Which bike to get? VIPER vs Focus

complience said:

My trusty 15year old[font=Arial] Diamondback Sorrento has seen better days and so needs to be replaced.

I have between £200 - £400 to spend and narrowed down my choices to these two fine looking bikes.

One is a Viper which is a make ive never heard of;
[img]chainreactioncycles.com14918.jpgOpen ↗[/img]
[/font]Viper TR 1.0 Hardtail Bike 2007 £269
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and the other is a Focus which i have heard of

[/font]Focus Black Hills Mountain Bike 2007 £399


Can anyone tell me if these are good choices?
Does anyone have experience of either Black hills or Viper as a bike manufacture?

Obviously one bike is quiet alot more expensive than the other, is it worth it?

Im after a mountain bike that I can also use in the city, ill change the wheels around for slicks, thats why its a hard tail, does anyone know if you can get front suspension forks that you can completely turn off when you don't need them?


Specs:
Viper TR 1.0 Hardtail Bike 2007 £269
Frame : 7005 series alloy. Hourglass chainstays, wishbone seatstays and custom CNC dropouts. Disc and V-Brake mounts.
Fork : Suntour XCT 75mm Travel
Hubs : Front : XTX Alloy QR, 32H
Rims : DBM-1 Alloy, Silver 36H
Spokes/Nipples : Stainless Silver, Brass Nipples 14g
Tyres : Continental Leader 2.10
Pedal : Wellgo
Saddle : XTX
Seatpost : XTX
Handlebar : XTX XC Alloy
Stem : XTX
Grips : XTX
Brakes : Tektro V-Brake
Cranks : Shimano TX70 44/ 32/ 22T
Bottom Bracket : CH-52 Cartridge Bearing
Chain : KMC Z-72
Cassette : Shimano CS-HG30-8, 11-32T,
Front Derallieur : Shimano TY10
Rear Derailleur : Shimano M340
Shifters : Shimano ST-EF50-8

Focus Black Hills Mountain Bike 2007 £399
Specification
Frame 26" wheel, MTB Alloy 6061, Zero Stack
Fork Rock Shox Judy J3, Magnesium, Lockout preload, 100mm
Rear Derailleur Shimano Deore LX RD-M580, 27 Speed
Front Derailleur Shimano Deore FD-M510
Shift Levers Shimano Deore SL-M511, Rapidfire
Sprockets Shiano Deore CSHG50, 9 Speed Cassette
Chain Shimano CN-HG53
Transmission Front: 44/32/22, Rear: 11-32
Crankset Shimano Deore FC-M440
Bottom Bracket Shimano BB-UN26
Pedals MTB, Alloy-Cage, Silver
Brakes Avid Single Digit 3, V-Brake, Black
Brake Levers Avid FR5, V-Brake, Grey/Black
Handlebars Ritchey OE Flatbar, AL 6061, 580mm, black
Stem Ritchey OE 6#, 4-bolt, AL6061/T6, black
Headset Integrated Aheadset, black
Front Hub Shimano HB-M530 QR, Black
Rear Hub Shimano FH-M530 QR, Black
Spokes Stainless, Black
Tyres Continental Leader, 54-599, Black
Saddle Selle Italia X2 Eco, Black
12.6kg (medium)

In a word yes. The more you can spend the better. The general concensus is that to get a bike that is worth taking off road you should be looking at getting something worth £500 minimum. The focus is pretty clsoe to that and for what you get is a pretty good deal. Comrpomises will have been amde on the fork (it is pretty cack) to get get the price down and you will probably want to upgrade it in the future. Same with the wheels. But it should be enough to get you started without having to break the bank.

Out of those two the Focus wins hands down. Better components all round.

The Viper, to me, looks like a total waste of money.

Focus, because it has components I have actually heard of.

my focus came today.. and its awesome.. just awesome.