Clifton CC

Anyone seen any bargains - I'm looking for a sub £200 MTB, will be mainly used for filthy weather commuting, plus a bit of off road riding and messing about with the kids.

Someone wrote a letter to Cycling Plus this month asking a similar question. They suggested:

Giant Expression
Carrera Subway 1
Revolution Courier Single
Decathlon Sport 2 16V (this is a road bike)
Fisher Mako

Or go second hand.

The above was Editor Dan Joyce's answer - who was a member of Clifton until he moved up to Scarboro.

Hope this helps.

R

Steve,

Flea Bay seems to be the best source of bargains. Some of the club members have picked up amazing bargains (bikes, forks etc) almost unused for not much money. Be brave.

I keep looking on ebay but most people seem to want top price, also you can expect the bike to need a new chain and cassette, so you can add £30 or £40 there. Still I will keep an eye out, but what do you think about these two : http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... sa_10_2007
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2006

plus a bit of off road riding

It depends what you mean by this. If you mean venturing onto a cyclepath around York then I'm sure you'll be fine. However, I really wouldn't venture anywhere rougher than that on one of those bikes. If it's just commuting and the odd track how about just a road bike with some thick tyres on? The trouble with stuff that call themselves 'Mountain Bikes' at this price point is you have lots of compromises.

If you can squeeze a tiny bit more out of your piggy bank take a look at this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... e-ec000802 . The Gary Fisher that Rob mentions looks OK too. It's a rigid bike so they've spent the money on other bits rather than wasting it on cheap forks.