My sis and her fella joined that scheme and got state of the art bikes >>only me so far has used them bikes, down to my family ,not the bikes , my old Raleigh is imo ,the biz !
Hi...just gone through all the specs of the mountain bikes Halfords are currently retailing online. Of those, the best value is the Voodoo Bantu. (£349). Looking at the parts pick for each bike this has IMHO the most reliable componentry for your budget and likely use. All MTBs around this price skimp on Forks and wheels...the two most popular upgrades....you'll notice that most manufacturers have a generic frame across their range, for all but their top flight models, and hang progressively more expensive bits on them...try the others by all means, but having had a look, if you must opt for one bike from this current range, the Voodoo is the best bet....Shimano Acera running gear is very reliable and Shimano hydro brakes (even their entry level) are better in every way than Avid Juicy....trust me I fix and fettle thousands of bikes as part of my job Upgrade the forks in due course with secondhand Rockshox Reba SL (c.£150) and maybe a Mavic XM 317s wheelset and you'll have great set-up for the type of riding you're likely to do. Alternatively, ask Halfords if they will do you a discount for last year's Boardman Comp...pretty good spec for the money
That's great fell thanks, I did have a look at the board an comp 12/13, it's a bit more at £649 but also looked at the voodoo hoodoo so do you reckon the boardman would be better than the voodoo's then? Out of the three which would you choose?
Boardman bikes are good value. Never understand why one of our best ever female Cyclists put her name to pastel coloured nonesense with baskets - missed a trick there Pendleton. As said earlier - full suspension is a waste of money in that price bracket - if you are doing mostly fair weather cycling on tarmac and hard surfaces, then I'd recommend a Hybrid over a mountain bike as it sounds like you'll end up on skinny tyres anyway. I still think the best value is on ebay - I bought an aluminium Schwinn with carbon forks, mavic rims and mostly Shimano Sora/Tiagra groupset in mint condition for £180.
Before anyone comes out with the "Pay your road tax" remark...if you pay Income Tax, you're paying for the upkeep of the roads. Vehicle Excise Duty does not contribute to road maintenance funding in the UK...as for all the other anti-cyclist responses (tongue-in-cheek or otherwise) If you were to witness some of the questionable driving decisions and levels of ineptitude on the roads, as I do, five days a week, working as a cycling instructor, it's no surprise that some cyclist get irate. There are good road users and bad road users, on two, four, eight and twelve wheels...end of
I personally wouldn't bother. You only get the vat knocked off the bike anyway, all bikes from halfrauds are cheap toot. For the 500 you would spend on a shiny crap bike from halfords... You could get a really decent bike from eBay from a owner who actually knows about bikes. I picked up a nice specialized Allez for 300 and its served me well for over 400 miles
I'd test ride them all and see which one felt like home... If you're dead set on a new bike then all three will be more than adequate....as Moons pointed out....secondhand is always a better bet. A well maintained three or four year old bike for £500 will always be much higher quality than a new one at the same price. If you decide to go down this route, then a Specialized Rockhopper Pro or Comp from 2008 onwards is perhaps the best ever trail/do-it-all bike there's been...
I've had a look and their great bikes but unfortunately I haven't got that sort of cash to spend on a push bike outright so will keep looking. Thanks
I'm still rocking a Kona Kula from 1997 - it's now classed as 'old skool cool'*. I'm so cool I set trendz before they were trends. *this has got nothing to do with thinking the bike is more than adequate for what I use it for (of late, as a dust magnet in the garage) and I can't justify a newer one.
Iused the cycle scheme and got a GT Transeo 3 ,all kitted up for £520 . Its a hybrid ,only front suspenssion ,disk brakes etc and its lovely. Go for the hybrid as its a good all rounder ,much lighter than a mountain . Disk brakes are much better when on any road especially wet and rear suspension will drain you .
I did this and borrowed £700. Got a lovely bike and some gear! Then I looked at my payments. I was promised up to 40% discount. Worked it out and I'm paying back £699.94. Go elsewhere you save sod all!
I've a board man road bike and its better equipped than my mate specialized road bike that cost 3 times as much Back to the post though, hard tails the way to go with that budget. Ride as many as you can though they all different...
Not true, although Halfords would like you to think so. By the power of google you will be able to find other independent retailers who will accept the Halfords voucher. When you have chosen your bike you apply for your voucher and tell Halfords what you want and where from, takes about a week for them to process and you then pick your bike up from the indie. I did this last year and got a Trek road bike, the advantage was the guys there spent a couple of hours with me trying different frame sizes and styles actually out on the road rather than in the shop, really important if you're over 40 and over weight like me In reality you should save about 15% after the final payment but the real advantage is paying it out of your wages monthly, never had it, never missed it. If you do buy from Halfords a couple of my mates have gone for Boardmans and they a real quality kit, enjoy
If you go down this route just make sure it has been well maintained and worn out components replaced, you would generally get better frame and fork though. Depending on how much it has been used then everything could be completely knackered, so you might need to factor in some parts as well. I only say this because I use my mountain bikes a lot and all of them have needed new components within a couple of years, whether that be cassettes, chainrings, bottom brackets, brake refurb, new cables, wheel bearings etc. Dont even consider full suspension at your budget and I'd probably go for a 29 inch wheeled hard tail.
