Horrible, horrible newbie question

Right, brace yourself.

I'm looking for a seriously budget mountain bike for commuting and
hopefully venturing further afield in the future. When I say budget, I
mean sub 200 quid, which I realise is phenomenally tight.

I was looking at a couple of Raleigh (Motomax) and Diamonback (FS20)
models - can anyone offer any advice at all?

Also, I'm about 6ft4, is a 19" frame really going to be big enough? All
of the bikes in my price range seem to be 19" frames at the most.

I have read the FAQ and couldn't see anything stating that I shouldn't
post this, so go easy on us!

Thanks

"Moorish" wrote in message
news
Right, brace yourself.

I'm looking for a seriously budget mountain bike for commuting and
hopefully venturing further afield in the future. When I say budget, I
mean sub 200 quid, which I realise is phenomenally tight.

I was looking at a couple of Raleigh (Motomax) and Diamonback (FS20)
models - can anyone offer any advice at all?

Also, I'm about 6ft4, is a 19" frame really going to be big enough? All
of the bikes in my price range seem to be 19" frames at the most.

I have read the FAQ and couldn't see anything stating that I shouldn't
post this, so go easy on us!

Thanks

Buy second hand.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks for email address

Tumbleweed wrote:
"Moorish" wrote in message
news
Right, brace yourself.

I'm looking for a seriously budget mountain bike for commuting and
hopefully venturing further afield in the future. When I say budget, I
mean sub 200 quid, which I realise is phenomenally tight.

I was looking at a couple of Raleigh (Motomax) and Diamonback (FS20)
models - can anyone offer any advice at all?

Also, I'm about 6ft4, is a 19" frame really going to be big enough? All
of the bikes in my price range seem to be 19" frames at the most.

I have read the FAQ and couldn't see anything stating that I shouldn't
post this, so go easy on us!

Thanks


Buy second hand.


Thanks, but that doesn't really help with the dilemma of what to buy. Do
you have any recommendations?

"Moorish" wrote in message
news:XG0Ec.1417$Dq1.1059@newsfe6-win...
Tumbleweed wrote:
"Moorish" wrote in message
news
Right, brace yourself.

I'm looking for a seriously budget mountain bike for commuting and
hopefully venturing further afield in the future. When I say budget, I
mean sub 200 quid, which I realise is phenomenally tight.

I was looking at a couple of Raleigh (Motomax) and Diamonback (FS20)
models - can anyone offer any advice at all?

Also, I'm about 6ft4, is a 19" frame really going to be big enough? All
of the bikes in my price range seem to be 19" frames at the most.

I have read the FAQ and couldn't see anything stating that I shouldn't
post this, so go easy on us!

Thanks


Buy second hand.


Thanks, but that doesn't really help with the dilemma of what to buy. Do
you have any recommendations?

Blimey that was quick!! Sorry dont know anything about mountain bikes... but
it means you can buy a bike that costs twice as much as you thought (ie you
can get a £400 one for £200) so you can at least size up more expensive
bikes. For second hand you either have to decide what you want and wait or
take something that seems OK at the time but isnt exactly what you wanted,
i'm doing the same for a tourer/hybrid.

BTW do you really mean a mountain bike, ie are you going to be doing lots of
off-road?
--
email replies not necessary but to contact use;

tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Moorish wrote:

Thanks, but that doesn't really help with the dilemma of what to buy.
Do you have any recommendations?

Have a look in the ad-mag for a few weeks. You get plenty of very nice
mountain bikes with things like "ridden twice" in the ads. Should be spot
on. I wouldn't recommend doing what I did - buying an ex hire bike. BB was
shot, pedal bearings shot etc. Made it relatively expensive for what it was
second hand. My MTB's a Giant, and I like it. That's about as much as I know
about different makes of bike...

Doki wrote:
Moorish wrote:


Thanks, but that doesn't really help with the dilemma of what to buy.
Do you have any recommendations?


Have a look in the ad-mag for a few weeks. You get plenty of very nice
mountain bikes with things like "ridden twice" in the ads. Should be spot
on. I wouldn't recommend doing what I did - buying an ex hire bike. BB was
shot, pedal bearings shot etc. Made it relatively expensive for what it was
second hand. My MTB's a Giant, and I like it. That's about as much as I know
about different makes of bike...



Private sales are a bit of a no-go for me as I don't have transport.
I'll take a look into Giant cycles.

Thanks for the replies thus far people

Moorish wrote:

Right, brace yourself.

I'm looking for a seriously budget mountain bike for commuting and
hopefully venturing further afield in the future. When I say budget, I
mean sub 200 quid, which I realise is phenomenally tight.

I was looking at a couple of Raleigh (Motomax) and Diamonback (FS20)
models - can anyone offer any advice at all?

Also, I'm about 6ft4, is a 19" frame really going to be big enough? All
of the bikes in my price range seem to be 19" frames at the most.

I have read the FAQ and couldn't see anything stating that I shouldn't
post this, so go easy on us!

It's best to go and try some out for size. A 19" frame on a full
mountain bike is about as big as you get. I just tried a 21" hybrid
which I didn't like, and ended up with a 17" (although it has a slanted
top tube, so isn't a true 17") Apollo from Halfords, it was only £130,
but the choice I made was based on the bike *feeling* right.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Concerto 16v: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://www.thehewitts.plus.com - now online

"Moorish" wrote in message
...
Doki wrote:
Moorish wrote:


Thanks, but that doesn't really help with the dilemma of what to buy.
Do you have any recommendations?


Have a look in the ad-mag for a few weeks. You get plenty of very nice
mountain bikes with things like "ridden twice" in the ads. Should be
spot
on. I wouldn't recommend doing what I did - buying an ex hire bike. BB
was
shot, pedal bearings shot etc. Made it relatively expensive for what it
was
second hand. My MTB's a Giant, and I like it. That's about as much as I
know
about different makes of bike...



Private sales are a bit of a no-go for me as I don't have transport.
I'll take a look into Giant cycles.

Thanks for the replies thus far people

get a bus to where they live, cycle back :-)
--
email replies not necessary but to contact use;

tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Moorish wrote:

Doki wrote:
Moorish wrote:


Thanks, but that doesn't really help with the dilemma of what to buy.
Do you have any recommendations?


Have a look in the ad-mag for a few weeks. You get plenty of very nice
mountain bikes with things like "ridden twice" in the ads. Should be spot
on. I wouldn't recommend doing what I did - buying an ex hire bike. BB was
shot, pedal bearings shot etc. Made it relatively expensive for what it was
second hand. My MTB's a Giant, and I like it. That's about as much as I know
about different makes of bike...



Private sales are a bit of a no-go for me as I don't have transport.
I'll take a look into Giant cycles.

Thanks for the replies thus far people

Just be wary of the second hand stuff though. I have an old mountain
bike here that would have cost me more to update, than I just paid for a
new bike that was already fitted with the components I was about to buy.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Concerto 16v: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://www.thehewitts.plus.com - now online

Andy Hewitt wrote:

Moorish wrote:


Right, brace yourself.

I'm looking for a seriously budget mountain bike for commuting and
hopefully venturing further afield in the future. When I say budget, I
mean sub 200 quid, which I realise is phenomenally tight.

I was looking at a couple of Raleigh (Motomax) and Diamonback (FS20)
models - can anyone offer any advice at all?

Also, I'm about 6ft4, is a 19" frame really going to be big enough? All
of the bikes in my price range seem to be 19" frames at the most.

I have read the FAQ and couldn't see anything stating that I shouldn't
post this, so go easy on us!


It's best to go and try some out for size. A 19" frame on a full
mountain bike is about as big as you get. I just tried a 21" hybrid
which I didn't like, and ended up with a 17" (although it has a slanted
top tube, so isn't a true 17") Apollo from Halfords, it was only £130,
but the choice I made was based on the bike *feeling* right.


Yeah I intend to go and try some out. Halfords stock both Raleigh &
Diamondback by the look of it, so I'd like to take a look at the two
models mentioned in my initial post. I'm leaning toward the Diamondback
FS20 because it has front disc brakes, which I'm told are a lot better.