help what mountain bike?

[hardtailhero offline]

what is the best bike available of under £200 . i will use it for trails, light downhill and small jumps?

[dkcrooby offline]

I think what you should do is sit back, digest all the information you have already been given, some of which includes suggestions on bikes that may fall within your price range as possible second-hand bikes. Have a look at ebay and pinkbike once you've decided which bike you would like to get your hands on. If you find a bike on either copy and paste a link, and I'm sure we will be happy to help.
Ask yourself if you want a fixerupper and if you have to knowhow to fix it up, or do you want a bike that is ready to ride. Once you have a firm idea in your head about what it is you are looking for, then you will start making informed choices.

[DirtDisciple offline]

I think what you should do is sit back, digest all the information you have already been given, some of which includes suggestions on bikes that may fall within your price range as possible second-hand bikes. Have a look at ebay and pinkbike once you've decided which bike you would like to get your hands on. If you find a bike on either copy and paste a link, and I'm sure we will be happy to help.
Ask yourself if you want a fixerupper and if you have to knowhow to fix it up, or do you want a bike that is ready to ride. Once you have a firm idea in your head about what it is you are looking for, then you will start making informed choices.

second that.........

[andrew_mck_2010 offline]

you have two options:

1. wait until you have more money
2. look on pinkbike, ebay, gumtree etc for a second hand hardtail in your price range close to where you live

there is no point wasting your money on trying to upgrade your current bike as the frame is terrible and will not hold up to the abuse, it will also look really stupid !

[DirtDisciple offline]

you have two options:

1. wait until you have more money
2. look on pinkbike, ebay, gumtree etc for a second hand hardtail in your price range close to where you live

there is no point wasting your money on trying to upgrade your current bike as the frame is terrible and will not hold up to the abuse, it will also look really stupid !

Andrew, I think looking at some other posts we have already driven that point home about his current steed, good news he is now looking at other machines

[andrew_mck_2010 offline]

was just simply ruling that idea out and narrowing down his choices to make his decision easier

[DirtDisciple offline]

was just simply ruling that idea out and narrowing down his choices to make his decision easier

Sorry Andrew I didn't mean to come across wrong, just this lad's about the same age as my son (12) and I think he took it to heart a bit when we all effectively slated not only his bike but his ideas, I was only suggesting that now he's got over that and has come round more to the advice he's been given, I don't see the pointing in hammering the point home any further...if that makes sense

ta

[konastinky888 offline]

Not bashing the bike but I would de sticker the Apollo (to disguise it) maybe get some cheap stickers off eBay to put back on (not apollo, kona, Spesh, anything) and then also change the stem and handlebars and it will look fine. The stem really stands out as a part to change at the moment. You can get good ones on eBay 2nd hand for cheap. Maybe upgrade the forks too if you can grab a suitable second hand set off a mate again nice and cheap. Then proceed to ride it hard until it dies, hopefully it lasts a while, and then get a new bike.

[ObscuraSky offline]

There's no point looking at a new bike sub-£200, because there's nothing that will stand up to any kind of downhilling or jumping at that price. The answer then has to be to look for something second hand.......and then it's more a case of what's available, rather than picking a particular make or model.

It's still worth remembering though that a crap bike 5 years ago will still be a crap bike today, so go for something that was good in its day, but has since become outdated. So, for example, you'll definately be looking at something with rim brakes rather than disk brakes............ but that's ok; they were good enough for everyone a few years ago and they'll work perfectly well if they're properly set up. A friend of mine bought an old Stump Jumper for £40 recently. He uses it to comute to work on because he's worried about getting his regular bike nicked, but it would cope just fine on the trails too - not all that long ago it was considered a really good bike off-road. Good luck mate.

[carboz offline]

just keep an eye on ebay etc, my kids are about your age and i got one of them a GT chucker xs1 for £200 and it was only a year old, and a Kona shred for £180 they both needed a bit of work but think the only bits i bought were new grips,just be patient and wait for the right bike to come along, there are plenty of people on here to give you any advice you need when it comes to fixing bikes so dont think you cant do it, the best way to learn about your bike is to take it apart and rebuild it,

[hardtailhero offline]

hi i was thinking of building a bike from scratch starting with the frame. as im only 12 i dont have loads of money so build the bike as i get money and use my current bike until complete? i will post a link an all parts i think of buying and you give me thoughts.

[hardtailhero offline]

thinking of a hardrock frame. go to http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialized-H ... _500wt_950
thoughts?

[Baggieboy1 offline]

hey mate the hardrocks a good frame have you looked at the GT frames on ebay there was a full gt bike it went for £180 a few days ago

[hardtailhero offline]

hi i will have a look at frames im not saying that is the frame i am going to get but just wondering weather its good to build a bike from scratch. as i would like to have a nice custom bike with some nice parts

[Baggieboy1 offline]

ive just seen a blue gt chucker on ebay full bike couple of hours left to bid going for £145 at mo . building a bike from scratch is going to cost ya a fair bit of dosh mate forks and wheels ur looking around 300 id look on ebay make a list of parts ull need and a price there going for ull get an idea of the kind of money ull need