Mountain Bikes

waptext

I'm after a sub £200 delivered gents mountain bike i've found

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reebok-Power-24-speed-Alloy-Suspension/dp/B001OI2VI6/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=IGVHRUYUO3A8G&colid=3CCQNXEWK4SMN

and
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reebok-Zone-24-speed-Alloy-Cycle/dp/B001OI2VJ0/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I35W1R5A6MIN2P&colid=3CCQNXEWK4SMN

Anyone know of a better mountain bike than those for under £200 delivered preferably alloy with disk brakes
ps i'm a bit weary of those amazon price claims as i've had a bike from them before an emmelle which was £73 and crap it was made to look like it was worth £120

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photome

I have always been told not to buy a bike with rear suspension as it will take much more energy to pedal ,as much as a third more apparently.

shandypants5

I would take a visit to an old fashioned propper bike shop.(not Halfords)

They would be able to advise you of the best deal for your price range.

A sub £200 bike is never going to be fantastic, but it depends what you want to use it for.

For a long term investment a good frame with cheap equipment fitted would mean you could upgrade wheels and stuff at a later date.

Just paved riding around town = cheaper bike. (but it will be heavy)
Off road /downhill racing = expensive bike.

Well designed rear suspension does not take noticably more energy to pedal, and the benifits it offers outweigh any energy losses.

Allso, an expensive bike is a pleasure to ride compared with a cheap "cataloug special"
A real bike shop will let you test ride them so you can feel the difference.

dashforth

If you know a bit about bikes then my advice is to buy a second hand one locally using ebay.

VikJ

If you can stretch the budget, you can get this bargain!

http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p1746

I bought this last month, ordered it on Sunday, arrived Tuesday!

A great bike for the money at half the RRP!

toyboy_2

At your budget, I'd avoid disc brakes and go for some reasonable V-brakes instead. A good set of disc brakes alone would cost over £200! Looking secondhand is definitely a good idea, if you're not that knowledgeable about bikes, take someone with you who is when you go to view them.

If you do want to buy new, try to get a rigid bike (no suspension), as at the price the suspension will be rubbish. If you buy secondhand then you might want front suspension, but definitely avoid rear suspension.

What do you want to use the bike for? If you don't really intend to use it off road then there's no point having any suspension, and you might actually be better off looking for a road bike rather than a mountain bike. If you want a mountain bike just for the road then it's worth buying some road tyres for it, rather than the knobbly tyres it'll come with.

waptext

Can anyone suggest a road bike for under £200 ? not a racer

Tom_Jones

photome wrote: »

I have always been told not to buy a bike with rear suspension as it will take much more energy to pedal ,as much as a third more apparently.

Other way round, a fs bike is easier to ride than a hardtail especially on hills.

To the OP make sure you get the correct size bike for your height, and the suggestion of a visit to your local bike shop is a good one............................avoid halfords

toyboy_2

Tom_Jones wrote: »

Other way round, a fs bike is easier to ride than a hardtail especially on hills.

Only if you're going down the hill!

paolo

Tom_Jones wrote: »

Other way round, a fs bike is easier to ride than a hardtail especially on hills.

What do your base your opinion on? You don't want a bouncy bike going up hill.

That might be why some of them have a lock off for the suspension?.....

stokefan

to be honest, i have got a giant boulder (2003 ish) and thats quite heavy but much easier to ride than my mates twin suspension raliegh, so based on my experiance, id get a bike as light as possible, and with front suspension only,