I need a new bike post haste

Fabritzo

Hello

Summer is just around the corner and I need a new MTB but I don't know feck all about them, I just try to get out about twice a week to keep in shape. I reeckon I could stretch to €800, maybe a grand on a new bike, I need something reliable that won't start making noises after a month's of abuse.
I had a quick look through the threads here and on evans site, the amount of bikes is overwelming, I'd appreciate a few some enlightened advice please.

Fabritzo.

uberwolf

well give us some examples of ones you're looking at

Enduro

Fabritzo,
This is a serious question... do you intend to use the bike for mountain biking, or just as a runaround/commuter bike. If you do intend to mountain bike with it I can give you recommendations on quality bikes which are good value for money, but it might be worth stretching your budget just a little more (to the equivalent of around £700 sterling).

Fabritzo

Do Raleigh have a high end brand? I dunno whether to get something with full suspension or just a front. As far as mountain biking is concerned, I don't
but I've been known to take on the odd hill, up and down...howth in the summer.

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=5390


Something like that perhaps, I've been looking through them for the past half hour and can find one that appeals to me, over a grand seems a bit excessive but if it's worth it in the long run.

Enduro

The components on that bike, and the fork in particular, look fairly crappy.

Raleigh are not a particularly good brand. Unless you're willing to spend at least 1200 euro at a minimum don't even consider a full suspension bike.

The most important thing to get right when your buying a mountain bike is the frame and the fork. Unfortunately most of the complete bikes you see at the lower end of the price scale usually get to be cheap by using cheap and nasty forks. Most other things are easily replaced. A "nice to have" would be decent disc brakes. At the very least its worth ensuring that the frame and the wheels are disK ready, so that it takes the minimum fuss and expense to upgrade to disks afterwards.

There are two websites I know of that sell bikes which they spec up from the frames (and you can specify exactly what you want for every last bit of the bike, if you know what to ask for). As a result they tend to Spec good frames with entry level good forks. Have a look at http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/acatalog/Sale_Bikes.html

The WMB TEST WINNING MALT 2 is excellently specced, and is as good as you'll get at that price range. The MERLIN MALT 4 OFFER BIKE is a better frame, but the fork isn't as good, and they only have one (small) size.

Also have a look at http://www.chainreactioncycles.com//Models.aspx?ModelID=3911 and http://www.chainreactioncycles.com//Models.aspx?ModelID=3912
These are also excellent frames with good forks, and a reasonable selection of components.

Now if you're not really going to go mountain biking (cycing on hills on roads definitely doesn't count) then this is all complete overkill. But the above bikes are perfect entry level quality mountain bikes that will last well, and give you years of mountain biking enjoyment.

Fabritzo

Thanx for the recommendation, the Malt 2 is a worthy contender, I'm about 5 foot 10 with a 32" leg, I guess I'd be looking at a 19" frame. Have you bought from Merlin before, what's the cost for delivery?

Enduro

I have identical dimesions to yourself. My own bike is 18". If you're going to be using it for mountainbiking then I would err on the smaller side, and plump for the 17" rather than the 19". The bigger bike would probably be more efficient for peddling, but the smaller one will give you a greater standover height, and be much more "throw aboutable", which is great for technical mountain biking. I've ridden both 17" and 19" frames, and would much rather have the 17" for mountainbiking.
Yes indeed, I've bought from Merlin, and have directed several friends in their direction. Everyone has been happy with them. Delivery is usually about 25stg, possibly less. They can take about 2 weeks to deliver to your door, depending on how busy they are. Send them a mail. The malt 2 is very well specced bike for the money. All the major components are good, including the forks, the disks, the wheels and the tyres, which is very rare on a bike of that price.
If you're going to be getting into MTBing, have a look at the rider talkback section in <www.mtbireland.com>. You'll find info about clubs and beginners spins arond there.