Mid range retro vs budget new

[secret_squirrel]

I realise I'm selecting a biased audience here but does anyone have any real life experience of comparing a new base model mtb vs something retro that's older?

I'm basically trying to make up my mind on the missus' next bike between a £400 Base model alu framed mtb with tourney/acera vs something like an Orange C16R with Stx RC.

I'm assuming the Orange will be better in terms of weight and rideability providing the groupsets not shagged, but am I just being retro-ist?


Her current bike is a shimano SIS equipped apollo BSO so anything will be an improvement.

 

[legrandefromage]

The mid range bike will have components made of cheese and waste nappies. It will have all the bells and whistles, disc brakes, suspension etc and weigh a ton.

Whereas the Orange will be decent reasonable and lightweight and easily brought up to rideable spec with a new chain/ cassette/ cables. Even if the rings are worn, you can still buy new and refurb the Orange for around £60 all in.

£400 buys a lot of 'retro' or simply an older bike but new:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kona-mahuna-2014/

This £339 GT Agressor Comp at Wiggle is gopping:

Better but still very heavy

£400 2014 model

 

[markwashington]

Obviously I'm going to be biased here, but I've been thinking about this very thing recently as I'm considering getting a new commuter (my new commute takes me off road). There was a 1998 Kona Explosif in great condition (CK headset, mostly XT, Z2's etc) on the 1998+ forum for £400 which when you compare that to a new £400 bike is a crazy good deal. You could also go sort of modern as bikes that were £1k about 6+ years ago now go for about £350 which will get you a good frame, decent groupset, discs and usually pretty good forks (lock out etc). For me anyone who knows anything about bike maintenance should always go second hand!

 

[legrandefromage]

Those new bikes all have decent frames but the components are just awful. Heavy pressed steel rings, heavy forks, wheels - that GT has a front mech from 15 years ago!

 

[legrandefromage]

Better from an unfashionable brand

http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B4145.html ... oC1dHw_wcB

http://www.bikes2udirect.com/B6576.html?id=zJa6mUem

 

[jimo746]

If it's for your missus, how much riding does she do?

If I were buying a bike for my missus, occasional use, I'd go for a budget modern bike, suspension forks, disc brakes, modern geometry, looks the part. She'd be happy with that.

 

[12345]

If you are lucky, you can even find older bikes with titanium or titanium/steel frames in your price range, which are better than most modern aluminium frames. Aluminium doesn't rust, but it suffers stronger material fatigue than steel and titanium and it has a very sudden breaking behaviour, whereas titanium and steel deform in most cases before breaking.

 

[legrandefromage]

If it's for your missus, how much riding does she do?

If I were buying a bike for my missus, occasional use, I'd go for a budget modern bike, suspension forks, disc brakes, modern geometry, looks the part. She'd be happy with that.

And weigh a ton - have a look at the pics above. Very heavy forks./ chainset/ tyres/ rims

And as for aluminium, lets not get into a long argument but unless his missus is a team skillz rad rider, fatigue will never be an issue

 

[secret_squirrel]

Whilst I agree she'd probably happy with something modern that looks the part I actually think she'll be better off with something noticeably lighter - her current bike is rigid and the snatchyness of a cheap set of discs will probably scare rather than help.
Suspension is an option that I can add later from my existing collection or from some kind chap on here. . Tbh for the sort of towpath and cycle way bashing we do I'm tempted to go down the flex stem and suspension seat post route

 

[jimo746]

If it's for your missus, how much riding does she do?

If I were buying a bike for my missus, occasional use, I'd go for a budget modern bike, suspension forks, disc brakes, modern geometry, looks the part. She'd be happy with that.

And weigh a ton - have a look at the pics above. Very heavy forks./ chainset/ tyres/ rims

How heavy are we talking? Just over 30lbs? For a modern budget bike that's in the ballpark, these aren't your lightweight 90's xc machines.
My modern bike weighs 31lbs, and I've retro bikes around that same weight.
In all honesty I doubt my partner would notice say a 5lb difference in bike weight, I hardly do!.
I like my retro bikes, but for someone who perhaps has no interest in retro then a budget modern bike is maybe a better bet, and it will be just as capable as a retro.

Interesting link, reviews of sub-£500 bikes... http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/b ... 500-29451/