hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me choose!

SIMONFREESE

Senior Retro Guru
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I'm thinking about getting involved in the cycletowork scheme, and getting a modern mtb to commute on. I can go cross country on my way to work, but I often avoid this as I don't like getting my old bikes muddy!

So the idea is to get something that will be ok on the road as well, but able to be chucked through the woods. I'm not sure on the 29er issue either...

Having a nose around Evans, I have come up with the bikes below so far:

Specialized Rockhopper comp, i'm sure it's good but I don't like the look of the modern Specialized frames. despite this, if considering form over function it must be a contender:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec042245


Next up is the Kona Blast, a more familiar 26" set up, my only other modern MTB was a Kona NuNu which I loved, I wonder if another Kona will have me smiling again. I prefer the overall look but the frame is still quite modern looking:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... e-ec044007

Next, the Pinnacle Jarrah 5, this is my favourite looking frame out of all three, a bit more traditional, I like the rear stays for some reason. Also it's got Deore shifters, a luxury at this price:


http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec044223

In my dream world, I would be able to buy a new version of a retro set up, so if anyone has seen anything else on the market that fits this description then I am interested! I have seen the Charge range, and although they may be more retro in appearance they just don't do it for me somehow.

As you can tell i'm a fussy bugger! Any advice opinions, especially from those who appreciate the finer Retro things in life would be gratefully received! and an answer to the 29 er dilemma would be good to!
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

Good point. So shall we rule out the Specialized then?
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

Amazed at the spec of that last BMC...I'm waiting for the admin to be sorted out at work so am assuming that there will only be 2013 models left! Thanks for looking, if that last BMC is still available I could be tempted!
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

I'd boycott the Rockhopper on principal...I don't want to have big wheels forced upon me. I also think that they're not very good value for money any more (they seemed to peak in 2008 in terms of value).

Where are you based? Just wondering if there is another shop that offers something else. What about Whyte? They seem to make some great value bikes.

When I did mine, was told that you can get a sale bike, so I'd go down that router you can. 600 sheets doesn't seem to get you much these days.

What about the Voodoo from Halfords? Looks pretty good and kills everything from a value point of view.
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

I suffer from a Halfords predudice which I need to get over! I will have a look at the Voodoos, and am certainly moving away from the 29ers. I think the Specialized is out of the equation now!
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

SIMONFREESE":1w6no2zc said:
I suffer from a Halfords predudice which I need to get over! I will have a look at the Voodoos, and am certainly moving away from the 29ers. I think the Specialized is out of the equation now!


I know what you mean, but that Voodoo is supposed to be great and always does well in the bike tests. You never have to go back there once you've bought it though!
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

Voodoos always rate well in the mags. Kona's are always overpriced because they get discounted so quickly, so if at near RRP you dont get a lot for your money, pay a lot for the name.

The voodoo hoodoo for £500 from £600 got 5/5 in WMB who seem to rate bikes fairly (i.e. ignore trends to a great deal, in my opinion).
 
Re: hardtail mtb for £800 on cycletowork scheme help me cho

I will cast my frankly unreasonable predjudice aside and have a look, my idea for this bike is to have something I'm not too precious about, you can love them too much!
 

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