[Ferrito]

Hello,

Looking for a hardtail as part of the cycle to work scheme, so ideally 1000 newly minted pounds ish. I'm looking for something that will cope with ome easier downhill, xc, jumps and the like. A jack of all trades stylee thing. I was looking at the Orange P7, but apparently they've all gone. Any suggestions along that sort of line?

Cheers!

[fatdoc]

a grand will get you a damn fine hardtail.

avoid all hand made frames to get more bike for your buck.. go for the *normal* brands of marin, giant, spesh.. etc...

IMO go for one with as much travel as you can get.. 140 to 130 mm woud be best.. yes.. it will climb less well.. but lets face it, life's all about the downs 

[Bubba]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.

Santa Cruz Chameleon is a brilliant hardtail. The "chameleon" name comes from it's ability to fit into many roles and to be built up as a light XC bike, a jump bike, a "hardcore hardtail", etc. For a grand you could built a really nice one up.

review

reviews

[jordysi]

orange crush?? top bike..

[BB]

hardtail? Get yourself on fleabay and singletrack forums and pick up a top spec XC bouncer. £1000 is a huge amount of money in the second hand bike market.

[SA Chris]

I don't think you can buy second hand bikes on the bike to work scheme.

[BB]

Sorry. Must read threads properly! In that case trek, spesh or giant should give you the most bang.

[Norton Sharley]

Everything Bubba and Fatdoc said.  Do you live in Sheffield?  Drop into the bike tree and go testing.

[Probes]

Ive a Jamis Dakota elite that i paid about 900 for. I still get back from rides amazed at how good the thing is. A bit more front travel would have been good, only 4inch, but the bike handles like a dream. They need a few mods, saddles, bars etc. heres a pic.

http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/hardtails/dakota/09_dakotaelite.html

[john horscroft]

Everything Bubba and Fatdoc said.  Do you live in Sheffield?  Drop into the bike tree and go testing.

    Seconded!  Check out the Cubes.  I think it's the limited HT I was looking at.  Superb kit and well within your budget......

http://www.cube-bikes.de/xist4c/web/ltd-pro-black_id_36140_.htm

[James Yeah]

Charge blender without a shadow of a doubt.  Does everything you want for the right price.  Theure an absolute blast to ride and charge are a great uk company.

You wont find better for the money really and i guarantee its nicer to ride than a chameleon and itll be better equipped at a grand as the frames aren't crazy prices like santa cruz.

Have a ride on a blender and youll be sold, theyre pretty much the best and most popular do it all hardtails going.

[Norton Sharley]

... theyre pretty much the best and most popular do it all hardtails going.

Never seen one mesen?  But then I don't ride jump parks.  At 32 lb it's a on the heavy side if jumping isn't going to be Ferrito's main use for the bike especially after you stick on some High Rollers. If jumping is the main use then I'm not qualified to comment on preferences for bikes.

[fatdoc]

Everything Bubba and Fatdoc said.  Do you live in Sheffield?  Drop into the bike tree and go testing.

What Norton said.

[gremlin]

I'm pretty chuffed with my Felt RXC Elite . Double butted 6061 ally frame with carbon seat stays. It's light and handles really well. £900.

Review here http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/rxc-elite-10556

[James Yeah]

... theyre pretty much the best and most popular do it all hardtails going.

Never seen one mesen?  But then I don't ride jump parks.  At 32 lb it's a on the heavy side if jumping isn't going to be Ferrito's main use for the bike especially after you stick on some High Rollers. If jumping is the main use then I'm not qualified to comment on preferences for bikes.

Blenders are everywhere.  I see them all the time, from dh tracks to xc routes.   He also asked for an alrounder and the Blender really is a great allrounder.

That is stock weight, stock weights are always pretty heavy, you change parts gradually.  Also i think the 32lbs one is the mid level one.  The higher level blender is lighter.   My trek remedy stock weight was 31lbs but i've never found it too heavy at all, i've done day long xc rides on it and day long welsh trail centres and it never bothered me and i'm a skinny stick of a person.

Not sure what you mean by the high roller comment, you do know there are different types of high roller tyres? Single ply, double ply etc?  All different weights.  Single ply high rollers aren't particularly heavy. I run a high roller on the front of my remedy and use it for everything.   If he'd asked for a pure xc bike then i wouldn't have recommend a blender but he asked for an allrounder.  Personally i'd rather have a slightly heavier lower bike than risk running a pure xc bike and trying to get it do everything then watching as it snaps in 2 and throw me face first into a bunch of rocks. 


Blenders are not just jump bikes.  They are considered proper do it all bikes,  i know people who use them for pure xc and then i know people who use them for DH to jumping.  They're basically a newer better handling dmr trailstar frame and how many of those are used for everything?

If you want something more xc orientated, look at the Charge Duster.


Not to sound harsh Gremlin but i wouldn't ever recommend a bike with carbon stays and pure xc pedigree for an all round do it all bike.

I'll stop being bike nerdy now.

[Norton Sharley]

You on commission James? 

[James Yeah]

Haha nope.  I do ride a charge iron jump bike though 

I just think charge bikes are a great company offering good value bikes with well thought out geo.   


I'd happily recommend other companies if i thought they were offering the same value as charge were.   Only other company i think are doing really good value bikes is cube or boardman bikes right now but nothing they do is as fun as the blender imo.

I ride a Trek Remedy as my do it all bike though but that's cause after 14 years of riding bmx, trails and dh my body is a bit on the ruined side and i like having 6 inch of travel at either end.  If i didn't i'd definitely get a Blender as my do it all bike

[Ferrito]

That's ace. Cheers all!

However, just found out that the scheme doesn't work until October, so I'm planning to get a filthy cheap steed to last me til then.

Once again, thanks all! Expect a similar/resurrected thread in October!

Toby

[gingerninja]

if you want cheep try an on one 456 summer edition. they are awesome for the money.

[burned]

It totally depends on what you are looking to do, if you cant see yourself doing much jumps or DH then obviously you wanna go with something super sleek, with nice components... if you are gonna start riding downhill and jumps for a start you wanna get rid of those three rings up front.. no chain device and grippy pedals is gonna mean that your shins are getting shredded.

Frame size... well I am assuming you are not super lanky.. and you are going to need something around 16", but having a nice small bike to flick around is going to mean that you will have a short toptube and on long hacks you are gonna get backpain.

If its just the case that you like the idea of dirtjump but dont think its gonna happen, then pretty much anything you get a nice deal on will cover the rest. Be honest with yourself though.

I have ridden a chamelion and I liked them a lot.. I have found that a lot of frames that are all stiff to handle big hits on jumps etc can be pretty punishing on downhill or long tech singletrack rides. You could always get a USE seatpost though I guess haha : )

16", ALU, components and brakelevers you dont mind trashing in jumps and trails = the bike you are looking for. (support your local bikeshop)