Newbie... 2 bikes for £2k

[parody]

Full susp is not appropriate for rutted fields, woodland paths with tree roots, logs, uneven groud, descents etc?

I've been reading alot and from what I can glean it seems full susp isn't unacceptable for what I picture in my head at least.

Interesting the road bike hasn't really been mentioned. I can spend more on the FS and get a cheaper roadie.

Also bear in mind these price points are with 20-30% discounts on RRP. Some of them are nearly £2k bikes I think, so I wouldnt class them as entry specs ( infact I generally avoided some with suntour forkes and groupsets I didn't recognize). The discount I mentioned above is extra via some offer code the retailers have.

My bro has a FS Ive ridden but not on trails etc, he's not local. Have hired FS too but we're only used for smooth trails in kept reserves etc... This whole try before you buy thing is not easy!

[slowster]

Full susp is not appropriate for rutted fields, woodland paths with tree roots, logs, uneven groud, descents etc?

It probably is not the best tool for the job, or even a good tool for:
- rutted fields
- woodland paths with tree roots
- uneven ground
- or even descents per se

However, for fast (exilharating and/or hairy and/or dangerous) descents on the rough sort of terrain you mention, it is probably the best - or one of the best - tools for the job. A lot of FS riders travel long distances to get to trail centres and places like the Surrey Hills, because locally the terrain lacks the big hills they need.

If you are riding off road without lots of big descents, then you:
- possibly need to pick better routes (I would not ride a rutted field unless there was no alternative)
- possibly need to practice picking better lines (FS bikes are sometimes referred to as 'skill compensators', and I think it's not uncommon for some FS riders to find that they make low level cross country riding dull/'uninvolving', and for that type of riding they prefer a hardtail or rigid bike)
- probably would do well to see what other more experienced riders are using where you like to ride.

If your hardtail has 26" wheels, then you might find that the larger wheels of a 29er will roll better over terrain such as you describe, and the more so the wider the tyres you use (some 29ers will even take 3" tyres, a.k.a. '29+', e.g. Surly Krampus). Taking it even further, you can get 'Fat Bikes' which have 26" wheels with 5" tyres, which would probably be ideal for difficult terrain like rutted fields, but which are apparently better also for technical climbs and some also use for fast descending instead of a FS.

Are there any local MTB groups where you live? If so I would suggest you contact them and ask to join them. Even if you only go out for a few rides with them, it will give you the opportunity to see the various different bikes other more experienced riders use, and the terrain/routes they choose to use them on. That will give you much better insight into what are the most suitable bikes than

I've been reading alot and from what I can glean it seems full susp isn't unacceptable for what I picture in my head at least.

[iandusud]

I have done a lot of mountain biking over the years, mostly on hard rocky trails in the south of France, but also a fair bit in the Peak District. All done on a hardtail. One thing I learned was that as I steadily dropped the tyre pressures the ride comfort increased and the speed went up. Obviously there is a limit when pinch punctures become an issue but this was on a bike that is now 20 years old with 2.1" tyres. Were there instances where a full sussser would have been better? Yes - on some of the fast hard bumpy rocky descents. However I would not have traded off the weight saving and simplicity of the hard tail for that small gain. I now mainly ride on road, I have however ridden a number times in last few years at Bedgebury Forest in Kent on the trails there. On one occasion Whyte had a demo day where I was able to try the full range of their bikes, which included both 27.5" and 29" hartail and full sus variants. As I knew the trails well I was able to push them hard and I was particularly interested to see how I would find the full sussers as at nearly 60 I feel the bumps more these days. What conclusions did I make? Well the bike I enjoyed riding most was the 27.5" hardtail. This had fatter tyres than my mtb and more fork travel. I found the bigger tyres gave a very plush ride, the bike climbed better than the full sussers and it cornered like it was on rails. If I was to buy another mtb I would definitely go for a hardtail and almost certainly a 27.5"+ variety and probably run tubeless tyres. And that is bearing in mind that it would be bought solely for off road use. I've got nothing against full sussers but unless you're trying to get down very bumpy terrain as fast as possible I don't really see any advantages, but I can see disadvantages. Also on your budget you'll get a better bike for your money. Just my thoughts.

[parody]

Ok I hear you.... Whats the point in asking for advice if I don't take it.

Tonight I will go back to the drawing board and see what my money gets me.

What might be difficult now is that before the FS was determining the budget for roadie as the choice was limited. Now the budget split is more open.

To kick me off, any recommendations for particularly good value and/or sale bikes? I'm pretty much limited to Evans, chain reaction, wiggle, tredz, cycle uk, Ribble, from memory

[iandusud]

How about for the mtb

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitu ... prod159770

Review here: https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/ ... 015-review

And for a road bike

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitu ... prod159794

[slowster]

To kick me off, any recommendations for particularly good value and/or sale bikes?

What sort of riding do you enjoy (or think you will enjoy) the most, and what sort of riding will you spend the most time doing? That should give you a good idea of what to allocate most of your money on.

If you have to commute by bike every day whatever the weather, and you are likely only to have opportunity to get out for pleasure rides once or twice a month, then I would prioritise the bike you get for commuting. My preference would be for a bike that was reliable and comfortable and could tolerate minimal maintenance, e.g. mudguards, puncture resistant tyres, good lights, and ideally a hub gear and a fully enlosed chaincase, plus the various other items that you would need (toolkit, rack, panniers, lock, wet and cold weather gear etc.).

However, if you can pick and choose when to commute by bike, as your comment "Or the car if it's that miserable" indicates, and most of your riding will be quick blasts on the road in the evening and at weekends, with only occasional off roading, then you could allocate more money on a bike that will be best suited to the evening and weekend road rides, e.g. a road race type bike or (especially if you plan to ride it in winter) an audax/sportive bike that can take mudguards. In that situation, I would not use that bike for commuting (regardless of the C2W rules, which most people probably ignore), because of the risk of it being stolen, and I would instead use the hardtail or get a hack/second hand bike for commuting (something cheap, but still reliable and with mudguards etc.).

Similarly, if off road riding is going to be what you spend most time doing, then prioritise your spending on that, and choose a bike that is best suited to your local terrain and the type of riding you are likely to do.

[parody]

Hi, thanks everyone for the replies. The priority is hard, since both feel pretty important to me. Guess I'll learn what I should have done after...

So I spent a couple hours today in cycle republic. Turned out all of my initial choices were out of stock everywhere and the website was wrong. But I happened across a last available anywhere 2018 KTM Lycan 274 that they had just put back on the shop floor without a price tag as a customer cancelled the reservation. It was discounted from £1800 to £1080 which I thought was crazy, fit me like a glove and has lockout front and rear suspension which I thought might give me the benefit of a hardtail too. I put a refundable deposit down as I didnt want to miss out on it while I look at the hardtail options tonight.

While I was there I took a liking to the Basso laguna carbon too, so that's my deposited choices for the moment and I feel like I've got a pretty good pairing... Let's see what I find later.

[parody]

Damn those Vitus look good spec too... Just not sure I wanna go own-brand as others have mentioned. Snobby I know.

[parody]

Right, i've had a look about.

For a start I'm pretty set on a carbon frame road bike now. I think this is going to get used more, daily for commute most of the year and evening fitness, so don't want to skimp. The Basso has Tiagra throughout, would have liked 105 but would have to "drop" to an alu frame.

So leaving around 1-1.1k for the MTB, the only thing I can find that competes or exceeds the Lycan specwise is another discounted KTM, the Aera Comp 2017, £1500>900. Similar spec and a carbon frame for $180 less.

So it's become a very simple KTM Lycan 274 2018 vs KTM Aera Comp 2017

Or the Vitus pairing mentioned...still iffy on Vitus...