Off-road bike recommendations

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Gomez77
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Joined: 29 Mar 2023, 3:59pm

Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Gomez77 »

Hello,

I realise this will be a question with a vast number of possible answers and opinions, but I'm looking to buy an off-road/mountain bike.

I have recently moved back to Scotland after living in Nottingham for 16 years. I'm looking to hit some off-road trails in the highlands and glens and hopefully reaching some more remote fishing locations.

I have no idea which brands would be considered worth while looking at. As a teenager ( in the 90s), I was quite interested in mountain bikes. Brands I can remember from that time were Marin, Trek, Specialised, Scott, Muddy Fox, Kona. A lot of these appear to be still making bikes. I have noticed a few others like Boardman, Cube, Orbea, Voodoo, Canondale, Canyon. All of these look good to me, but looks aren't everything…

I guess I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a good brand with reliable suspension, but also what brands might I want to avoid?

Then there are components - in my day, we had Shimano Deore range of group sets, with XT being pretty much top dog. Can anyone point me to any resource to help me understand what is available now?

Thanks very much for your help.
Jdsk
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Jdsk »

Welcome.

Do you have a target price?

Jonathan
Gomez77
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Joined: 29 Mar 2023, 3:59pm

Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Gomez77 »

Jdsk wrote: 29 Mar 2023, 5:40pm
Do you have a target price?
Thanks Jonathan, I was thinking around the £2k mark.
Nearholmer
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Nearholmer »

If you use Facebook, you might want to join Gravel* Bikes UK, because there are members in most places, very definitely in several parts of Scotland, who know the ground locally and can advise on which bikes work best. The “thousand pound bike” and “two thousand pound bike” questions come up very regularly there.

Something to think about is how exactly you anticipate using the bike, for instance; long distance load-lugger; light or no load, fast as you can go on flowy gravel roads; twisty, rooty, steep and very bumpy tracks; lowland with winter mud; etc., because the optimum for each is different, although some bikes can tackle a very wide range of wants.

People will say “you can do anything on any bike; in my day we did the north face of the Eiger on a penny farthing and slept overnight at the summit in an old cardboard box”, which is doubtless true, but if you’re buying new you can choose the most suitable.

*Members ride all sorts of bikes, not just what is marketed as “gravel bikes”, the defining factor being that they tend to ride “to places”, rather than circuits on designed MTB trails.
Last edited by Nearholmer on 30 Mar 2023, 9:25am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cowsham
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Cowsham »

You'll be considering racks for carrying fishing gear etc so you'll need a bike with plenty of fixings for that sort of thing

From own experience -- I have a cube acid ( two chain wheels version ie pre single chain wheel 2017 ) -- nowhere near £2k ( about £800 ) but a great bike -- it's my go to do all bike could sit on it all day long -- climbs up vertical hills. Deore XT group set -- hydraulic brakes ( which are great for packing the bike ie caliper brakes get in the way -- discs don't.)

Too light a bike isn't good for carrying stuff cos it wobbles too much under load.

Best advice I've ever heard is -- test ride loads of bikes you'll know which suits your body type best.
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JohnR
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by JohnR »

Consider a trip to Spa Cycles in Harrogate to try out one of their gravel bikes https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b17s23p0/ ... and-Gravel which can then be built to fit your needs.
Usually riding a Rohloff-equipped Spa Cycles Elan Ti
Nearholmer
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Nearholmer »

Reading the question again, seems to me that the biggest decision the OP has to reach is MTB or Gravel, after which the search for particular models can start.

I’m a bad adviser in this decision, because I’ve never “got” suspension bikes, but I suppose it depends heavily on the terrain to be ridden - if it’s truly rough, then an MTB is indicated, but the definition of “truly rough” is a very individual thing.
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jezer
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by jezer »

I have just put my gravel bike on ebay, ref 234951872818. It may be worth a look 🚲🤔
Power to the pedals
Gomez77
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Joined: 29 Mar 2023, 3:59pm

Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Gomez77 »

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

To the question gravel or mountain bike - I think I'm pretty much set on getting mountain bike. I anticipate some pretty uneven terrain, including tree roots and rocks, etc.

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Orbea/ ... -2022/VEA8

I'm really liking the look of the Orbea OIZ H30, but this is my problem - I only know that it looks nice, no idea if it is actually worth that kind of money or not. Fox forks? Are they decent? I see people raving about RockShox but I don't see many bikes fitted with those as standard.

Shimano M6100 components - no idea how they rank in the current range.

Thanks again folks.
Last edited by Gomez77 on 30 Mar 2023, 10:34pm, edited 1 time in total.
Gomez77
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Gomez77 »

JohnR wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 6:24pm Consider a trip to Spa Cycles in Harrogate to try out one of their gravel bikes https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b17s23p0/ ... and-Gravel which can then be built to fit your needs.
thanks for the recommendation, but that's a little bit out of the way for me I'm afraid as I'm in Fife, Scotland.
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Cowsham
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Cowsham »

Gomez77 wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 10:31pm I see people raving about RockShox but I don't see many bikes fitted with those as standard.

Shimano M6100 components - no idea how they rank in the current range.

Thanks again folks.
My cube acid is rock shock with remote lock out as standard. The deore xt 2x11 speed is sweet as a nut although I see they've moved to sram 1 x 12 speed which I've never got on with. Sram have a push push trigger system whereas the shimano is push pull which I find more ergonomic ie with sram you're having to let go of one to find the other with same thumb. With shimano your thumb and finger are on the triggers. ( my bike is 2017 )
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JohnR
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by JohnR »

Gomez77 wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 10:32pm
JohnR wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 6:24pm Consider a trip to Spa Cycles in Harrogate to try out one of their gravel bikes https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b17s23p0/ ... and-Gravel which can then be built to fit your needs.
thanks for the recommendation, but that's a little bit out of the way for me I'm afraid as I'm in Fife, Scotland.
Fair comment unless you can plan a holiday in that direction. In my case I bought a frame after correspondence by email but I had already figured out by trial and error what bike I was trying to build and the Spa Cycles Elan frame ticked the right boxes.

However, something you need to decide is whether you need a full MTB with suspension what won't ride well on roads or something that's equally happy both on road and off road although optimum for neither. There's some pertinent discussion at viewtopic.php?t=155487.
Usually riding a Rohloff-equipped Spa Cycles Elan Ti
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Cowsham
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by Cowsham »

In my opinion you don't really need any suspension -- 2" tyres and the right geometry to suit your body is more important. Also you'd be able to use a front rack easier. One of those surly bikes might be worth considering.
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joeegg
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by joeegg »

Earlier this year i bought a Vitus Sentier VRS 29 from CRC.
About half your budget and capable enough for the red routes at Hamsterley. Mostly Shimano groupset,Clarks brakes,with a nice Marzocchi fork.Chunky wheels and tyres
so draggy on the road but thats not the point of this bike.
I remember my first mtb,a full rigid steel Marin from over 30 years ago. Nearly the same price as the Vitus but the difference in spec and value for money is enormous.
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pjclinch
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Re: Off-road bike recommendations

Post by pjclinch »

If it's primarily for fishing access, as opposed to going off-road riding for the sake of off-road riding, I think you can get an awful lot of change out of 2K and still get a perfectly adequate bike for the job.

My MTB is a second-hand Cannondale I bought off Gumtree about 5 years ago for £300 (half price, hardly ever used by the look of it) and for general chugging from A to B off-road it does everything needed. I have a rack on it and a mount for a bar bag so it takes stuff without it having to be in rucksack., it's recent enough to take 27.5" rather than 26" tyres so I've a good selection of tyres available, and aside from changing the saddle to something I can sit on for longer than seconds at a time it's been great, and good enough to ride off-road for the sake of it too.

I think once you have hydraulic discs you're at the equipment level where you're past Mountain Bike Shaped Objects, even a basic model these days is enormously capable in terms of getting you from A to B. The more serious kids in the Junior CC I coach at have much more expensive and capable machines, but they're doing some very serious shredding that scares me just watching it (both the terrain they're covering and the speed they're moving). It's very easy to "over-bike" these days for off-road, not that's necessarily a bad thing but it's worth knowing you don't need to spend £2K to have something for a basic job.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
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