Decathlon mountain bikes

mr_c

any opinions on the bikes in Decathlon for a starter bike, they seem quite cheap. Two that caught my attention are a Rockrider hardtail with rockshox 120mm fork for €690 and a full suspension ST 530 S for €495.
Now I know these may not be top of the range bikes but I think they should be OK starter bikes, what do you guys think?
My aim would be to do some trails at kinnity to start out

Wanderer78

A full sus for 500, run away! Take a gander at your local shops, they might be able to supply you with something in your price range

mint man

mr_c wrote: »

any opinions on the bikes in Decathlon for a starter bike, they seem quite cheap. Two that caught my attention are a Rockrider hardtail with rockshox 120mm fork for €690 and a full suspension ST 530 S for €495.
Now I know these may not be top of the range bikes but I think they should be OK starter bikes, what do you guys think?
My aim would be to do some trails at kinnity to start out

I seen the hardtail there a few weeks back looks perfect for starting out .its basic enough but has the right geometry etc. ,go for it imo

mr_c

Wanderer78 wrote: »

A full sus for 500, run away! Take a gander at your local shops, they might be able to supply you with something in your price range

Yea the full suspension model seems to just look the part but most likely not built to last, the hardtail however seems to be well set up for the price

Every time I go into the local shops they have nothing in stock and expecting a shipment in a few weeks, thats what they have been saying to me since June

Lemming

mr_c wrote: »

Every time I go into the local shops they have nothing in stock and expecting a shipment in a few weeks, thats what they have been saying to me since June

"Bikes are the new toilet paper".

Unfortunately that's the impact that Covid has had. It's not just shops, but distributors, deliveries, factories, etc. being affected as well so even though your local shop is able to stay open, that's no good if the Shimano factory is working on 50% reduced staffing, and their deliveries of whatever materials they use are working on reduced staffing/capacity, etc. too. Every reduction somewhere in the chain between your bike shop and the manufacturer has a cumulative effect, compounded by the massively increased consumer demand for all things cycling this last year.

Best you can do is be persistent and keep checking back with shops whenever they say they're expecting deliveries. It sucks, but that's reality until this pandemic gets kicked to touch.

Wanderer78

mr_c wrote:

Every time I go into the local shops they have nothing in stock and expecting a shipment in a few weeks, thats what they have been saying to me since June

As others have said, supply chains are a mess at the moment, nothing to do with the local shops, but I guess if you're keen to go, maybe decatalon is for you

midonogh

I've had a Rockrider hardtail for a few years. Picked it up from a friend for €150. It was grand. Parts were decent, but it was very heavy. I used it in Ticknock, BPI, Castlewellan. I was not into mountain biking enough to justify spending more. Good value for the price but not a bike that you are going to love. My son is now into mtb and so I have just upgraded to a stumpjumper full suspension. Friend is taking the Rockrider in exchange for a few bottles of wine.

P2C

I got the rockrider xc 500 29in. It retails about €1200 but picked it up for £999 Sterling. I looked at lots of bikes from Cayon and all the big brands. The fork, weight and spec of this bike was ahead of all the other bikes on the market in that price bracket . I was able to add a dropper post and still come under the price of the cheapest rival. Great piece of kit.