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Mountain bike, low end but decent...

cj66

pfm Member
Have decided my lazy legs need some attention, along with general fitness.
Now looking for a bike that hits the balance between reasonable quality i.e. won't fall apart and various components function well, against price, plus a nice bike would get nicked in moments anyway. Therefore, no serious stuff, more like a toy that will last. The roads here aren't great and a little unmade track will be traversed.
Front suspension desired, 10 gears are plenty and needs to be available by mail order as the stores here seem to keep cheap n nasty or mega bucks. The only exception being Decathlon so models from them of interest also e.g.

https://www.decathlon.co.th/en/p/85...sp-mountain-bike-grey.html#our_promise_banner

I'm completely out of touch with bikes and what features and makes of various parts to look out for.
No problems with buying a lower spec. bike and replacing the odd part to achieve goal.
 
@farfromthesun
More travel on the forks, ally wheels and hydraulic brakes as the differences. Seem to be sensible and desirable. There's a branch nearby so I might get lucky for a medium frame. Ta.

@hifilover1979
That does look extra tasty, which would be a worry as it would likely go walkies!
Thanks for the thought though.
 
I may be wrong, but I would have thought if the budget is much under £500 then front suspension would be either very heavy, very poor quality or both. You don't really need front suspension unless you're really going off road - not for towpaths and the like. On the other hand if your intended terrain requires front shocks I would think the budget would need to be north of £500 - probably nearer £1000.
 
The last time I was looking at something similar, nothing fancy, less than £500 (BHT 22k) the reviews were split between the Decathlon offerings and Cube (who were new to the UK at the time and pricing their bikes very keenly). I ended up with a Cube because my local dealer would accept my works Cycle to Work voucher, but I did like the look and feel of the Decathlon equivalent, seemed better quality than the Carrera stuff in the same price range.
 
@farfromthesun
More travel on the forks, ally wheels and hydraulic brakes as the differences. Seem to be sensible and desirable. There's a branch nearby so I might get lucky for a medium frame. Ta.

@hifilover1979
That does look extra tasty, which would be a worry as it would likely go walkies!
Thanks for the thought though.

Buy a decent bike lock/chain etc and it'll be fine. There's plenty of good security for bikes these days.
 
I may be wrong, but I would have thought if the budget is much under £500 then front suspension would be either very heavy, very poor quality or both. You don't really need front suspension unless you're really going off road - not for towpaths and the like. On the other hand if your intended terrain requires front shocks I would think the budget would need to be north of £500 - probably nearer £1000.

I'd say that's a very generalist comment. Tarring all bikes under a certain budget with heavy/cheap etc...

For an every day cyclist, £500 is a bloody good budget IMO.

Thats why the Planet X Fat Baz bike seems to be very well thought of and they sell well. They seem to be recommended a lot for every day cyclists
 
I'd say that's a very generalist comment. Tarring all bikes under a certain budget with heavy/cheap etc...

Nope, just commenting that you cannot get light or particularly good front suspension on a bike under £500, and therefore if that's your budget it might be better to look for a bike without front suspension.
 
Nope, just commenting that you cannot get light or particularly good front suspension on a bike under £500, and therefore if that's your budget it might be better to look for a bike without front suspension.


Define good...

You clearly know what you're talking about...
 
For road and unsurfaced tracks you don't need suspension. It adds cost, weight and complexity. The kind of bike I'd suggest is generally sold as a hybrid. Decathlon are good value, with a good range.

In the UK the Planet X Fat Baz is exactly the kind of bike I'd want for your stated use.
 
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"Lightweight, durable or cheap - pick two"

This is how I view bikes and bike components.

You can have "good" cheap, durable forks but they won't be lightweight.
 
I'd also defo go without front suspension, a 29er with hybrid / thinner tyres, You will end up with better quality components and have a lighter bike to ride.
 
Have decided my lazy legs need some attention, along with general fitness.
Now looking for a bike that hits the balance between reasonable quality i.e. won't fall apart and various components function well, against price, plus a nice bike would get nicked in moments anyway. Therefore, no serious stuff, more like a toy that will last. The roads here aren't great and a little unmade track will be traversed.
Front suspension desired, 10 gears are plenty and needs to be available by mail order as the stores here seem to keep cheap n nasty or mega bucks. The only exception being Decathlon so models from them of interest also e.g.

https://www.decathlon.co.th/en/p/85...sp-mountain-bike-grey.html#our_promise_banner

I'm completely out of touch with bikes and what features and makes of various parts to look out for.
No problems with buying a lower spec. bike and replacing the odd part to achieve goal.
Decathlon bikes are excellent value for money and come highly recommended at most price points.
The ST 540 or 900, if you can stretch the budget a little, are difficult to better at the price.
The only problem is that they are all in very short supply.
 
My advice would be to pickup something used locally that you can try for size. If needed, get it serviced by a local cycle shop. Over here in the UK, bikes are in short supply due to shipping competition before Brexit and the surge to get goods into the UK. Even used bike prices seem very high at the moment. Perhaps the new/used markets are better for you if you are still in Thailand. Also consider a Gravel bike for your type of proposed riding. As said previously, you don't need front suspension unless you are going well off road and a Gravel bike is well up to doing most paths and trails and is good on roads too. You can change the handlebars to flats or a type you like if you don't want dropouts.
 
Thanks for the suggestions thus far.

I went for a dekko at the local Decathlon store today.
Same as in the UK reported earlier, very little stock. No 530, 540 or other mountain/similar models to show. Just a 520, which actually looked good enough for my needs but again only large size ( I'm a shorty ) available and some street bikes.
I asked if ordering in from other stores or warehouse space was possible but no stock there either.
Meanwhile, I'm keeping an eye on the second hand market.
 
Define good...

You clearly know what you're talking about...

The RST gila forks on the Planet X mountain bike you mentioned weigh 2.5kg, where rigid steel forks weigh around 1kg. That's nearly 3.5 lbs of extra weight on the bike vs rigid forks. That may be worth it if you really need 100mm of travel at the front, but for riding over broken surfaces a 2" tire at 40psi or lower will be just as effective. There's also the issue of long term maintenance with a suspension fork,
 
That Planet X Fat Baz looks fine although it is of course pretty heavy. It'll be perfectly fine for wobbling about on though. Stuff like changing the wire-bead tyres to a lighter folding tyre could save a fair bit of weight but beyond that I'm not sure there are many options to make it lighter without splashing a fair bit of cash. The brakes and gears will most likely be pretty decent (although I've not used Clarks brakes but I think they're supposed to be ok). Maybe replacing the dropper post as that looks like it'd be heavy (I don't get on with them anyway, but that could just be me!). Looks very decent for the cash though.

Yes something with a rigid fork would be lighter but cheap mountain bikes usually have suspension as that's what people want (and even cheapish suspension forks will be more fun if you went to a trail centre or the like). I've also found that I've not had to do a lot of maintenance with most of the suspension forks I use, and some of them are pretty old, so I wouldn't particularly worry about that.
 
I've also found that I've not had to do a lot of maintenance with most of the suspension forks I use.
Nor have I, until this year, other than a fluid change on some crappy elastomer jobs donkey's years ago, which was easy. It was a *bastard*. And I'm supposed to be good at this stuff. It's true though, you'll get 10 years + out of susp forks, and after that will you actually care? Same goes for hydraulic brakes.
 


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