Mountain Bike query - full suspension or no suspension?

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Mountain Bike query - full suspension or no suspension?

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Help needed here as I'm looking at buying a cheap mountain bike on Ebay in my quest to lose some of the pounds gained since I stopped smoking. There's a few on my watch list ending around 7pm tonight so answers pronto would be great please!

Anyway here's the question. Is it worth getting a second hand mountain bike with full suspension for road use? I'm kind of thinking that as the state of our roads are so bad then it might come in useful. However, I am also thinking that maybe it's just more to go wrong? How reliable/ strong are the suspension units? Are they problematic after a few years use?

As I'm only really going to riding on the road and on cycle paths in the local park should I perhaps stick with a solid frame bike with no suspension for less worries?

Thanks in advance for any advice that you guys and girls can give (y)
 
Ebay is not your best choice for mountain bikes. I buy bikes / parts from ebay and build bikes which i sell to mates. Sometimes i've bought bits on ebay for higher prices than on the net. :bang:

In a lot of cases you can go out and buy a discounted 2005/6 bike, ride it for a couple of months and put it on ebay and MAKE money as people don't really know what they're looking for.

As for suspension, cheaper bikes are a PITA and the bushes will have play. Can't really comment unless i know what model you're looking at.

PM the links and i'l pass comment.
 
for what ur intending to use the bike for, id just go for a hardtail.

what sort of bikes are u looking at? 2nd hand bike prices arent great so u can pick up some real bargains. always go for a good frame as everything else can be changed at a later date to much better components.

id deffo get a set of front shocks tho, maybe a set with a lock out system, so when on road u can lock them out so ur not bobbing about. :)

Dunc
 
i dont understand these full suspension bikes, when i pedal hard the bike bloody buckles. its really weird. i couldnt live with one.

i remember about 12-14 years ago i had a raleigh kalahari and it had a shock absorber on the handlebar rather than shocks on the front forks. i preferred that but havent seen a bike like that ever since.
 
Right, here's two of the bikes that I'm looking at:

Full suspension:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=110136745628&rd=1&rd=1

No suspension:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=110136749673&rd=1&rd=1

As they're old and probably not that brilliantly made they go cheap - somewhere around £20 - £30. That's kind of what I'm looking at spending as I'm still a skint student. I'm not after state of the art featherweight expensive stuff, just something to get me back onto a pushbike as cheaply as possible.

Basically I just want to get back onto two wheels to do a bit of cardio exercising. I'm not looking at doing any proper offroading so maybe I'd be better off going for a solid frame rather than full suspension, especially at the prices I'm looking at? Or could the rear suspension be adjusted so it is fairly hard which would stop the frame flexing all over the place?

My last proper bike was an Elswick Whirlwind, a five speed 'racing' bike from around the mid/ late 1970's. I dug it out the other day, and asides from weighing a ton the wheels were really rusty and it's looking a bit past it. I was still using it right up until the late 1990s so I certainly had my moneys worth from it! Things have obviously moved on a lot since then... :eek:

So which of the two bikes above should I go for?
 
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The non suspension one would be the best bet. The full suspension one is a nasty nasty one.

TBH, both are rather pants. :D

Try and push the budget to £50 and you'll get a nicer one.

www.gumtree.co.uk / loot / free adds are bteer for cheaper bikes
 
i dont understand these full suspension bikes, when i pedal hard the bike bloody buckles. its really weird. i couldnt live with one.

i remember about 12-14 years ago i had a raleigh kalahari and it had a shock absorber on the handlebar rather than shocks on the front forks. i preferred that but havent seen a bike like that ever since.

Once you have a decent full suspension where it has been designed rather than just assembled you'll never go back. My FSR had a 4 point rear frame to prevent 'bobbing' when pedaling.

Agree with what most people have said. If it's cheap - get a hardtail, or a solid frame and buy a set of shocks.
 
hard tail will be better for road use as full suspension is harder to work on the road.

on the other hand you wanna shift some weight so full suspension might be better :)

at the low end, rigid framed bikes will be nicer to ride/easier to ride and there is less to go tits

after having both, i now ride a hardtail as when i was riding was doing road and x country.
 
Right, looks like I'll go for a solid suspension bike then. Just want something cheap and cheerful to see if I like cycling again, then maybe get something a little better once I can afford it. If I can get one for around £20 - £30 and it falls apart then it's not that much of an issue. Can always save up and get another one :)

Just wondering though, how long should a reasonable mountain bike last for on average? Do they have a finite life? Apart from the wheels, my old Elswick racing bike from the 1970's feels like it would survive WW3 :p I don't think modern bikes would last as well, but then again they aren't built out of what seems to be iron girders (and weigh as much!)
 
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Just won this one! :woot:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110136749673

For £23 it looks like it should be fine for what I need it for and I can't complain at the price! Hopefully I'll pick it up in the next day or so and can get my cardio workout started. However, I've just checked the forecast and it's going to be wet for the rest of the week. Typical!
 
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This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
No, no no, there's absolutely NO need for suspension on the road. You just expend all your energy bouncing up and down :D I'd never have a bike with suspension again (I only ever use it on the road)

ah, just noticed you've bought a racer, that'll do!
 
On the roads around here, and pretty much everywhere else I've ridden there is plenty of need for suspension. Racing bikes do not like potholes!

Best 'road' bike I've had was a Carerra Hellcat (where'v I heard that name before? :chin:) Fitted it with some tarmac/compacted dirt michelin tyres and it made an impressive round town flyer. Could keep up with traffic easily and whenever I wanted just skip up onto pavement etc and jump down stairs etc. Then someone helped themselves to it right outside Sheffield Hallam Uni - in broad daylight - with people all about - and yes it was locked up. Gits.
 
my bike new was circa £2k. its a full sus bike, titanium, carbon fibre bla bla bla

much prefered my old hard tale bike. way more fun.

so even expensive full sus bikes can be crap.. so..erm, yeah, whre am i going with this?
 
no where.

I've spent years building up bikes and bits and bobs, and out of a 5grand spend over maybe 5yrs, I have eventually ended up spending MOST of my time riding a steel hardtail'd SINGLESPEED.
its has one gear,
it has one brake
it is fanny tastic, esp when I go out in group rides in the lakes (where I live :cool: ) and make fools of people on much newer stuff. not so great on the downs, but then if I'd taken THE BIG bike on said ride, I'd have had a heartattack before the top!!


anyway, be all and end all, is to get you out and riding. best time is not to work, but in the light evenings we have now, just go out and explore whats local (y)


oh and you DO realise you've bought a 20" monster don't you :D hope you can pick it up too, as a bike for £20 is one thing, but £50 for it, wayy too much
 
yeah, i was saying expensive bike doesnt mean its any good. i loved my old bike, jump frame, hard tail. it was awesome. new bike is crap.

i don't remeber replying to this thread before though :confused: :eek:
 
Wow MTB's have moved on from my Saracen Eiger era, my mate had a Nail Trail Marin and my other mate had a Kona something or other, I prefer Front Suspenion with a decent fork that can be stiffened for the road.

Haven't been out in an MTB for yonks, may get back into it one of these days!

Liam
 
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