Bargain MTB bike at Argos - any good?

[mattymoo]

Looking for a new bike at the mo and wondered if this (http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?rcptid=10CD86x1A1C6B55&storeId=10001&referredURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.argos.co.uk%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FProductDisplay%3FstoreId%3D10001%26langId%3D-1%26partNumber%3D3303113&referrer=AR072&partNumber=3303113&params=AR072&langId=-1) was any good.

£100 off. Now £149.99

[gram99]

Nah it will be totally pants m8, you cannot get a decent full suspension bike for under £400 at least. Save another £150 and get a rockhopper. Or if you want something right away get one of these http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19062

great company and great bikes for the price.

[mattymoo]

What goes wrong with them - bearing in mind that I'm only going to be cycling around woodland tracks and round the village. It won't be doing any fance stunts or arduous slopes ?

Fairweather biker me :)

[gram99]

Originally posted by mattymoo
What goes wrong with them - bearing in mind that I'm only going to be cycling around woodland tracks and round the village. It won't be doing any fance stunts or arduous slopes ?

Fairweather biker me :)


Well if you are only doing commuting sorta stuff then you do not want rear suspension anyway as It will make getting from A-B harder you want front suspension only. Fairweather biker or not don't buy that bike it will not last and you will not get as much enjoyment from it as you would a well made bike. Get one of the Edinburgh bikes that I mentioned above they are well known to give a lot of bike for the money.

[sjg1]

You get what you pay for, and big compromises will have been made to give you full suspension at that price. I'd expect it to be massively heavy (due to thick low-grade steel frame) and have components that will just fall apart at any sign of serious use. And if it's not going to get serious use, there's no point dragging all that weight around and inevitably sapping energy away bobbing a poorly-damped suspension system up and down.

£500 is the bare minimum I'd recommend spending to get a worthwhile full-sus bike. If £150 is all you can stretch to, you'd be much better off getting something like this (http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=2041) or look for a decent secondhand one.

[Chivalry]

yup.. tis true... wouldent touch it with a barge pole..... as earlier stated.... one of the best value for money bikes is still the rockhopper,,,,, i bought my wife 1 :) exceptioanl build quality and light to boot.... and trust me.. even if u just ride about on roads the weight of a bike can and will make a huge differnce... that thing from argos is probably close to 40lb...a rockhopper on the other hand with maybe a set of judy front suspension. is only gonna weigh around 24/26 lb...... do uself a favour and stretch t the rockhopper,,, and in a few months time u wont hate riding u bike,,,, the same cant be said if u buy that thing from argos :)

[The 3 little pigs]

Another vote for the 'dont touch a full-suspension bike for that price' camp.

[Alan. b]

This is better suited to the Supplier Forum :)

Moving

[effpee]

nooooo :gag: avoid this like the plague. If you are under 12 and want your mates to come round and go ohh and aahh at your bike for the first week (thats before it falls apart) then it's not a bad option. If you want to ride it anywhere then get a hardtail if your budget is around this price. I agree with everything thats said above except I wouldnt buy a full sus bike under £800 and IMHO you only want one of them if you are tackling real mountain bike courses. Full sus for what you are wanting to do simply does not make sense unless you really liked pogo sticks in your youth and you'd like to recapture the sensation of bounding along like tigger whilst cycling on the road.

[jlcraig]

Sorry but I too agree, absolute pants. Get to your local bike shop and pester them to try a couple around the 300-400 range to see what fits properly and what feels comfortable (especially important if you're a fairweather biker) then look for same bike on the web!! If you're passing WH Smiths have a look at MBUK, loads of ads for shops all over the country and some good bargains if you look araound.

Don't think about full sus at this price, look for a good frame (light and strong) probably aluminium nowadays (I still think a good steel frame feels better than an ALu one at these prices) and try to get a butted frame (lighter but equivelent strength). If it comes with a front suspension fork OK but it will mean other parts are cheaper to allow for it. Get a decent pair of shorts too!!!!

There are a couple of discount mail order bike places (Merlin cycles used to be particularly good) and a lot who do last year's model (mostly just cosmetic changes between models at this price). I got my last mtb this way and got a £600+ GT Tequesta for £280 delivered because it was blue and 21 spd rather than black and 24 spd.

Plus Edinburgh cycle co-op are very very very good!!!

[qpw3141]

Originally posted by gram99
Or if you want something right away get one of these http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19062 Being in the market for a bike at the moment, I tried to look at this site.

It told me that I didn't have cookies enabled, despite the fact that virtually every site I use makes good use of them.

I hope their bikes are considerably better than their web site !

But I won't find out by buying one, because they won't allow me onto their site.

Pants!

[mwgdrwg]

If you want a really cheap bike then wait a few weeks as Aldi are doing some for £70

If youwant a good bike the nspend more money...hsop around for some 2003 models. Last year I got a Kona Stage One hardtail (which I love) for half price, £200 instead of £400.

[Chivalry]

oooh.. u used to have a Kona lava dome many many moons ago.... agree was a top class ride :).... upgraded to a Specialised full sus now... nice bar link system so no bob when u peddling... (well.. not as bad anyway ) :).... but yeah... cant go wrong with a Kona... or specialised :)... in fact not sure now,, but a couple of years ago Univega made some exceptional good bikes for the money..... not really checked the market for the last couple of yeats so cant say if they still a good buy though :).. won a few award though .... with bikes.. u really do get what u pay for,,,, and u can feell the differnce when u ride.... dont skimp! :D