Yup, I used to have 2 bikes last year, one just old n crap, the other i recked down this monster downhill. Well this summer I really need to start riding uni/bike again, my fitness is just getting shocking. need a new bike, so here is what I have found:
Just wanted your thoughts on it, whats good, whats bad, if you know of anything better i can buy, need to be able to get in UK and don’t want to spend more that £400 unless its just this hot bike that has very, very good everything
XC, small down hill and mild dirt jump and i wouldn’t ride it to town, wear down that tred:) Nah, i wouldnt leave it in my town centre, got a moped for that:)
This bike has a WAY better fork on it, though still a low end fork, it’s tons better than a Suntour fork. This bike will take a much better beating than the Felt you linked to, and it’s cheaper, so if you want disc brakes, I’m sure you can get the shop to swap the brakes for disc and pay roughly as much as the Felt.
EDIT: The disc brakes on the Felt are terrible anyways.
if u want to go look and something thats good but dont care about pricews look into santa cruz, other then taht maaybe ur more of a gt frame person i use to like the look of them
Just get a bike with a decent fork on it. Stay away from Suntour, and RST forks from before 2008.
RST forks before 2008 were junk, the new models are half decent, but I would still recommend low end Rock Shox over high end RST forks because of the awesome snappage that seems to occur quite often on the RST forks.
If I were to get a sub £400 bike from that website the Fire Mountain would be it.
I have had a Kona Hahana (discontinued) for the past 7 years and it has treated me quite well.
The Felt has a slightly nicer shifters but the Kona has a better fork (I have killed both Suntour and cheep RockShox forks, the RockShox lasted considerably longer and was just nicer) and breaks (I have a Shimano Alivio Mechanical disk break on the front of my bike and it is fairly disappointing. I have ridden bikes with the Hays breaks on the Kona are quite a bit nicer).
Dumpweed has RST Gila forks on one of his bikes and it has completely locked out, it won’t compress unless you put a ton of weight on it, it used to bottom out like crazy… now it barely moves.
Lots of people hate Kona’s, but there is nothing wrong with them.
There is nothing wrong with any bike, it’s how you take care of it.
Like you said though, those disc brakes are garbage, rim brakes are much better than that low end disc brake.
Get a small frame if you are EVER considering Dirt Jumps, seatposts exist to raise your seat
I ride a small frame with a 14" Seat Tube, when I raise my seat up to the “Minimum Insertion” point, the seat is a little higher than the handlebars, perfect for riding distance.
The Kona Blast Nine is a better choice. It has a slightly better fork on it, and larger volume tires which both will make the bike ride nicer. It also has a higher end gear set up, Shimano Deore, which is kinda cheap, but it works better than what’s on the Fire Mountain.
This bike is the best choice I have come across so far.
Has a MUCH better fork than all previous bikes, and Hydraulic disc brakes.
But it only comes in XSmall, which makes it all that much better for dirt jumps if you get big into them. Remember, seatpost accounts for that.
Looking a little more at Evan’s Cycles, get the '05 Kona Stuff, it’s FAR superior as far as money-quality ratio.
Everything about that Kona is better than everything linked previously, I highly doubt you will find a better deal, that ones smokin’ hot compared to the others.
