - local bike shop
should
> > be able to size you up
>
> Only shop round here is Halfords - Would you trust those monkeys? No ....thought not!
>
> I thought most bike were of similar size....?
>
>
> > 2nd get a fully rigid bike - any bikes with suspension at this price
point
> > are crap and you'dd be better off getting a good rigid bike than a crap
> one
> > with suspension
>
> OK....but how do you know what the difference is between good and
bad...all
> the suspension does is take shock of impact.....or am I missing the point here?
>
>
> > 3rd cosyour limited budget i would recommend you try and get your bike mailorder at a large
> > discount. last years models always go cheaper. this
> is
> > where local shops come in letting you size yourself up then order it
> online
> > or mail order - like i said a kinda shady way to do it but if you only
> have
> > £200 you need all the help possible to get a decent bike
>
> Hey - no worries - I do that all the time! What's the point in buying a £400 TV from Currys when
> you can buy online for £250? OK - You wait a few days - so what!
>
> > 4th - get a helmet !!!
>
> Goes without saying.....any other protective clothing required?
>
> Cheers 4 your advice!
>
> Lee

 

"Steven Templeton"
>
>
> to get the right size frame make sure you have AT LEAST 3 inches of space between your crotch and
> the top tube when you stand over the bike -
offroad
> can mean you need to jump off the saddle and put feet down - too big a bike - busted balls

That's the kind of "insider-knowledge" I was looking for!

Thanks to all for your advice - I'll go and buy a mag this week and see what's on offer....

Cheers all!

Lee