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I hadn't been doing so much mountain biking recently,so sold my Giant Anthem, and reverted to riding my spare bike which is a 2006 Giant XTC. The XTC is great fun but the old school geometry and 26" wheels make it a bit of a handful sometimes. It is also a smidge too small.
I've ridden my mate's Scandal 29er a few times and have decided I like 29ers. Today I had a go on the new Boardman Pro 29er which felt spot on, for fit and really like the handling. Its got a great spec for the money but given that the mtb tends to be used less frequently ,as my second bike, I feel as though I should maybe spend a bit less.........
My eye was drawn to the Voodoo Bizango, which for £600 looks a steal. I've always tended toward XT kit and Reba or Fox forks but all the stuff on the Bizango looks like it would suffice, being mainly Deore, and the forks are Suntour Raidon which I hear are actually OK. Will I be happy with the Bizango and immediately want to upgrade bits or should I just stump up for the Boardman Pro. Thoughts?
The Bizango gets very good reviews. The geometry looks good and it's nice and cheap - you could upgrade wheels/forks etc when you're able.
Well if the reviews are anything to go by, you'd need to drop a grand on a comparable hard tail to better it.. I've not ridden one, but it's well specced, I guess it's whether you like the (bright yellow) frame, and suffering the shame of buying a Halfords bike.
They are awesome tbh. All the bike you need? Maybe not so much but definitely one of the best buys out there.
JGG,
Went into halfords to look for a bike for my son today. There was an offer that if I bought an inner tube and the voodoo bizango I'd get £40 or £60 off I think....
Looks a great bike for the money. Just need to reduce my stable rather than expand.....!
I've got the older version and it is a really good bike.
I think the weight is the only thing that could be improved (it probably weighs as much as my Orange 5)
The deore parts do seem to wear out a little more quickly than XT, but that might be due to running the voodoo over winter mostly
How do you find the forks Alibongo? I'd imagine coming from 2006 vintage Rebas they might actually be OK?
Had the same forks on another bike and found that they were decent, no problems at all. In fact they tracked better than the older Rebas I had on a previous bike (and my suntour forks were QR and I think those on the voodoo are bolt thru which should help further).
What's spares availability like these days for Suntour? Are they easy to service?
Also the brakes are m355 acera? Are they OK? I believe they only take resin pads. Is this an issue?
^ You are over thinking it. The frame is worthy of upgrades when the time comes.
The forks are poor. No oil in them, just grease around the seals, and no foam wipers fitted so they won't take oil. I'm dying for a pair of rebas!
One of my friends has got one and really likes it. It's heavy, but probably no more than my El Mar. That's just steel 29ers for you.
the shame of buying a Halfords bike.
It's not [b]really[/b] a Halfords bike, though...
If I end up upgrading things like forks I should probably just stump up the extra for the Boardman.......
I suppose it depends what you ride and how, but for general light trail riding it is a great package. I've used my wifes one on the South Downs and it was perfect, but then I've taken it up Lakeland passes and I found the Ardents the limiting factor before any other parts!
At £600 it is good value but the wheels and forks are compromises. However I got my wife's one secondhand for £320 in virtually new condition with loads of extras and at that price it is ridiculous value.
Most importantly the wife thinks it is a great fun bike - light, responsive, easy to use.
I bought one at the start of the year for local riding. I'm very happy with it. The forks are less refined than the Revelations on my fs, but they're not bad. I need to play with them properly to try to offset what feels like initial resistance to move. Slightly lower pressure but more damping should help.
The damping works so I think there must be oil in them.
Get a British Cycling membership for £20 to save 10% at Halfords.
the voodoo is a cracking bike. I bought the old one 3 years ago and after years off the trails it singlehandly put a smile on my face. Its capable of most trails I ride. My comment would be that at this price component speccing is bound to be a compromise. Yes I would like reba fork over a Raidon but that will add £xxx to the price. Yes I would like XT drivetrain over deore but again it adds to the price. For the price I think Voodoo got the compromises bang on.. but they are compromises.
On the basis that I think everyone should have a cheap hardtail then there is always an argument for a Voodoo.
Good replies all. Most of my riding will be local,single track interspersed with frequent road and bridleways , with the odd day out to Swinley or Woburn so sounds like it would be fine. Will go try one for size. At 6ft ,18" or 20? Always fell between m and l with Giant.
My experience of the forks is that they are OK - no more no less
They don't have the response of the fox forks on the orange - but I guess the fact that it is a hardtail mean you are going to feel more impacts and buzz anyway.
Perhaps when they wear out an upgrade would be helpful from a feel perspective and potentially to lose some weight too?
My mate and his son in Bristol have a pair of them and ride Bristol trails, Mendips and South Wales and he raves about it. He has raced it and also hits up jump spots with his son.
My wife's bike is an 18 inch and she fits fine on it at 5' 8". I also just about fit and I am 6' 2", although I would be more comfortable on a 20"
bails - MemberThe damping works so I think there must be oil in them.
I think it uses a selfcontained damping cartridge, but no oil in the lowers. Which is fine tbh- bit stickier than oil but generally pretty durable.
ading things like forks I should probably just stump up the extra for the Boardman.......
On the other hand, you could just upgrade as stuff wears out?
I'll second all the positive reviews. I've had mine a couple of years now and other than the odd times I wish I had a full susser I love it. It's been all over the southern 7 Stanes and Cannock with no complains, even down Stile Cop a couple of times.
The forks are the weak point, but are really easy to give them a once over, I dropped the legs off of mine slathered them in cheapo grease (all I had was lithium, I know it's the wrong stuff but I was getting hacked off) and then dropped some reverb fluid in the bottom of the legs when I was putting them back together, super plush now 8) The through axle is crap though. Good idea but I have to take a hammer to it half the time to get it out.
A while ago I saw a chap on a grey Bizango with Revs absolutely whoop his mates,who were on expensive full suss, down 'Snakebites' and up the other side at QECP. It makes you realize it is more about the rider than the bike!
Long haired chap reveal yourself!
Why not buy a second hand scandal 29er?
I have considered buying a Scandal but the few I've seen seem to be almost the price of a new Bizango.£540 once you add in the BC discount. Not so many of the V2 about either which I'd want for future proofing.
The answer to the OP is no.
See if you can sort a deal on this? Better forks, marginally better gears, lighter frame, small dia seatpost for comfy>?
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-iroko-1-2016-mountain-bike-EV244132
See if you can sort a deal on this? Better forks, marginally better gears, lighter frame, small dia seatpost for comfy>?
It's an extra £260 though, which is near enough another 50%.
The gears look the same. Mine's got 2*10 deore with a clutch mech (the clutch isn't listed but all of the display models had them, in the two stores I saw them in, along with mine and another being built at the same time).
I don't know how much difference there is in the forks, but the £260 difference will stretch to a new seatpost and a shim.
Hi
I'm 6ft and have a 20"
Bought a frame off eBay for £50 and built it as a single speed with left over bits I had lying around.
Admittedly they are decent spec bits but it is about 24lbs with pedals and rides very next felt thank you.
Cheers
Steve
Bizangos are great bikes. Rated by the press and the couple of mates I know who have them. Only bike you need? Well I have a 29er hardtail with slightly more aggressive geometry and I bested a decent rider on a Orange 5 down Hebden Bridge's Blue Pig trail. Said trail being very steep, very rocky, quite droppy and quite rooty. These aggressive 29ers are surprisingly capable.
Long haired chap reveal yourself!
I did. I've only just got bail.
😳
I have one of the older black ones.
Bought it in a sale for just under £500. For the money stock it's great, with a few caveats...
Stock, its heavy, around 14.5 kilos most of the weight is in the crankset, BB and fork. I immediately put on an old Hone crank with hollow tech BB, then dropped the front mech and shifter and put on a 32 N/W ring. This shed nearly a kilo.
The forks are OK at best, I found on longer rides they would really stiffen up and slow down, it was odd. I suspect down to the bare stanchions. They are also heavy. I eventually swapped mine out for some which were a bargain from bikediscount ( http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/rock-shox-reba-rl-29-solo-air-120-tapered-ml15-matt-neongreen-with-remote-option-416861/wg_id-8722)
I personally hated the handle bars and the seat (which also is heavey) so switched them out.
The wheels were fine though I bought some tubeless replacements in a sale, again personal choice rather than absolute necessity.
Its an extremely capable bike for the money, well worth upgrading. Drop the front mech and you can slide the rear wheel forwards to give really short chain stays.
I think I did nearly 2000 km on the frame, it got to the point where I'd upgraded so much of it that I had nearly a whole bikes worth of bits that were nearly worthless. As such I bought a cheap Genesis longitude frame in the sales, switched the upgrades onto it and have rebuilt the Bizango to stock spec.
Up for sale if you're interested 20" £300 ONO. Most the drive chain unused as it has a new chain and cassette as the old ones transferred to the genesis. Wheels barely used also.
Mine has just died after 3 years of week in, week out abuse, however I bought the frame second hand and built it up in various guises. Single speed initially, then 2x following injury. I'm not the lightest and it really has been used. Loved it, but then it cracked where the head tube and top join and even worse on the drive side chain stay which was the cause of death??? On the upside I've just bought another smaller Bizango frame and built it up for my lad, and I get a new bike, every cloud............
Having said all that I don't think I'd buy the stock bike new, I think I'd look carefully for a 2nd Boardman pro 29er or similar to get better spec.
I think I'd look carefully for a 2nd Boardman pro 29er or similar to get better spec.
That was my plan too, but Boardmans (Boardmen?) were really expensive second hand when I was looking. I'm sure I found a pro HT for £900 on ebay when Halfords were doing them brand new for £800 😕
On the sizing front, I'm 6ft and on a 20", using it for mostly flat woodland riding with a bit of road to get there and back. Which might also be why the forks aren't an issue for me, if I was bashing my way down lakeland passes on it I might want to upgrade them.
I've got one and wouldn't recommend them. I still use it as a commuter but:
the fork is truly awful on a long ride it stiffens up massively now it's almost completely rigid all the time. Given the standard it follows I can't find a replacement fork for it.
the headset is not at all sealed and fails frequently
The gears were really poor.i switched them out for a set of slx stuff I had lying around
If it were my money I would buy the more expensive boardman knowing stuff can be easily replaced or repaired.
But bear in mind. My bizango has done hundreds of miles so maybe heavier use than expected at the price point?
Need? NEED?!!!
When did it become about need! 😆
If you want to give your forks a bit of a refresh
And if you want to swap them this headset will let you stick a tapered steerer fork in there.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brand-x-headset-44iets-sealed/rp-prod130944?gs=1
Does anyone know how much the frame itself costs? Not that I'm in the market for a hardtail, no. Definitely not. But I have some 34s and some wheels and... well OK, I have a bike with no frame basically. And I'm an inverse snob, I like my supermarket fatbike and it's a while since I've had a functioning halfords bike...
This will bring either bike down 20% from halfords and if you wait they often do flash sales with 10% off.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/22-off-any-purchase-halfords-1603626
Got the 2015 model on cycle to work.
Forks are fine. They are more than adequate.
Deore drive train is spot on. No issues.
My only issue is the dogpoo acera brakes.
Bought some deore 615s and more than happy now. Just needs a dropper.
I have a v2 scandal for sale, mostly new parts and much higher spec than a voodoo
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/on-one-scandal-18-29er-new-build-dt-swiss-thomson-xtr
Changed the spec since, now running xt chainset,shifter, mech and trp carbon brakes and all for £500