You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Got a friend looking for his first "decent" mountain bike. His budget is between £500-850 at an absolute push. (I have told him to keep an eye for deals come the summer if he can wait that long!)
His preferred spec is for a 29er, new, a hardtail (I guess with the budget) and it will need to be a decent size as he's about 6'2" ish. Usage will be general trail riding I would think, nothing too extreme.
Can anyone offer any pointers? I've sent him a link to the Norco Charger 2, and a Whyte 529 (over budget but on offer at Winstanleys for £699). Eek, just seen the Whyte has a square taper bottom bracket...
Other suggestions welcome.
seems to be the critics favourite in that price range
Was going to suggest looking at a Pinnacle Ramin from Evans but they seem to be discontinued now.
If 29 isn’t firm and mate would like FS and can stretch don’t forget the Calibre Bossnut. Ridiculously better than a £899 FS should be and Go Outdoors so 10% discount easy even if not on sale right then...
Pauls Cycles always worth a look and lots of hardtail 29ers on there. This Marin looks pretty decent...
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p8745/MARIN-NAIL-TRAIL-6-29-2018
The Bizano is a safe bet for a HT with some money left for some other riding stuff/ tyre swap etc.
FS, yeah, the Bossnut has to be the one to get.
Nice choice for him to have!👍
Calibre line 10 https://m.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-line-10-mountain-bike-p414112
That calibre line 10 looks good value , considering its got a £90 dropper on it, and you can get 10% off
Onza had a really nice looking HT on their website. it had 150mm forks and a reverb and was £899 with an extra 10% off for signing up to a news letter
The Whyte 529... DEFINITELY the Whyte 529...
You read the Singletrack review on it?
Don't worry about the square taper BB, sub £1k a lot of bikes do, and unless you're a particularly jumps and drops oriented rider, Square taper isn't such a bad thing anyway...
At the price you're looking at, there's always going to be compromises. Get the bike with the best frame, the one that's most worthwhile upgrading over time, and enjoy the experience!
FWIW, I'm just buying a 2019 529 for myself as a 2nd bike. I own a shop, I could buy whatever bike I wanted within reason, but for the money the 529 simply rocks! Yes there's bikes out there with a better spec for the money, but you won't find a better frame that's ready to go with useable kit (ie. stuff that doesn't immediately need upgrading) for less than £1k... Just add a dropper post and tubeless tyres as funds allow, and go rip the trails up!
Take a look at Boardman 29 pro. They were recently on offer at £800. I’ve got one and they are very good bikes at a low price.
Worth a read.
I've just built an Onza payoff for about that budget. Love it, but if he wants a built bike, and would consider 27.5 & he can stretch, I'd jump at this in the sale.
https://onza.com/collections/mtb-bikes/products/jackpot-27-5-steel-hardtail-orange
Whyte 629 here. They pop up on sale around the 850 mark now and then. Awesome bike.
529 also looks a bargain https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/whyte-529-29er-2018-bike?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrIrHjoGG4AIVApPtCh3N3wiHEAQYASABEgLyXfD_BwE#matt-lime-large
The marin or onza look the best deals to me.
The whyte will be a great bike too, but it's not boost rear is it? I'd suggest buying a bike with the best frame possible, and that would be with newest standards, so upgrades are easier. Whyte looks like Quick Release?
I have that Marin Nail Trail 6, it's ace. NX 1x11 works great, boost hubs with nice wide rims, bit of gorilla tape and some valves and they went straight up tubeless. Tyres are working fine even in the winter slop so far. Internal routing for a stealth dropper. Recon fork is a bit heavy but actually works surprisingly well.
Other than tubeless I've not changed a thing on it, even the bars, stem and grips felt spot on.
A friend of mine bought a second hand Whyte t-129. Unfortunately the S/arm broke, he popped into the lical dealer just to price a repair up. A quick phone call to Whyte by the shop resulted in a new S/arm all fitted for free.
For that alone I'd recommend the 529. The fact its a good bike aswell is a bonus !!
Thanks everyone for you suggestions, I've forwarded them to my mate. He's quite taken with a Whyte of some sort I think.
The whyte will be a great bike too, but it’s not boost rear is it? I’d suggest buying a bike with the best frame possible, and that would be with newest standards, so upgrades are easier. Whyte looks like Quick Release?
Agree with your points... best frame possible for the money, worry about everything else secondary.
The 2018 and earlier Whyte 529/629 were all Quick Release, the 2019 models are Boost Bolt Through both ends. With that in mind, mine will be getting pimped up with some hand me downs from my full susser in time!
That makes the 529 very appealing