new bike advice please....beat this price

[roryGT]

Can you beat this spec for £400

I know this is the retro forum but I may have top replace my aging 13 year old GT and I found this spec bike for just shy of £400, seems pretty good to me

Frame Material: Aluminium


Frame Size: 19-20
Gender: Mens
Suspension: Front
Alloy Rims: Yes
Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc
Chainset: Truvativ Isoflow chainset with sealed Bearing BB
Exact Frame Size: 20"
Forks: Suntour XCR fork, 120mm travel, rebound damping & lock-out
Frame Colour: Black and White
Frame-: Lightweight hydro-formed aluminium Triple Triangle frame
Front Brake: Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes, 180rotors
Front Mech: Shimano Deore
Gear Shifters: Shimano Deore Rapid Fire
Handle Bars: GT oversize
Headset: GT Alloy
Hubs: Formula DC 20
Number of Gears: 27
Pedals: Classic Cage with Toe Clips
Quick Release Wheels: Yes
Rear Brake: Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes, 160rotors
Rear Mech: Shimano Deore
Rear Shock: NA
Rims: Alex ASD-1 disc rims
Saddle: SDG Bel Air saddle
Seatpost: Alloy Black
Stem: GT Oversized
Tyre size: 2.3"
Tyres: Maxxis Ignitor
Wheel size: 26"



I was also considering a specialized rock hopper Disc which has better shocks, but at £150 more I’m unsure as to whether its worth it?

also looking at some claud butlers, but not familiar with them, but they seem well specced for the money

Advice please peeps?

 

[legrandefromage]

The forks are heavy and pretty rubbish.

 

[roryGT]

so would i be better off buying the cheaper bike and some better forks, maybe rock shox reba?

the more expensive specialised comes with rock shox dart 3 SL's...slightly better but not great!

 

[Gadro]

£400 will get you a very decent 2nd hand bike. I take it that this is the spec for a New or Newish GT.

For this money you could get a very nice 5 year old Spesh FSR, Scott Aspect or fair speced GT.

Just had a quick look on eBay there's plenty about. You could easily pick up £1k+ bikes with better quality parts with much better potential for upgrading.

Here's an example - Half decent GT Avalanche

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gt-Avalanche-Pro- ... rms=65%3A3

Don't let a few minor scratches put you off as a Brand New bike if ridden regularly will look very similar in a very very short space of time.

Post in the wanted section on here but also take a look on Bikeradar and Pinkbike there's always bargains to be had. Winter is the best time for bargains as there are plenty of 'Fair Weather' riders out there looking to get rid of unused 'toys'

 

[drcarlos]

I know it's halfrauds, but the Farnborough store had an '08 Voodoo Bokor in there for about £550 it looked one hell of a bike for £550, it had Marzocchi Bombers on it rather than the Manitous that are on this years bikes.

Carl.

 

[dirtjumper_dmr]

The forks are heavy and pretty rubbish.

yeh the Suntour forks do seem to get pretty bad reviews, although i briefly had a Suntour Duro jump for which was ok for the price. The main complaint with them is usually the lack of rebound control and nasty top-out noises. To be honest at the £400 price point almost all bikes are gonna have a crappy fork. Wheels will likely be heavy, non-eyelet type also.

The rest of the stuff on the list is ok, the Tektro brakes are quite good for the price of the bike, not so long ago hydros on a £400 bike was unheard of.

As mentioned, I'd look at second hand, you'd get alot more bang for your buck that way, or what about mailorder, you can get good deals on older models...

http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b7s2p1550

http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s2p1295

have no idea what that particular retailer is like but the prices are nice

 

[roryGT]

have been keeping my eyes peeled for cheap 2008 bikes, and also on ebay, that GT seems a good deal, not quite worth £400 though (although i have no idea how old that is)

keeping my eyes peeled for a nearly new bargain, and gonne perservere with the GT for a little while longer after a good ride on it last night

does need V-brakes though so sorting them today i think