Mountain Bike Online

The SARACEN Mantra Pro is an entry level mountain bike with beefy looks and 100mm Suntour fork. It is ideally suited to street riding.

PROS: The SARACEN Mantra Pro has good powerful brakes, and a good stem and bar combo. Retail price of £500 is also good.

CONS: The harsh ride of the SARACEN Mantra Pro’s frame and fork are a big let down.

MANTRA PRO     £ 519.99
Frame     Mantra lightweight custom butted 6061 alloy tubeset / UK-specific design / integrated headtube
Rear Shock     N/A
Fork     Suntour XCM HLO / 120 mm travel with lock-out
Headset     TH No.11N A-Headset
Shifters     Shimano Altus M310 Rapid Fire 8×3 speed
Rear Derailleur     Shimano Alivio M430
Front Derailleur     Shimano Altus M310
Chainset     Shimano FCM361 Octalink 24/32/42T 170-175 mm
Bottom Bracket     Shimano BB-ES25 Octalink
Chain     KMC Z-7
Cassette / Freewheel     Shimano HG40 8-speed cassette 11-32T
Rims     Rigida Taurus 2000 Black 32 hole
Hubs     Formula DC20/22 Alloy Black 32 hole Q/R front / rear
Tyres     Schwalbe Smart Sam Performance 26 x 2.1 inch
Brakes     Quad Nano hydraulic disc 160/160 mm pulse rotors
Handlebars     Saracen 318 Alloy OS 680 mm wide / 15 mm rise / 6 degree bend
Grips / Tape     Saracen dual-density grip
Stem     Saracen 318 6061 60-90 mm A-Head / 7 degree rise / 31.8 mm clamp
Saddle     WTB Speed V Sport SE White
Seatpost     Alloy Micro-adjust / 27.2 mm
Pedals     Alloy MTB
Extras
Colours     Gloss White
Sizes     15″ 17″ 19″ 21″

The ORANGE G2 mountain bike retails at around £650 – it has been developed for entry level mountain bikers wanting a good solid bike at a good price, together with the qualities you’d expect from a brand like Orange. The frame is aluminium, groupset mainly SRAM X-5 and the forks are the Rock Shox Dart 2.

PROS: Nice wide bars with short stem help handling and the frame is good with chunky build and welded gusset.

CONS: The forks let the whole package down.

The MONGOOSE Tyax Elite mountain bike is a good buy and makes a very capable off road machine. It comes with hydraulic disk brakes, solid aluminium frame and Suntour XCR forks. At this price thats a very good fork.Retail price is around £450.

PROS: Nice wide bars make for good ride feel, while the fork is not the best at this price it’s ok.

CONS: The standard tyres are a little slippery.

The MERIDA  Matts 40-D is an entry level mountain bike retailing at around £460. It’s ideally suited to tow path riding, rather than anything more extreme.

PROS: The MERIDA  Matts 40-D has a nice frame which is up to the job with decent enough Tektro brakes.

CONS: Forks are a real let down.

The GHOST SE 2000 is an entry level mountain bike that retails for around £530 – it’s oversized frame is well built, and comes with the RST Gila fork. Weight is fairly high, the wheels are good and it akes for a decent mountain bike for softer trail riding.

PROS: The GHOST SE 2000 comes with good strong wheels with Shimano hubs and 2.25 tyres which give a comfortable ride.

CONS: The forks are poor. The small geared cassette does not make climbing easy.

GHOST SE 2000 Specification

• Model: SE 2000
• Front travel: 100 mm
• Frame: SE 7005 DB
• Fork: RST Gila ML 100 mm
• Handlebar: GHOST Low Rizer light 620 mm 31.8 mm
• Stem: Ghost light AS-007 31.8 mm
• Brakes: Tektro Draco Disc 160 mm
• Brake lever: Tektro Draco
• Crankset: Shimano Alivio 42-32-22 incl. BB-ES25
• Rear derailleur: Shimano Alivio
• Shifter: Shimano SL
• Front derailleur: Shimano Alivio
• Headset: Ritchey
• Seatpost: GHOST light SP 600 31.6 mm
• Saddle: GHOST VL 1376
• Hubs: Shimano 475
• Cassette sprocket: Shimano 11-30
• Rims: Alex DP 20 Disc
• Front tire: Schwalbe Smart Sam 2.25
• Rear tire: Schwalbe Smart Sam 2.25
• Spokes: DT Swiss 1.8

The GENESIS Core 10 is a great all rounder mountain bike for beginners. The GENESIS Core 10 comes with good quality solid components from the likes of Shimano and Continental – and this shows. The 2.2 Continental Mountain Kings are a proven tyre and very capable. Retail price is around £600.

PROS: Frame has lots of mud clearance and will take a longer fork if you wish to upgrade at a later date.

CONS: Downtube routed cables are old hat these days.

GENESIS Core 10 Specification

Frames & Forks
Frame     6061 6 double-butted aluminium
Fork     Rockshox Tora K 100mm
Headset     FSA Aheadset
Colour     Satin Black

Transmission
Shifters     Shimano Acera 8-spd
Rear
Derailleur     Shimano Acera 8-spd
Front
Derailleur     Shimano FC-M310
Chainset     Shimano Acera Octalink 42-32-22T
Bottom
Bracket     Shimano Octalink
Chain     Shimano
Freewheel     CS-HG40-8 11-30T
Wheels
Hubs     Shimano RM-65 C-L
Rims     Alex Ace-18 32 hole
Spokes     Stainless steel
Tyres     Continental Mountain King 2.2

Brakes
Brakes     Shimano BR-M445 160mm F + R rotors
Brake
Levers     Shimano BR-M445

Contact Zone
Handlebar     Genesis 6061 6 wide / 30 mm rise
Stem     Genesis OS 6061 / 31.8 mm clamp
Grips     Kraton rubber, file pattern
Saddle     Genesis MTN2 Cr-Mo rail
Seat Post     Genesis 6061 400 mm / 27.2 mm
Pedals     Alloy flats
Sizes     16, 17.5, 19, 20.5 Inches

The GARY FISHER Piranha is a mountain bike retailing at over £700 with a hydroformed aluminium frame with geometry set up to make the bike feel fast and lively. The GARY FISHER Piranha comes with a Rock Shox Tora SL fork, SRAM X-5 groupset and Shimano hydraulic brakes.

PROS: The G2 frame gives the GARY FISHER Piranha a lively ride, there are three sets of bottle cage bosses PLUS pannier rack eyelets. Nice features.

CONS: Stem and bar package let the bike down.

GARY FISHER Piranha Specification:

Frame:  Gold Series 6061 T6 aluminum, G2 Geometry, butted and hydroformed tubing, cold-forged dropouts & BB

Wheels: Shimano M495 hubs, Bontrager Ranger disc rims, Bontrager Jones XR tires

Componentry: SRAM X.5 front derailleur, SRAM X.5 rear derailleur, SRAM X.5 shifters, Shimano FC-M442 crank, Shimano M486 hydraulic disc brakes

Suspension: RockShox Tora SL, 100mm travel, custom G2 Geometry 46mm offset crown

The DIAMOND BACK Response Comp is a £700 mountain bike designed for entry level riders. It weighs 30lb and has a fork with 120mm of travel making the DIAMOND BACK Response Comp a decent buy with it’s 27 speed groupset.

PROS: Good frame, bars and 2.2 inch tyres make for a decent package for the price.

CONS: Poor forks and it’s a little too heavy for the price.

The CARRERA Fury is a mid range mountain bike using a nicely finished hydroformed aluminium frame with the Suntour Epicon RLD fork with 120mm travel. The CARRERA Fury comes with SRAM X5 drivechain, Avid Juicy 3 brakes, decent wheels with Mavic rims and Continental Speed King tyres.

PROS: Excellent fork for a bike of this price. Excellent all rounder for the money.

CONS: Very little indeed.

The CANNONDALE Trail SL5 comes with a superb frame for the £550 price tag – however this means that the spend on components and forks are what lets it down. It therefore comes with cable pull disk brakes (not hydraulic)

PROS: Lovely frame, the CANNONDALE Trail SL5 has a decent enough 27-speed Deore drive chain too.

CONS: The big let down with the CANNONDALE Trail SL5 are the forks, which you’ll need to replace.

The CANNONDALE Trail SL5 is available from Evans Cycles