Help buying mountain bike under £100

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Nicolas199
Posts: 1
Joined: 23 Nov 2022, 10:05pm

Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by Nicolas199 »

Hello everyone,
I recently moved to the UK and would like to buy a bicycle to move into the city, I was looking for options for under £100.
I’m 1,69m so probably a 54cm Road Bike Size would be suitable. (I would rather use a big mountain bike than a Small one).
These are the preferred options I found. I would appreciate any advice on which one seems to be the best possible mountain bike:

Option 1: Kona 7005 aluminum, Frame size 15" - 16", £70
Link: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/moun ... 1439919458

Option 2: Saracen 20”, model unknown, £97.00
Link: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/bike-20/1442020027

Option 3: Giant Terrago, Frame size unknown, £99.00
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... dcf912d101

Option four: None of them.

Thank you veery much!
Eyebrox
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Joined: 5 Aug 2015, 8:56pm
Location: Ayrshire

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by Eyebrox »

54cm road bike is a medium and would indeed suit someone your height. However the Saracen is a small size and wouldn't match up to your expectations. The Kona looks more like a BMX bike than an MTB and looks far smaller than a 20" bike. The Terrago was good in its day. That bike will be about 20 years old and will do a turn if the components are in reasonable condition. This is your main concern. The parts, particularly wheels and gearing, need to have been looked after or replaced. It is not possible to form a sound judgement from small pictures on a forum. You should see the bikes and sit on them if possible before buying.
Nearholmer
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Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by Nearholmer »

Do you live near to a bike recycling charity?

If you can find one near you, they are very definitely the best option for very cheap bikes in serviceable condition.

Our local one generally has bikes available for c£100, and they have all been serviced, parts replaced where necessary, and are fit for a good few years to come. https://mkchristianfoundation.co.uk/cycle-saviours/
Barrowman
Posts: 441
Joined: 8 Jan 2022, 6:35pm

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by Barrowman »

What Nearholmer said. There are a couple of suitable outlets quite close to me not far from Stourbridge/Kidderminster. But sure to be some in your neck of the woods if you aren't around here.
mumbojumbo
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Joined: 1 Aug 2018, 8:18pm

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by mumbojumbo »

The Kona looks good but a little small I fear.
djnotts
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Joined: 26 May 2008, 12:51pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by djnotts »

The Saracen looks to be 20" wheels rather than frame! A child's bike. The Kona will be too small - if measured as Kona do, then 16" to top of seat tube.
Nearholmer
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Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by Nearholmer »

The other question: do you actually need a mountain bike to commute on?

Most cheaper ones are heavy and they are pretty much all very low geared, so annoyingly slow if the route is reasonably flat. For most commutes, a hybrid will be quicker, and certainly less heavy.
rareposter
Posts: 1987
Joined: 27 Aug 2014, 2:40pm

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by rareposter »

The Saracen is a 20" wheel ie, a BMX!

The Kona looks great but it'll be small, probably more suited to someone about 10cm shorter than you and if you'd rather ride a bigger bike than a smaller one, it's not for you. Shame cos it looks the best of the three.

The Giant I would avoid simply because there is zero info on it. One picture and nothing whatsoever about spec, history etc. That one has DODGY written all over it.

I would go with Option 4. None of them.
DevonDamo
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Joined: 24 May 2011, 1:42am

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by DevonDamo »

I always ask myself whether it's likely that a new forum member would have really signed up to ask their question, rather than just get an instant answer via a Google search. And we're talking about bikes for sale on Gumtree and Facebook marketplace.... In the modern age, would you really send a telegram to your great aunt Hilda in Australia for her opinion on a Chesterfield, whilst it was being auctioned? And would you sign up to two separate forums to ask the exact same burning question as the OP has? In this case, the OP is asking us to compare the commuting potential of 3 bikes, one of which is, apparently, a BMX... Does that not make the question seem even more unlikely?

But it's probably just me being a beastly cynic, so as you were. Carry on clicking those links - hopefully they're safe, and won't later be edited to sites that aren't.
keyboardmonkey
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Joined: 1 Dec 2009, 5:05pm
Location: Yorkshire

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by keyboardmonkey »

DevonDamo wrote: 25 Nov 2022, 8:40am I always ask myself whether it's likely that a new forum member would have really signed up to ask their question, rather than just get an instant answer via a Google search… it's probably just me being a beastly cynic, so as you were. Carry on clicking those links - hopefully they're safe, and won't later be edited to sites that aren't.
Another cynic here. This sort of thing, where a first time poster asks a question - and often never or barely returns, seems to be getting more commonplace. I hope to be proved wrong, but it feels as though some are taking advantage of regular forum members’ goodwill. But since I’m here, and for what it’s worth, in my humble opinion a 54cm bike is going to be too big for someone 1.69m tall.

I didn’t click on any of the links.
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simonineaston
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Joined: 9 May 2007, 1:06pm
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Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by simonineaston »

I didn’t click on any of the links.
In recent news items, we learn that online fraud has reached epidemic proportions. And this forum is open to all and thus, super-easy to access. Some cynicism may be warrented...
but on the assumption that nicolas is genuine, I'd repeat the advice that their local bike recycling project would be a good starting point. A decent bike, checked over, parts replaced and sold for a fair price.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
rareposter
Posts: 1987
Joined: 27 Aug 2014, 2:40pm

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by rareposter »

DevonDamo wrote: 25 Nov 2022, 8:40am I always ask myself whether it's likely that a new forum member would have really signed up to ask their question, rather than just get an instant answer via a Google search… it's probably just me being a beastly cynic, so as you were. Carry on clicking those links - hopefully they're safe, and won't later be edited to sites that aren't.
There's more of that and also technical questions of
"what gear is best for climbing hills?"
"what wheels should I buy?"

With absolutely no other info that would be required to actually answer those questions.
It is a strange one at times but I've dealt with similar people in bike shops and when I've been ride leading. Equally I've seen a mix of obviously dodgy adverts but also some genuine bargains being sold by people who had no idea what they'd bought.

In the year or so post Olympics, there were quite a few really good road bikes (often Pinarello...) being sold very cheap, obviously by people who'd bought them thinking they'd be just like Bradley Wiggins but then found out that cycling was hard. 😂
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simonineaston
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Location: ...at a cricket ground

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by simonineaston »

Mind you, it's also true to recall that we all started our bicycle journey somewhere - I remember going to the cycle shop just off the Edgware Road and being accutely conscious of the pained look on the prop's face when I asked for such and such with scant attention to any helpful background info. ie what size, what make and what I needed it for !
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
Vorpal
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Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by Vorpal »

Everyone is saying that the Kona will be small... This is likely, but it somewhat depends on the OP's build. I'm a wee bit taller than the OP and use a 16" frame on my MTB-based hybrid. That said, I have long legs and relatively short torso, so I tend to take a frame on the smallish end of the range for my height. I'd need to know the virtual top tube and / or try the bike before I'd make a judgement.

That said, a mountain bike is not what I would choose for city riding. As others have said, a bike recycling centre is a good option for a bike that suitable for city riding. Cycling UK has a page on finding & choosing a bike https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/cycli ... dhand-bike and information about such recycling centres: https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/guide ... ng-schemes
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simonhill
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Location: Essex

Re: Help buying mountain bike under £100

Post by simonhill »

The simple thing to do is always ask first time posters for more info and meanwhile EVERYONE else keeps quiet. A simple what is your intended route would have done in this case.

Unfortunately even though I've suggested this before, many can't resist replying - why, hold off for a while.
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