buying a new bike

[Matts 300]

Hallo

 

I'm looking to buy a new bike. The one I have in mind is the merida big nine 1000 for around 15 000. Firstly I want to ask, is this a good buy for that money, or is there other brands in this price bracket to look at? Secondly, I've saved up the 15 000, but could always wait longer before I buy a bike. The question is therefore when do you decide to buy a bike or save further?

 

Kind regards

Gielie

[spiderkzn]

Try look at Momsen at CWC cycle

[flat29]

check CWC, they have 20% off any bike this weekend

[Matts 300]

Ok thanks will check with them!

[lerouc]

I wont go momsen, friend of mine bought one two weeks ago (wont say the dealership because then i will get beaten as they have some interesting followers on here) but he gave it back last week as they couldn't get the wheels to stop leaking sealant and damaged the one wheel trying to sort it out (even send it back to my friend thinking he wont notice the damage) and the seat post bend after the first ride.

[G...]

I'm buying a bike through Andrew at I cycle cape town. Bike retails for 9k I got it at 6,5k.

 

Rock shox with remote lock out.

Slx components.

29er

 

Worth a try, don't know what stock he can get or what you looking for.

 

PM me if you want his contact details

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I wont go momsen, friend of mine bought one two weeks ago (wont say the dealership because then i will get beaten as they have some interesting followers on here) but he gave it back last week as they couldn't get the wheels to stop leaking sealant and damaged the one wheel trying to sort it out (even send it back to my friend thinking he wont notice the damage) and the seat post bend after the first ride.

 

That's hardly Momsen's fault re the wheels not sealing if they're not tubeless wheels... that's the LBS making a stuffup or just being plain useless... May be the tires aren't tubeless compatible, may be that the LBS didn't prep the wheels properly, may be something else entirely.

 

Also on the seatpost issue - if he was so tall, why did the LBS not tell him he'd need a stronger seatpost? If he's heavy, then the standard seatpost (which are normally the cheaper, weaker variety designed to handle lightweight cyclists) wouldn't have lasted long at all...

 

Again - not Momsen's fault. It's all with the LBS on that score.

[scotty]

I wont go momsen, friend of mine bought one two weeks ago (wont say the dealership because then i will get beaten as they have some interesting followers on here) but he gave it back last week as they couldn't get the wheels to stop leaking sealant and damaged the one wheel trying to sort it out (even send it back to my friend thinking he wont notice the damage) and the seat post bend after the first ride.

Tyres leaking have nothing to do with the bike brand, the wheels and tyres are not Momsen, bike shop should have sorted it out.

[Matts 300]

Ok, but is the merida 1000 a good buy? Has somebody maybe got one and can tell me how it rides?

[werner1619]

Seems your thread got derailed....

Merida make good bikes. Most shops have test bikes, take it for a ride.

 

I have ridden many bikes. Best advise I can give is to look for a bike that does not have a too steep head angle. Bike will feel hard to ride and not inspire when heading down hill.

 

So, in short, your riding skill should affect your bike choice most !

 

Good luck finding the right bike and test as many as possible before buying.

Edited February 21, 2014 by werner1619

[Cellar]

Again - not Momsen's fault. It's all with the LBS on that score.

 

Please, boss, not to create another fight, but at what point does the buyer have to take responsibility? I mean most bike shops sell the hardware. there is no professional fee, or consultant fee, so at what point does the person with the wad of cash take responsibility for making the correct decision?

 

And please, again, not to fight, but let's agree to leave the CPA out of it for now. Let's not make us all collectively dumber with some psuedo nannny state paraphernalia.

 

As an example, I'm busy replacing one of our cars. I'm looking at spending around R80k. I make darn sure I do my homework on any particular car, known issues, etc before I even engage a sales person at a dealership.

 

Now, I know its not exactly the same, but a quick scan of the classifieds here shows many second hand bikes approaching that price.

 

And I would do, and have done, the same when buying new cars, bikes, laptops, anything really.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Cellar

[DR ◣◢]

Hallo

 

I'm looking to buy a new bike. The one I have in mind is the merida big nine 1000 for around 15 000. Firstly I want to ask, is this a good buy for that money, or is there other brands in this price bracket to look at? Secondly, I've saved up the 15 000, but could always wait longer before I buy a bike. The question is therefore when do you decide to buy a bike or save further?

 

Kind regards

Gielie

 

R15k will actually get you a very nice bike. I always advise people to look at "last year's model" as dealers tend to clear older stock at great prices to free up space on the floor.

 

Just because it's older doesn't make it a bad bike. It makes it a good deal.

 

Things to look for would be parts spec and fork options. Tyres will wear out and get replaced anyways.

 

The correct size and fit is the most important thing. You can't fix a bike that is too small or too large with tweaking. It just won't work.

 

Make sure the shop offers good service with regards to this. Hang around and see how other customers are treated and listen to advice given. Any sales person worth his salt will first ask about what type of rider you are and secondly what your budget is. Not just sell based on what is on the floor.

 

Good luck!

[brian1]

I bought my Merida big nine lite 1000 last month, I am very happy, have done 2 races so far. The reasons I bought it were, it is the same frame as the next model up the 1500, itbhasca through axle on the rear and sometime in the future incould upgrade the shock to that as well, the 1500 comes out with it. The mavic wheelset is beter than what comes with the competitors, I really like the simple lines and colours, all the components are SLX.

Ok that was my logic.

[brian1]

Sorry about some of the spelling, damn tablet keyboard.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

 

 

Please, boss, not to create another fight, but at what point does the buyer have to take responsibility? I mean most bike shops sell the hardware. there is no professional fee, or consultant fee, so at what point does the person with the wad of cash take responsibility for making the correct decision?

 

And please, again, not to fight, but let's agree to leave the CPA out of it for now. Let's not make us all collectively dumber with some psuedo nannny state paraphernalia.

 

As an example, I'm busy replacing one of our cars. I'm looking at spending around R80k. I make darn sure I do my homework on any particular car, known issues, etc before I even engage a sales person at a dealership.

 

Now, I know its not exactly the same, but a quick scan of the classifieds here shows many second hand bikes approaching that price.

 

And I would do, and have done, the same when buying new cars, bikes, laptops, anything really.

 

Yeah dude, true to a certain extent (and that's how I operate as well)

 

However - in an area that I have zero expertise in, and when I'm relying on the expertise of a sales person to sell me the correct item for my needs, I place my trust in that person. In this case, his needs in the bike itself were (or may have been) pretty obvious. Being a guy who is on an xl frame and who was pretty large, the most obvious need would have been something that would have fitted him and dealt with a possible heavy oke. What is the number one item that would have held the majority of the weight? The seatpost.

 

So - if the guy was oversized, the sales person should have taken that into consideration and perhaps advocated the sale of a stronger post, or, if the post on the bike on question was a 27.2, advise against that one and tell him to go for a bike with a 30.9 or 31.8 mm post for the extra strength they offer (I've bent 3 27.2mm seatposts but then I'm not a lightweight either)

 

The guy walking in wouldn't have known about the structural integrity of a seatpost or the virtues of a bigger profile seatpost if he wasn't mechanically minded. Might not have even known it was am option to begin with.

 

So maybe there its a bit of both ito the responsibility. But more leaning towards the salesman as it would have been pretty obvious that the guy is big or not.

 

On the wheels - nothing the oke could have done to educate himself on that front - he asked the lbs to convert the bike to tubeless. A reasonable request. If the tyres were not able to be converted then the salesman should Have told him that and sold another set of tires that were tubeless compatible.

 

So both failings of the lbs. The oke could only really be partially blamed for one of them if he understood things like structural integrity and the lever principle and so on. But then he was asking the lbs and buying from them.

 

Afaik all he asked for here was a bit of advice on which bikes were okay for bigger people. Not the components of them. But the LBS should have picked that up anyway...

 

Anyway - to blame momsen for those failings is completely unreasonable. Some tall okes are skinny, others aren't. And they don't spec their bikes with tubeless at that level - it's an aftermarket conversion which the lbs generally does.

 

I'm sure we could argue this further, but for me it's pretty cut and dried... Not momsen's fault at all.