Any cyclists out there ??

[fez]

I'd go for a Specialized Stumpjumper. Where abouts in Herts do you go? Some reasonable singletrack around Harpenden and St Albans but S Wales is only 2.5 hrs away for a bit of Afan action.:smt055

[shimmy]

I'd go for a Specialized Stumpjumper. Where abouts in Herts do you go? Some reasonable singletrack around Harpenden and St Albans but S Wales is only 2.5 hrs away for a bit of Afan action.:smt055

We mainly run out of Welwyn Garden City in one of 3 directions, mostly towards Wheathampstead Codicote and over to Sandridge but other runs go out to Hertford and north of WGC

[mattCSLnut]

Thx folks - some good pointers. I had looked at cannondale, specialized and Scott.

Jibm - yep, that was the attraction. We have a cycle to work scheme at work which allows us to purchase a bike and have a monthly deduction made from salary before tax. Be rude not to take advantage !:thumbs:

It's all about the weight of the bike, frame build quality and the quality of equipment that matters, not necessarily the Brand Name. I had a few TREK bikes in my short life until I got myself the current machine, few years ago. It's a "KLEIN" Mantra RACE of 1999 vintage (name I've never heard of until I got it) but with full ROCK SHOX SiD suspension, with Shimmano XTR equipment all round , hand Made in the USA entirely out of lightweight aluminium with MAVIC ceramic wheels. Cost NEW in excess of £4000 !!! :shock: luckily I didn't have to pay anything like that for it. Kind of similar in the way I bought my SG CSL :whistle:

[Yanto_csl]

That looks very nice Matt, though a bit too "serious" for my requirements / likely frequency of use....

I need to buy new to take advantage of the scheme through work, but I admit, these things seem to be good value second hand...

Out of interest, what did you give for that ?

[mattCSLnut]

That looks very nice Matt, though a bit too "serious" for my requirements / likely frequency of use....

I need to buy new to take advantage of the scheme through work, but I admit, these things seem to be good value second hand...

Out of interest, what did you give for that ?

It's all the BIKE I'll ever need :hahaha: I guess you need something that is a compromise. Good for the commute yet usable for occasional off road excursions, without looking so ostentatious like my KLEIN :hahaha: which I only use for pleasure :smt112 Still, the rule of good equipment, lightweight frame and decent build quality apply. Buying last years model makes a lot of sense too, as you usually make a huge saving over NEW... here is a link to a useful BIKE web site I use for saving money :thumbs:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/

[shimmy]

Kind of similar in the way I bought my SG CSL :whistle:

the bike doesnt look like a CAT C :hahaha:

[jibm]

It's all about the weight of the bike, frame build quality and the quality of equipment that matters, not necessarily the Brand Name. I had a few TREK bikes in my short life until I got myself the current machine, few years ago. It's a "KLEIN" Mantra RACE of 1999 vintage (name I've never heard of until I got it) but with full ROCK SHOX SiD suspension, with Shimmano XTR equipment all round , hand Made in the USA entirely out of lightweight aluminium with MAVIC ceramic wheels. Cost NEW in excess of £4000 !!! :shock: luckily I didn't have to pay anything like that for it. Kind of similar in the way I bought my SG CSL :whistle:

feck its worth more than that old 5 series its scratching the bonnet of!

[Dan_csl]

the bike doesnt look like a CAT C :hahaha:

Funny! :bigcry: :bigcry:

[mattCSLnut]

the bike doesnt look like a CAT C :hahaha:

The HPi report I did before buying it says it's HPi Clear :butthead: :birdman:

[mattCSLnut]

feck its worth more than that old 5 series its scratching the bonnet of!

You need a trip to "Speck Savers" m8 :hahaha:

[fez]

We mainly run out of Welwyn Garden City in one of 3 directions, mostly towards Wheathampstead Codicote and over to Sandridge but other runs go out to Hertford and north of WGC

We normally head from Harpenden through Sandridge to Brocket Hall and back around Ayot St Lawrence. Look out for a carbon Epic.

[shimmy]

We normally head from Harpenden through Sandridge to Brocket Hall and back around Ayot St Lawrence. Look out for a carbon Epic.

Similar to us

WGC, ayot St law, wheathampdtead, sandridge, brocket and back last week

look out for the lilac 1980s Raleigh

[Fasteddie]

Yanto, you'll need a front sus bike only (no rear - you will not get a good enough bike for your money) Giant, Scott, Kona, Specialized they will all do bikes that fit the bill and offer good value for money (never tried a cannondale the ones I like are always too expensive). The best thing to do is try a few as they all do slightly different Geo - having said that I've owned Kona, Scott and I'm on a Giant now and they are all different but you get used to the different Geo. I love my Giant XTC 2.5 which is about £800 new. Don't forget bike tech changes a lot every year the gear selection equipment gets lighter, smoother and stronger so don't compare something a few years old with something new and think it's the same just because they both say XTR!

[alexk]

I have a specialized s-works stuntjumper fsr.
Very good bike, I am very happy with it

[DuncanR]

Look out for a carbon Epic.

It will be flying by you Shim at warp speed mate so dont blink !! :hahaha::birdman: