drumworx

For sure! The link is just for illustrative purposes I've seen the bike and will go try it out over the weekend.

Any thoughts on the Merida Sub 60-V? Looks like my most likely candidate at the moment, considering most of you have advised me to start off with V-brakes - it is prepped to take hydro disc brakes at a later stage so that's also sorted. http://www.merida.com/s0_global/main_control.php?group0=bikes&group1=mtbsport&bikeId=36

I've been advised by every shop I've visited sofar in my search for a new bike and gear to get a MTB helmet with a visor - if that makes any valuable contribution to this conversation. Apparently it helps for shade, water and branches??? I wouldn't know...but I'll get one anyway.

Alright! Dirt Rider, if I had to chose then between a new bike with either V's or Mech Disk brakes, what would be the best option? I understand hydraulics are the business, but I will only be able to upgrade to them later as new bikes with hydro disc brakes seem to be +- R1500 more expensive than the same bikes with mech disc brakes. And i've gotten some great quotes today to help me choose too.

Thanks! This is really helpful sofar. Basically this means that the GT Avalanche 2.0 is quite a good buy, as it has most of the recommended gear considering your advice. I'm still gonna keep shopping around and will tell you guys what I've found

Fantastic - I live 3km from the store and have been wondering if they'll have anything useful. Thanks!

Hope they recover soon - all the best!

Hi everybody This is my first post - as I have only recently decided to get into mountain biking and have been looking at a few hardtail MTB's like the Raleigh Dakar / Canyon and Giant Yukon. So hello to you all! Some of the store guys here around Pretoria have advised me on going for Hydraulic over Mechanical discbrakes and other have advised me the other way around. Some people have advised V-brakes too. The bikes I mentioned above are all fitted with mechanical discbrakes and mostly Deore components all-round. They also fit the size of my wallet considering I'm going to have to get the shoes, helmet, clothing etc. to go with the bike. Any recommendations or info on the disc-brake issue would be appreciated!