[Dr T]

Ok so I really don't know where to start - so I need some advice

My back ground is in BMX's and it's been years since I seriously rode one of them

Sitting on Neil H's new down hill bike felt more like sitting on a space rocket than a bike

Anyways seriously thinking of getting a bike to both have fun on and as an attempt to improve my flagging cardio fitness - knackered knees means running is no longer an option 

So what do I want to do - well I like like going fast off-road so down-hilling looks a likely option - and one bonus of living in Surrey is we have lots of trails.

But for the cardio I'll have to be cycling back up again so...  Neil had a rather neat gismo that popped the seat up and down - not sure what it was called.

I'm just shy of 6 foot, just shy of 80kg
I know a lot can be spend on bikes and I'm not flush enough to be spending untold grand on a toy 

So please advise - mountain bike mags are too full of jargon I don't understand
What do I need -
full suspension or hard tail?
26" or 29"?
Trail bike or down hill?
buy a full set up or bits and build it myself (is the a Haynes type manual/guide for downhill bikes) - guess this would teach me about how it all works but it could go tits up...

any advice very welcome - and I'm serious about knowing sweet FA about this so please keep it simple....

[ianv]

You won't get much of a cardio workout on a dh bike. They are a pain to ride at pretty much any angle but down. A good compromise ie good on descents yet Rideable up hill is an enduro bike; 160 mm travel full suspension, you should be able to pick a decent one up second hand for about £1500 ish or look at the yt industries wicked for good value brand new.  If you are on a budget then a ht with 130ish forks would be fine for Surrey (crap for the alps though)

Personally I would stick with 26 inch wheels as I think 29ers look shit and there are no good long travel ones anyway ( at sensible prices)

[Ti_pin_man]

I could write reams on the subject but it'll just confuse you even more... So in short...

DH in Surrey - there isn't actually that much DH, not proper DH, most of the trails are XC (x country).
Full sus bikes that are good are expensive. Both xc and DH bikes can be bought cheaper but on the whole xc bikes are better value for money. 
Look to buy a good hardtail.  Maybe look to buy second hand.
Test ride lots of bikes but I think you'll end up with a good xc hardtail or maybe second hand full sus.
29ers are all the rage but 26ers have been around years and aren't going away.  Allegedly 29er riders claim the bigger wheels can roll over stuff more... I've ridden a few and it's horses for courses.  Ride what you ride and don't worry. 

Enjoy.  The cardio exercise will commence. 

[underground]

What's your budget Dr T? If you were on Neil's black and white bike with the hydraulic seatpost (Rockshox Revelation), then its a YT industries Wicked 160 Ltd... Which is a 160mm Enduro bike like Ian mentioned. It'll work for DH in a lot of circumstances, and still pedal well. Enduro racing is essentially riding a series of timed DH descents and pedalling back up/between descents.

The spec/design is somewhat beefed up and improved for 2013 and I guess the exchange rate advantage is much diminished compared to last year...

There are loads of options though, tell us your realistic budget and we can go from there. I suspect an Enduro type bike may be overkill for a lot of things especially in the XC/cardio side of things, and needlessly heavy when you're riding trails rather than DH runs.

[ianv]

There are loads of options though, tell us your realistic budget and we can go from there.

Yeah, give us your budget and we will all have fun spending it for you 

[SA Chris]

There are loads of options though, tell us your realistic budget and we can go from there.

Yeah, give us your budget and we will all have fun spending it for you 

+1. I seem to remember you had some back problems before (or am I thinking of someone else)? If so a full suss would make for a lot more comfortable ride than a hard tail.

[Dr T]

There are loads of options though, tell us your realistic budget and we can go from there.

Yeah, give us your budget and we will all have fun spending it for you 

Hey all
 Thanks for the advice  - have been educating myself using Google... sounds like what I'm after is certainly more an enduro than a DH (what did I know, they all look the same to me - at the moment)

Chris - I've got a disc removed from my back so a full suspension would probably be the job (not that I've ever ridden one in anger)

As for budget if I said a realistic top end was £2000 or there abouts (I' have to spend a bit on non bike kit but have a really good lid I bought for mountain boarding that'll do to start with)

And yes it was the black and white beast of Neil's that I was sitting on...

Thanks again for the advice so far - please enjoy spending my cash for me...

[SA Chris]

I personally think an enduro would be excessive unless there are some surrey alps I was unaware of. I think a full suss xc bike would be a good compromise for enjoying some downhill and smallish jumps plus technical / rooty / rocky single track, and still being able to climb hills without havent to breathe through your erse (to use the local venacular). I would go for something along the lines of a TREK Fuel EX 7 (or 6 if you want some cash to buy kit) Lapierre Zesty, or equivalent from any of the other big names.

Worth looking around on Evans, etc for last year's models and saving a few bob.

[Dr T]

Ok so am I reading it right that an enduro is a beefed up version of an xc bike?

and from what you're saying an enduro would be overkill unless I pack it all in and go live in the mountains (tempting at times but  then I doubt I could afford a bike...)

There's some local bike shops around here that seem to stock the kind of thing - one stocks Santa Cruz bikes (now I thought Santa Cruz made skate boards but I assume it's a different Santa Cruz) any thoughts on them?

at just just under 6 foot it looks like I need a 19" or 20" frame (large for a specialized) - is that about right?

There's an Evans in GFord - think I'll await more sage like advice from here so I can go in later this week and vaguely seem like I know what I'm talking about - they seem to  have some pretty good bargains in the sale at the moment...

Deals on TREK, Lapierre, Kona all look useful...

Also might leave me enough cash to get an adjustable seat post which do seem to be a rather useful idea...

[SA Chris]

Ok so am I reading it right that an enduro is a beefed up version of an xc bike?

and from what you're saying an enduro would be overkill unless I pack it all in and go live in the mountains (tempting at times but  then I doubt I could afford a bike...)

My understanding is yes - an enduro bike has a setup to make it better on the downhills, but harder on the ups - i think it would be a bit tiring (esp on the old back) to do a big day out xc on one.

As far as framesizes go I would definitely go and get a "feel" for a few different bikes by at least sitting on a few; not all bikes with the same framesize in inches will be the same height or feel the same for you - I'm 6 ft 2 ish which according to the charts means I should go for a 22" plus ish frame, but bikes that big just feel awkward and cumbersome to me, and I've always had about 19" to 20" frames.

Santa Cruz are a well known brand  and have a good reputation, but I'm too out of touch to know what individual models are good. Suffice to stay if you stick with leading makes and are prepared to spend up to your £2K you can't really go wrong. Probably worth having a look in a at a few bigger stockists. I think there's an Evans in Woking too, if that's any closer. And avoid Halfrauds if you can.

[220bpm]

*Warning Hi-Jack*

Got the insurance cheque thru in recompense for my Kona Cinder Cone being purloined during the Xmas period.

Just want something similar, a strong balanced XC bike with nice gear/chain set, chunky forks and front n back discs.

Paid £600 for mine new in 2007. Latest model seems to be more like £900 so out of reach.

Any suggestions for good value around the £500-600 mark would be much appreciated (18/19" frame).

Ta 

[ianv]

Currently on pinkbike, there is a last herb am , 140mm travel but apparently a really rad bike. Also there is a santa cruz blur long travel, another good bike. Both under £2000 and both would fit you. I would be tempted by a herb, a bit heavy but good down hill.
There is also an enduro just down the page, enduros are ace!
I am sure there are others, check:
Www. Pinkbike.com.  Buy/sell uk
Www. Ride.io.  You need to register to see the classifieds.

[ianv]

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1309043/
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1292502/
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1300198/
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1300348/

Seems to be a lot of bikes atm, the specialized is pretty cheap @ 1000

If you are buying off Pinkbike, I would suggest you pick up as there are a few crooks on it.

These are all pretty big bikes so suitable for the alps etc as well, if you really only think that you are going to ride locally a lighter bike with less travel might be better. However, I hated my xc bike (scott spark) and much prefer my enduro even for local riding.

[gingerninja]

i have a trek remedy and is perfect for most riding. i wouldnt go to xc with your bike. the angles of xc bikes are good for climbing but can bit a bit twitchy on the downs at speed. for me im happy to make the ups a little harder if i can have more fun coming back down. i would look around the 150-160mm full sus but something that can take some hammer and is not going to snap when you go off a jump.

[SA Chris]

Dr T; so what you get?

[Dr T]

Dr T; so what you get?

So, took on board all your collective wisdom (  ), talked to a load of people went to look at a load of bikes... and then term started and free time disappeared down the plug hole - so as of yet nada but.... once term stops and my life is my own again then I'll be back on the case... roll on July....

[SA Chris]

yeek. sounds like no fun, I thought people in education only did half days?

[fatdoc]

You won't get much of a cardio workout on a dh bike. They are a pain to ride at pretty much any angle but down. A good compromise ie good on descents yet Rideable up hill is an enduro bike; 160 mm travel full suspension, you should be able to pick a decent one up second hand for about £1500 ish or look at the yt industries wicked for good value brand new.  If you are on a budget then a ht with 130ish forks would be fine for Surrey (crap for the alps though)

Personally I would stick with 26 inch wheels as I think 29ers look shit and there are no good long travel ones anyway ( at sensible prices)

[Dr T]

yeek. sounds like no fun, I thought people in education only did half days?

I fucking wish.... 6 days a week and some evenings... boarding school you see
not that I'm posh or anything it's just a good secure job..

back on the bike front I suspect I'll pop for a Zesty, might even get to buy it over 1/2 term finger's crossed

[SA Chris]

I was fishing for the usual teacher response - yeah it's half days we only worth 12 hours a day.

I come from a family of teachers, so know the score.

[Dr T]

I was fishing for the usual teacher response - yeah it's half days we only worth 12 hours a day.

I come from a family of teachers, so know the score.

yeah it's full days but we're worth 24 hours a day   

[Dr T]

back on the bike front I suspect I'll pop for a Zesty, might even get to buy it over 1/2 term finger's crossed

Which Neil H has banned me going anywhere near cause it's "shit" 
he suggest the yt wicked (but I'm not sure about buying a bike online without even sitting on it) or a bike from nukeproof but I'm struggling to find anywhere that stock that... hmmmm 

[ianv]

Which Neil H has banned me going anywhere near cause it's "shit"   

Has he ridden one? Ask him what bike Paul was riding last year in Les Gets when he pretty much smoked us all  The zesty would seem a pretty good compromise for the type of riding you expect to do, whereas the wicked might be a bit overkill.

[bobkatebob]

Which Neil H has banned me going anywhere near cause it's "shit" 
he suggest the yt wicked (but I'm not sure about buying a bike online without even sitting on it) or a bike from nukeproof but I'm struggling to find anywhere that stock that... hmmmm 

I would say a Zesty is more XC than the yt wicked. I would be more happy throwing the yt down more serious DH than the Zesty. But I think the Zesty would be better for XC as the yt is a bit on the heavy side. (caviate is that from looking at the Zesty, I think it is designed for similar riding as my Julianna).

so neither is 'shit' but both could be 'shit' depending on what sort of riding you want to do. 

[SA Chris]

Given as per the original post he is going to be doing mostly XC stuff in and around Surrey, I think the Zesty is a better choice.