You can generally spot a stolen bike ad a mile off, someone selling a 3k bike for £250 and the description is ‘Treck off roader wi Rock Shocks telescopic Forks’ 😂
And now Pilgrim style: oh I found a fox 40 in the corner of my garage, some halo rims at and of my garden. Let me just cut off the ivy growing on it...
wish I managed to find those things lying around in my garage. no wait he is sponsored by loads of companies and im just a member of the married with kids squad that can only afford a cheap bike.
@@gmbn Nooo, now all the 2nd hand bikes go like hotcakes lol. I just found pinkbike a few days ago, I'm surprised what you can get for your money. There are some enduro (160mm travel) frames going for £400. I saw a 2016 cube stereo 160mm frame with shock for £300 on ebay while browsing in the middle of the night, I bookmarked it and the next morning it was gone. Hopefully there will be more sellers out there now too.
Brilliant! Thanks for doing this Neil! A lot of us don’t have thousand of pounds to spend on a fancy bike. Will be interested to see what you do to this one 👍🏻
I bought the Giant Talon 3 (29) because the TREK marlin 5 was out of stock, here's my honest review as a beginner who had a lot of questions (you probably are too): -The bike looks beautiful, aesthetic wise, bike was larger than in the pictures when I got one that fit me. -The bike rides beautifully, front shifters can be smoother but rear shifters are very nice. -I ride it for long hours on mountains, grass, gravel etc for my RUclips bike blogs, it does fine. -I brought the bike on a MTB trail and abused the hell out of it, I crashed and crashed as I practiced my MTB skills. After all the abuse, here's two apparent things: 1) The chain drops when I crashed two times, so it's not that big of a deal because it only dropped when I was stopped and my crash shaked the whole chain around. 2) The pedal is made of plastic and doesn't have the metallic nubs that more expensive bikes have, so every time I leaned too low and hit the floor with my pedals, it kind of shaves off the grips. What can be done to improve it? 1) Get metallic pedals 2) Install a dropper post if you intend to do some serious mountain biking. 3) Maybe convert to a 1x Overall satisfaction: Very satisfied. I bought the bike for $560 and it's worth every penny, considering the abuse I made it go through, it only had those two minor issues. A lot of beginners tend to give up the sport after their first time out on a trail and crashing left and right, so I would recommend getting an affordable hard-tail and outgrowing it with practice before moving onto $1000+ bikes. I have a few first person videos of me riding the bike on my channel, including my first ever MTB trail ride where I crash every five minutes.
Given the growth of MTB over the past year and Covid, I had a tough time finding a bike in my area. Everywhere was sold out- some stores were on backorder for months. I also went into it not knowing how expensive bikes are. After weeks of searching 2nd hand bikes, I bit the bullet and elected to get a new 2020 Giant Fathom2 from a shop in Wisconsin. They shipped it down to me for a fee. It was a lot more than I wanted to spend for my first bike, but I've heard it's an excellent first bike from my research.
I got a 2015 Giant Trance 3 for £900 on ebay 2 years ago, was advertised at 1k and it came brand new never ridden, still had the tags on. I fully upgraded it and still riding well to this day! Always go to meet local outside of their house then you can look it over and can't go wrong.
Bought a voodoo bizango in 2017 new for 500 quid and i can honestly say that if your just getting into bikes its brilliant. I took that bike to its limits riding rough rocky trails in the black mountains as well as bpw, fod. Parts are easily upgraded as well as cheap to fix. Fork is something to be desired at times but otherwise nothing better if your looking to get started
Nice to see a video like this. I recently bought a Carrera Vulcan for just under £400 but all I see on MTB groups is bike snobs slagging them off, makes you feel daft for not owning a £1k+ bike.
After being low on funds, I picked up a 2nd hand Voodoo Bizango 29er last year. Put a slackerizer headset on, knocking the head angle from 67 to 65 degrees (best upgrade by far) dropper post, larger discs and a tubeless conversion kit. Been super impressed with the bike. It's damn fast for a hardtail, both up and down, and I actually enjoy riding it more than some 'big name' branded bikes I've had in the past, all for less than £500. Never thought I'd say that about a Halfords bike.
I got a 2nd hand hardtail from a bike shop which was a 2014 Marin Shoreline. I just noticed it as driving past then went back to shop to look at it then picked it a a few days left . But online I was looking for a new Marin but found that. So I'm happy.😁👍😎 And only got it for £150 @south fork
Stoked to hear you have a Halfords bike to upgrade, I work there and hopefully this can help dispel any worries that we only sell crap bikes when really we sell hundreds of bikes, even delving into some really hard-core stuff towards the top end. Bikes are for everyone, including the people that only have £100 to spend on one!
Sold my old Trek Fuel Ex 8 2016 on PinkBike, last year. Had both good and silly offers, after 32 messages with an interested buyer, we finally agreed on a price. And it went to a good home!!
I got a similar bike to start MTBing, all components upgradable. I did start with grips, saddle and pedals. I have the exact same fork, but it has a wooden feel. I found servicing it with fork specific grease made it feel 1,000 times better. Other components I replaced were tyres, crankset (ended up rounding off the tapers of the OEM cranks), handlebar/stem and a dropper post. After the dropper, best upgrade was the crankset/pedal combo, I have loads of confidence on assents and descents because of them.
I have a voodoo Bantu and I have upgraded it a lot put new forks, pedals, grips, bars, the best upgrade for a beginner riders like me is pedals and bars makes the u is feel 10x better
I recently took the plunge on buying an old hardtail. My reasons being that I wanted a go-between which sits in the middle of my 2004 stinky and my 26" bmx. I couldn't find a modern bike with geometry I liked so I bought another 2004 Kona. I have to say I had tons of fun building it up, and finding how easy bikes are to work on compared to anything with an engine! I learned loads & now have a bike I can call equal to my stinky, but as a hardtail. The best bit is I can swap parts between the two!
Hi, I bought used Focus super bud from 2014, 2 weeks ago, for only 550euros! For that money, bike is great. Medium size (I am 175cm), 29er, fork is RockShox reba, shox is RS monarch (both 100mm travel), 3x10 full shimano deore, and hydraulic shimano altus brakes, hubs slx. Great bike for money. I allready ordered xt m8000 2x11 groupset and can't wait to install new components.
I brought a GT avalanche 27.5 inch 2017 from gumtree for £180 just before lockdown. I rang my local police station and they ran a check on the serial number. Wasn't stolen. So I registered it for free with bikeregister. Kenda tyres and continental tubes, a good clean and some new hydraulic fluid for the brakes and its served me brilliantly
I just did orbea occam 2016 27.5 tubeless, fox fit 4 140 Travel front and rear, 2 by, carbon, raceface cockpit, reverb dropper, 1900 DT Swiss carbon wheels. All I’ve bough is bontrager flat pedals as it came with clips a new saddle, full face Helmet, and tune up at the local shop for USD $1850 so far
Have the same hoodoo, would make good vid to show people to upgrade from straight to tapered fork with external headset, maybe an eBay challenge for Doddy to source a decent fork. I upgraded to a suntour aion, made a huge difference, bought used off ebay
i bought this voodoo hoodoo just before lockdown started for 650 pounds. really good buy for anyone looking for a beginner mtb. capable at jumps and also really good at riding trails. had no problems with it and the 1x10 is great.
What a novice would say 😉.... I ride at silver and whistler.... my hard tail is only for rainy days and that’s it.... all my other bikes are all collectors bikes... including my coveted and most riden 2010 transition bottlerocket! I got newer bikes but damnnnn if you got $1200+ hunt one of those down!
My girlfriend bought me an originally 600€ 2016 CUBE 27.5" XC Hardtail for 175€ online. The previous owner was eager to sell it to buy parts for his DH bike and just wanted to get rid of the bike. It only needed some tuning and new break pads for it to ride like a new bike. He left it in the sun so the paint is chipped but that's nothing some stickers can't fix. I'm riding it since October and it's a beast. Drive train is 3×8, need to change derailer hangar and it has V-brakes which I can upgrade to Disks in the future. I'm happy with this, there's no way I could get anything more than a frame at a bike shop for that price.
i had a voodoo until i sold mine recently after like 6 years. Upgraded to a trek Roscoe 7 2019 frame with Dvo Sapphire forks -- total overkill but its a monsterous build and feels so good to ride going from a cross country bike. By the time i sold my voodoo i think the only thing that was original were the wheels and frame :D
Guys, well done for making an excellent video. A lot of people who view this channel might possibly be priced out when it comes to the bikes that you normally talk about, especially if they are new to the sport and don’t want to dive in head first with a £3k upwards bike. So it’s great to see you giving those people an insight into what’s available for peanuts money. Good job all round!!
Bought a Gt Avalanche 3 for 30 quid. Seller described what was good, bad etc even down to the forks being locked up. Collected from his house. Only bought it as haven't ridden a mtb since having to sell mine after suffering spine damage in an accident at work years ago. Currently in bits awaiting parts to rebuild it. Keeping it old school with v brakes etc as can't see my climbing any mountains on it. Basically bit of extra exercise.
I just bought exactly this same bike for exactly the same price! Similar situation, the guy bought it 3 months ago and decided he wanted to upgrade. Very solid bike for the price.
In 2016 I got a new cube acid 2014 for just 300€. The original price was over 1300€. Still perfectly functional after all the crashes and beatings and lack of maintenance. Its an entry level xc and I use it for dj, street and dh and it is still going strong after 4 years... Parts are all xt/slx.
I bought a second hand 2019 Nukeproof Mega a few months ago. I was looking everywhere for something in really good condition at a good price. The Mega I ended up buying was listed on Pinkbike and on eBay, the price was later reduced on eBay but stayed the same on Pinkbike so that’s something to think about I guess 😂
I bought a 2017 Radon Slide 150 8.0 a few days ago the one Who owned it was a light weight boy Who had ridden it only about 300km, in the end i paid 1100€ and I am very happy with the Deal but i searched for good offers for maybe a Year. And it has not even one Skratch in the frame and the Rockshox Judy and Monarch are working perfekt and the xt 2 by 11 drivetrain is sick!!
Bought a voodoo about a year ago, air suspension, 29” wheels, nice tires... all I did was add some wider nukproof bars and a dropped post and it perfect for what I need.
What a great video idea for the boom our sport is facing. Every bike shop in the metro Detroit area is sold out so this is all we got for now. Good job fellas 👍
Also good thing with Halfords for us peasants is being able to pay the bike off if i wanted to go brand new . Will b watching this progress as the hoodoo is in my budget and size range as I'm 6ft 4
So glad u went into the tips on stolen bikes, and did so in detail, great job👏👏👏👏 Friend had his turner full sus nicked, set up alerts on gumtree etc, tho never materialised, had welded frame repair so totally unique
I've advised a few friend's these last few week's,all with a cheap budget around the 350 mark.And I said the same to all of them..You can't go wrong with a Calibre,Boardman or Voodoo as all come with warranty and good value for the money..Going 2nd hand it's best to try and get a good frame with the mindset of spending money on part's to make it a long lived bike
Awesome Neil Looking forward to watching the updates. I have a 2019 hoodoo also that I got second hand. Will be watching with interest the upgrades you do.
Some cities in the US has swap spots which are often in very public places or even in front of supervised police stations with lots of cameras. Great spots to potentially scare off suspicious sellers and also trade your own stuff if you feel uncomfortable having a stranger show up at your house.
I bought a Hoodoo off Facebook Market place too. Mine was £330 and 12 months old. Kid wanted rid to buy a car. It's my first mtb and its been bloody brilliant. Easily tackles my local trails. Very keen to see what you do as I'd really like to add a dropper to it.
Big love for Voodoo. I've got 3 of them, latest one is the carbon bizango 29er which is absolutely fantastic for £1000. Amazing spec for the money. I've also got the Marasa hybrid which has been great, I've done 1000s of km on that one over the last few years. I recommend taking the fork out and greasing the steering bearings first thing. They don't last long otherwise.
Bought a voodoo bizango (new) 3 years ago for my eldest son to get into mtb Nice bike rides well but poor quality bearings Have replaced every bearing on the bike after 2 years So 100% recommend bearings upgrade 👍
it’s cool to see that you got a nice bike. what sucks though is I’ve been trying for bikes for 2 months. and I keep coming empty handed. Thinking about just waiting for close out sales in the fall.
I got the same bike (voodoo), I bought it last December '18 (it was on sale for £400 down from £550) and have upgraded some of the components like brakes, crankset and tires. It's a pretty awesome bike and I'm planning on upgrading the forks and seatpost (going with a dropper) soon.
Look forward to the series, was debating getting a new bike now getting back into biking currently have a old 2008 giant XTC 3.5 but decided to use it as a opportunity to learn some bike DIY
A year ago i was lucky enough to find a bargain Canyon grand canyon sl 9.0 for 600 euro. The bike was a size xs which was perfect for my Gf who wanted to start riding.the guy sold it because he was moving to South Africa. He had the receipt etc so it was really worth it. found that bike on facebook and if you know what you are looking for it can be a good place to search on!
Great vid, I got a 2015 specialized status 1 from eBay with upgraded rock shock monarch rear shock and a few upgrades for only £500 which was a bargain it only needed a new derailer hanger, shifter and break pads that was only like £20 if that, it is a great bike now with a lot of travel, I’ve fitted a new dropper post on it and I love the bike now.
Back in March I picked up a full carbon Specialized Stump-jumper with full Fox suspension for £700 on eBay. It’s an older model, 26” wheels but in great condition with little use and dealer services. I am as happy as a pig in poo!!! 😁👍🏻
I’ve got a fairly budget build which is custom for my 2016 voodoo zobop with nukeproof pedals bars and grips alongside a deore 1x10 drivetrain and dt Swiss forks
I just sold my 96 Cannondale m900 hardtail on Facebook for £320. It did have an awesome revelation fork though along with other upgrades (that fitted) which I still find better than the recon air on my cube acid 2020.
I have a similar bargain bike. Would love it if you showed how to upgrade the bottom bracket without having to change any of the running gear and the pros and cons of slacking the head angle with angled headset bearings if it's even possible with voodoo bikes. A recommendation and the fitting of an appropriatly priced dropper post and how easy it would be to convert to tubeless with the stock rims and tyres would also be greatly appreciated. Great video. I'm sure a series of upgrade follow up videos on this bike would be really popular with many who have tight budgets but are keen bikers and tinkerers.
I am still riding an apollo steel mountain bike from Halfords that cost £89 14 years ago. I wouldn't recomend taking it on trails but I have, it is more of a workhorse these days for the shops and some gentle trails. I have a specialised bike I got 8 years ago new but I regret getting that bike not because it is bad quality but the fork and drive train were average then and now completely outdated and I paid a lot for it . The one thing that is true is that even a retro steel mountain bike will be fun. It has got way too expensive these days when a good bike costs as much as a car.
Really looking forward to your upgrade videos for this. I bought the previous Voodoo Hoodoo model off a work college for £60 and am currently setting it up for tubeless running. I'm intrigued what you may think are the weaker points on the bike and what terrain you plan to use it on 😁🚲
Gumtree, haha. I messaged a seller selling an Allez Sprint (I ride road and MTB) asking what size it was. He didn’t know. He didn’t know where to find and and couldn’t tell me what size when I told him what to look for No thanks on that one!
I have this exact bike... Really really looking forward to seeing what you guys do with it. For the price it's a great bike, I've done a few 30+ mile rides on it already and it's a actually a very capable hardtail, the deore transmission is surprisingly good, has a clutch mech!
You have to do some upgrades Neil! That would be a good video to do. From start to finish full upgrade, then at the end you shred the finished article somewhere. Loving the videos! 👍🚲
Looking forward to seeing what you do with this bike guys. I got exact same bike on the bike to work scheme last year. My wife claimed it but her upgrade is on order (Trek Roscoe 7) so I get my bike back lol
I’ve just bought myself a new mountain bike found this video so useful. Going to show my new bike on my channel when I pick it up at the weekend. So excited 😁
I bought the same bike recently so I could try get into mountain biking and it made me fall in love with the sport. Unfortunately as much as I would like to upgrade to a full suspension bike I just can afford it right now. However the Voodoo Hoodoo is doing a good job and I'm excited to see what up grade you guys do it
With quarantine here in the states, most of the listings are very overpriced. A lot of the bikes listed are low end bikes the sellers are trying to get more than they cost new from. Especially on the platforms with no listing fees like facebook and craigslist.
Also look for mis spellings on ebay. Got a 2010 "Specialised' (note spelling) Stumpjumper Ht Comp with a spare set of decent wheels, definite cyclist with serial number in place for £100!
Halfords are an ok stop for a good place to start for a reasonable price staff knowledge can be an issue but there are still bargains I got my first bike from there a few yrs back 22 inch frame carerra ht 240 quid full service pack and warranty as it was purchased and returned due to being too big Unfortunately for the bike I'm in the 100kg plus club and the forest of dene is unforgiving so 4 months later it had been in for warranty work 3 times but I knew mtb was for me so sold it and went for an enduro set up
Don't get me started on staff knowledge at Halfords! Car was struggling to start and with Halfords being just round corner I went to them as they do the free checks and fluid top ups, as suspected faulty battery but alternator and everything was all good....anyway man was like I can take you to the batteries if you'd like, so I go with him, and he points the the most expensive one which was also hugeee and said I'll need that one, I have a 1.0L Yaris....and then when I questioned him he said the cheaper smaller battery will work for a bit but then I'll be back in a few weeks cause the alternator wont sufficiently charge it...at that point I said thanks for his help and just walked out
About a year ago I bought a €200 giant xtc napa. I also didn't wanna spend a fortune as I just got into the sport, but man I was impressed on the amount of value you can get for €200 (full-suspension, 3x9 gearing, disc brakes, he even gave a bike stand, suspension pump and a small bike computer speedometer with it). It was pretty old, about 20 years or so. But still in very nice condition, only needed new tyres and has a bit of difficulty shifting into 3rd gear at the pedals (probably the chain only needs a bit of realignment, haven't fixed it yet because when driving on trails i dont really need any more than 2x9, do wanna fix it eventually tho). For what it is, it drives brilliant - used it multiple times on rough forest trails, and through wet mud, had the whole derailleur covered in goo absolutely abused it😂, and I'm curious to how long it's gonna keep up. In the end its a €200 bike that i already got a year of great fun out of and I couldn't care more if it collapsed tomorrow, but it isn't showing any sign it will and it drives still very nicely so I hope I can keep having fun with it on the long term!
This is a tip look for bikes at the end of the season eg September ish as I got a virus sentier VRS 29er for only £400 and it was in really good state as it was a test/demo bike so if on eBay look for pictures that look really good quality and in a proper place not just someone's shed.
Do you have any tips for buying second hand bikes?
One thing to avoid: Don't knick someone else's!
Check the spokes yeah 👍
He bro i need your enstagram pls pls 🙏😔
Make sure it's got a threaded stem and a derraleur hanger
Insist on seeing the seller's *ID card* and a written *purchase agreement* between you two - then watch shady people take off!
You can generally spot a stolen bike ad a mile off, someone selling a 3k bike for £250 and the description is ‘Treck off roader wi Rock Shocks telescopic Forks’ 😂
Mac Says so true😂😂
This is exactly what I need
I just found a Santa Cruz 5010 that hopefully will be come mine
@@runningbisquit8758 I have a voodoo bantu with new suspension new bars new stem 1x9 drivetrain new tyres new rims new brakes if your intrested
Running Bisquit I have a Santa Cruz and it rides great, would recommend you get that 5010
Poor guy 🤪
Running Bisquit that ain’t cheap lol
And now Pilgrim style: oh I found a fox 40 in the corner of my garage, some halo rims at and of my garden. Let me just cut off the ivy growing on it...
wish I managed to find those things lying around in my garage. no wait he is sponsored by loads of companies and im just a member of the married with kids squad that can only afford a cheap bike.
Just what I needed, looking for a good trail bike to keep up with my bud, who has a full squish.
Practice will help you keep up!
Glad we could help!
@@bananasstuff3344 I totally agree with you but I'm rocking a Bike that has faulty brakes and suspension and basically dead gears.
@@gmbn Nooo, now all the 2nd hand bikes go like hotcakes lol. I just found pinkbike a few days ago, I'm surprised what you can get for your money. There are some enduro (160mm travel) frames going for £400. I saw a 2016 cube stereo 160mm frame with shock for £300 on ebay while browsing in the middle of the night, I bookmarked it and the next morning it was gone. Hopefully there will be more sellers out there now too.
Bordpie can you get a working bike for under £100? What brand would you recommend?
"Hi just saw your ad on Gumtree for Cannondale F29..."
"Yeah mate come round I will meet you in the park, St Pauls....cash only though yeah"
Lol
lol, i ain't far from st pauls, so could buy my borrowed one too
Brilliant! Thanks for doing this Neil! A lot of us don’t have thousand of pounds to spend on a fancy bike. Will be interested to see what you do to this one 👍🏻
Hmm... Spend thousands of pounds for upgrade? :-D
I bought the Giant Talon 3 (29) because the TREK marlin 5 was out of stock, here's my honest review as a beginner who had a lot of questions (you probably are too):
-The bike looks beautiful, aesthetic wise, bike was larger than in the pictures when I got one that fit me.
-The bike rides beautifully, front shifters can be smoother but rear shifters are very nice.
-I ride it for long hours on mountains, grass, gravel etc for my RUclips bike blogs, it does fine.
-I brought the bike on a MTB trail and abused the hell out of it, I crashed and crashed as I practiced my MTB skills.
After all the abuse, here's two apparent things:
1) The chain drops when I crashed two times, so it's not that big of a deal because it only dropped when I was stopped and my crash shaked the whole chain around.
2) The pedal is made of plastic and doesn't have the metallic nubs that more expensive bikes have, so every time I leaned too low and hit the floor with my pedals, it kind of shaves off the grips.
What can be done to improve it?
1) Get metallic pedals
2) Install a dropper post if you intend to do some serious mountain biking.
3) Maybe convert to a 1x
Overall satisfaction: Very satisfied. I bought the bike for $560 and it's worth every penny, considering the abuse I made it go through, it only had those two minor issues.
A lot of beginners tend to give up the sport after their first time out on a trail and crashing left and right, so I would recommend getting an affordable hard-tail and outgrowing it with practice before moving onto $1000+ bikes.
I have a few first person videos of me riding the bike on my channel, including my first ever MTB trail ride where I crash every five minutes.
Given the growth of MTB over the past year and Covid, I had a tough time finding a bike in my area. Everywhere was sold out- some stores were on backorder for months. I also went into it not knowing how expensive bikes are. After weeks of searching 2nd hand bikes, I bit the bullet and elected to get a new 2020 Giant Fathom2 from a shop in Wisconsin. They shipped it down to me for a fee. It was a lot more than I wanted to spend for my first bike, but I've heard it's an excellent first bike from my research.
Looking forward the gmbn tech vid of this bike!
Used the advice from the channel and im going to go and collect my brand new Carrera Vengeance 2020 tmrw and i cant wait
I got a 2015 Giant Trance 3 for £900 on ebay 2 years ago, was advertised at 1k and it came brand new never ridden, still had the tags on. I fully upgraded it and still riding well to this day! Always go to meet local outside of their house then you can look it over and can't go wrong.
I have the 2016 Hoodoo in blue. Same geo. I upgraded a few bits on it, and even though it is no longer my main bike, it still rides like a dream!
Bought a voodoo bizango in 2017 new for 500 quid and i can honestly say that if your just getting into bikes its brilliant. I took that bike to its limits riding rough rocky trails in the black mountains as well as bpw, fod. Parts are easily upgraded as well as cheap to fix. Fork is something to be desired at times but otherwise nothing better if your looking to get started
Neal is the man!!! Huge fan here in Indianapolis. I’d listen to Neal talk about anything and everything related to cycling.
Really good idea for a video right now! Literally every man and his dog are buying a bike!!
Nice to see a video like this. I recently bought a Carrera Vulcan for just under £400 but all I see on MTB groups is bike snobs slagging them off, makes you feel daft for not owning a £1k+ bike.
After being low on funds, I picked up a 2nd hand Voodoo Bizango 29er last year. Put a slackerizer headset on, knocking the head angle from 67 to 65 degrees (best upgrade by far) dropper post, larger discs and a tubeless conversion kit. Been super impressed with the bike. It's damn fast for a hardtail, both up and down, and I actually enjoy riding it more than some 'big name' branded bikes I've had in the past, all for less than £500. Never thought I'd say that about a Halfords bike.
I got a 2nd hand hardtail from a bike shop which was a 2014 Marin Shoreline. I just noticed it as driving past then went back to shop to look at it then picked it a a few days left . But online I was looking for a new Marin but found that. So I'm happy.😁👍😎 And only got it for £150 @south fork
Stoked to hear you have a Halfords bike to upgrade, I work there and hopefully this can help dispel any worries that we only sell crap bikes when really we sell hundreds of bikes, even delving into some really hard-core stuff towards the top end. Bikes are for everyone, including the people that only have £100 to spend on one!
Sold my old Trek Fuel Ex 8 2016 on PinkBike, last year. Had both good and silly offers, after 32 messages with an interested buyer, we finally agreed on a price. And it went to a good home!!
I got a similar bike to start MTBing, all components upgradable. I did start with grips, saddle and pedals. I have the exact same fork, but it has a wooden feel. I found servicing it with fork specific grease made it feel 1,000 times better. Other components I replaced were tyres, crankset (ended up rounding off the tapers of the OEM cranks), handlebar/stem and a dropper post. After the dropper, best upgrade was the crankset/pedal combo, I have loads of confidence on assents and descents because of them.
I have a voodoo Bantu and I have upgraded it a lot put new forks, pedals, grips, bars, the best upgrade for a beginner riders like me is pedals and bars makes the u is feel 10x better
This is just the type of video I needed 😃 Thanks GMBN
You're welcome!
I recently took the plunge on buying an old hardtail. My reasons being that I wanted a go-between which sits in the middle of my 2004 stinky and my 26" bmx. I couldn't find a modern bike with geometry I liked so I bought another 2004 Kona. I have to say I had tons of fun building it up, and finding how easy bikes are to work on compared to anything with an engine! I learned loads & now have a bike I can call equal to my stinky, but as a hardtail. The best bit is I can swap parts between the two!
Hi, I bought used Focus super bud from 2014, 2 weeks ago, for only 550euros! For that money, bike is great. Medium size (I am 175cm), 29er, fork is RockShox reba, shox is RS monarch (both 100mm travel), 3x10 full shimano deore, and hydraulic shimano altus brakes, hubs slx. Great bike for money. I allready ordered xt m8000 2x11 groupset and can't wait to install new components.
I brought a GT avalanche 27.5 inch 2017 from gumtree for £180 just before lockdown. I rang my local police station and they ran a check on the serial number. Wasn't stolen. So I registered it for free with bikeregister. Kenda tyres and continental tubes, a good clean and some new hydraulic fluid for the brakes and its served me brilliantly
I just did orbea occam 2016 27.5 tubeless, fox fit 4 140 Travel front and rear, 2 by, carbon, raceface cockpit, reverb dropper, 1900 DT Swiss carbon wheels. All I’ve bough is bontrager flat pedals as it came with clips a new saddle, full face Helmet, and tune up at the local shop for USD $1850 so far
Have the same hoodoo, would make good vid to show people to upgrade from straight to tapered fork with external headset, maybe an eBay challenge for Doddy to source a decent fork. I upgraded to a suntour aion, made a huge difference, bought used off ebay
i bought this voodoo hoodoo just before lockdown started for 650 pounds. really good buy for anyone looking for a beginner mtb. capable at jumps and also really good at riding trails. had no problems with it and the 1x10 is great.
Hard Tail for the win!!!
What a novice would say 😉.... I ride at silver and whistler.... my hard tail is only for rainy days and that’s it.... all my other bikes are all collectors bikes... including my coveted and most riden 2010 transition bottlerocket! I got newer bikes but damnnnn if you got $1200+ hunt one of those down!
mrexon you don’t need to be a prick
your average consumer read it pansy! It is good advice! If your stuck on the first line and can’t read the rest then that’s your problem... 🤷🏼♂️kids
your average consumer why not make some content and stop being a freeloader
@@mrexon I'm not the one the one doing crappy stop motion
My girlfriend bought me an originally 600€ 2016 CUBE 27.5" XC Hardtail for 175€ online. The previous owner was eager to sell it to buy parts for his DH bike and just wanted to get rid of the bike. It only needed some tuning and new break pads for it to ride like a new bike. He left it in the sun so the paint is chipped but that's nothing some stickers can't fix. I'm riding it since October and it's a beast.
Drive train is 3×8, need to change derailer hangar and it has V-brakes which I can upgrade to Disks in the future.
I'm happy with this, there's no way I could get anything more than a frame at a bike shop for that price.
i had a voodoo until i sold mine recently after like 6 years. Upgraded to a trek Roscoe 7 2019 frame with Dvo Sapphire forks -- total overkill but its a monsterous build and feels so good to ride going from a cross country bike.
By the time i sold my voodoo i think the only thing that was original were the wheels and frame :D
Those Voodoo bikes are great for the price even new. I've got a Voodoo Hybrid and it's brilliant.
Guys, well done for making an excellent video. A lot of people who view this channel might possibly be priced out when it comes to the bikes that you normally talk about, especially if they are new to the sport and don’t want to dive in head first with a £3k upwards bike. So it’s great to see you giving those people an insight into what’s available for peanuts money. Good job all round!!
Bought a Gt Avalanche 3 for 30 quid. Seller described what was good, bad etc even down to the forks being locked up. Collected from his house. Only bought it as haven't ridden a mtb since having to sell mine after suffering spine damage in an accident at work years ago. Currently in bits awaiting parts to rebuild it. Keeping it old school with v brakes etc as can't see my climbing any mountains on it. Basically bit of extra exercise.
Unfortunately I got mugged off on Pinkbike but after a but of work the bike works like a dream and I love it
I just bought exactly this same bike for exactly the same price! Similar situation, the guy bought it 3 months ago and decided he wanted to upgrade. Very solid bike for the price.
In 2016 I got a new cube acid 2014 for just 300€. The original price was over 1300€. Still perfectly functional after all the crashes and beatings and lack of maintenance. Its an entry level xc and I use it for dj, street and dh and it is still going strong after 4 years...
Parts are all xt/slx.
I bought a second hand 2019 Nukeproof Mega a few months ago. I was looking everywhere for something in really good condition at a good price. The Mega I ended up buying was listed on Pinkbike and on eBay, the price was later reduced on eBay but stayed the same on Pinkbike so that’s something to think about I guess 😂
What did you payed for it in the end?
@@emilkrol4816 £1600, was originally up for £1800, RRP last year was £2600
I bought a 2017 Radon Slide 150 8.0 a few days ago the one Who owned it was a light weight boy Who had ridden it only about 300km, in the end i paid 1100€ and I am very happy with the Deal but i searched for good offers for maybe a Year. And it has not even one Skratch in the frame and the Rockshox Judy and Monarch are working perfekt and the xt 2 by 11 drivetrain is sick!!
I got a 2007 trek fuel ex 7 for $250.
Edit: I got it from my dads girlfriends brother and I’m gonna see if I can sell it and get a new bike
Dang where do you find deals like that
How
Dame I could only get a klein attitude pre trek for 300 😏😁
I got a 2009 fuel for £50 in a charity shop only needed 2 new inner tubes was great
Stolen?!
Bought a voodoo about a year ago, air suspension, 29” wheels, nice tires... all I did was add some wider nukproof bars and a dropped post and it perfect for what I need.
What a great video idea for the boom our sport is facing. Every bike shop in the metro Detroit area is sold out so this is all we got for now. Good job fellas 👍
Also good thing with Halfords for us peasants is being able to pay the bike off if i wanted to go brand new . Will b watching this progress as the hoodoo is in my budget and size range as I'm 6ft 4
So glad u went into the tips on stolen bikes, and did so in detail, great job👏👏👏👏
Friend had his turner full sus nicked, set up alerts on gumtree etc, tho never materialised, had welded frame repair so totally unique
I just bought a voodoo hoodoo for £250 the other day😂
Neil is the best. So genuine. Thanks for the great content!
I've advised a few friend's these last few week's,all with a cheap budget around the 350 mark.And I said the same to all of them..You can't go wrong with a Calibre,Boardman or Voodoo as all come with warranty and good value for the money..Going 2nd hand it's best to try and get a good frame with the mindset of spending money on part's to make it a long lived bike
Thank you GMBN
🤘Mahalo my dude
Awesome Neil
Looking forward to watching the updates.
I have a 2019 hoodoo also that I got second hand.
Will be watching with interest the upgrades you do.
Interesting to see how you'd search for bargains in the UK. I'm curious what you will be upgrading
Look forward to the follow up to this vid explaining how to assess each component and then what to upgrade!
Some cities in the US has swap spots which are often in very public places or even in front of supervised police stations with lots of cameras. Great spots to potentially scare off suspicious sellers and also trade your own stuff if you feel uncomfortable having a stranger show up at your house.
I bought a Hoodoo off Facebook Market place too. Mine was £330 and 12 months old. Kid wanted rid to buy a car. It's my first mtb and its been bloody brilliant. Easily tackles my local trails. Very keen to see what you do as I'd really like to add a dropper to it.
Had a the same bike for a year or so .... was very impressed with it.
Big love for Voodoo. I've got 3 of them, latest one is the carbon bizango 29er which is absolutely fantastic for £1000. Amazing spec for the money. I've also got the Marasa hybrid which has been great, I've done 1000s of km on that one over the last few years. I recommend taking the fork out and greasing the steering bearings first thing. They don't last long otherwise.
Love this channel always informative and fun to watch! 💯👀
Bought a voodoo bizango (new) 3 years ago for my eldest son to get into mtb
Nice bike rides well but poor quality bearings
Have replaced every bearing on the bike after 2 years
So 100% recommend bearings upgrade 👍
it’s cool to see that you got a nice bike. what sucks though is I’ve been trying for bikes for 2 months. and I keep coming empty handed. Thinking about just waiting for close out sales in the fall.
I got the same bike (voodoo), I bought it last December '18 (it was on sale for £400 down from £550) and have upgraded some of the components like brakes, crankset and tires. It's a pretty awesome bike and I'm planning on upgrading the forks and seatpost (going with a dropper) soon.
Look forward to the series, was debating getting a new bike now getting back into biking currently have a old 2008 giant XTC 3.5 but decided to use it as a opportunity to learn some bike DIY
This is literally the video I'm after at the mo, perfect! Thanks :)
Often people get rid of a bike because of worn parts. Cassette, chain, BB. Which are due for for a change anyway.
Would love to see whst you can upgrade on this bike and cheaper bikes in general
Gumtree, Got myself a Gt Trance for £200. So happy chap. Was local to where I live.
Hey that was my rocky mountain
The one Neil said rang alarm bells??
Really bro?
I have the voodoo bizango. It's a great bike, i change the handle bars, Pedals and I'm on the hunt for a cheap dropper post
A year ago i was lucky enough to find a bargain Canyon grand canyon sl 9.0 for 600 euro. The bike was a size xs which was perfect for my Gf who wanted to start riding.the guy sold it because he was moving to South Africa. He had the receipt etc so it was really worth it. found that bike on facebook and if you know what you are looking for it can be a good place to search on!
Got a Cannondale trail 7 best part 6years ago through Evans cycles and still have it and goes like a rocket
Great vid, I got a 2015 specialized status 1 from eBay with upgraded rock shock monarch rear shock and a few upgrades for only £500 which was a bargain it only needed a new derailer hanger, shifter and break pads that was only like £20 if that, it is a great bike now with a lot of travel, I’ve fitted a new dropper post on it and I love the bike now.
Clicked on vid cuase it's the same bike as I have.. already added a dropper post but I'm excited to see the changes you guys make
Back in March I picked up a full carbon Specialized Stump-jumper with full Fox suspension for £700 on eBay. It’s an older model, 26” wheels but in great condition with little use and dealer services. I am as happy as a pig in poo!!! 😁👍🏻
Nice!
I’ve got a fairly budget build which is custom for my 2016 voodoo zobop with nukeproof pedals bars and grips alongside a deore 1x10 drivetrain and dt Swiss forks
I just sold my 96 Cannondale m900 hardtail on Facebook for £320. It did have an awesome revelation fork though along with other upgrades (that fitted) which I still find better than the recon air on my cube acid 2020.
Do a fork upgrade video. I am looking for a fork upgrade on my specialized rockhopper comp 2019. This would be really helpful.
Manitou markhor is a good cheap air form
I have a similar bargain bike. Would love it if you showed how to upgrade the bottom bracket without having to change any of the running gear and the pros and cons of slacking the head angle with angled headset bearings if it's even possible with voodoo bikes. A recommendation and the fitting of an appropriatly priced dropper post and how easy it would be to convert to tubeless with the stock rims and tyres would also be greatly appreciated. Great video. I'm sure a series of upgrade follow up videos on this bike would be really popular with many who have tight budgets but are keen bikers and tinkerers.
Good luck finding any cheap bikes lately, the used market has gone absolutely insane with many bikes going for 3-4x what they would have last year.
I am still riding an apollo steel mountain bike from Halfords that cost £89 14 years ago. I wouldn't recomend taking it on trails but I have, it is more of a workhorse these days for the shops and some gentle trails. I have a specialised bike I got 8 years ago new but I regret getting that bike not because it is bad quality but the fork and drive train were average then and now completely outdated and I paid a lot for it .
The one thing that is true is that even a retro steel mountain bike will be fun. It has got way too expensive these days when a good bike costs as much as a car.
Really looking forward to your upgrade videos for this. I bought the previous Voodoo Hoodoo model off a work college for £60 and am currently setting it up for tubeless running. I'm intrigued what you may think are the weaker points on the bike and what terrain you plan to use it on 😁🚲
Good info on which question's to ask when buying a bike....for those Not in know..
Gumtree, haha. I messaged a seller selling an Allez Sprint (I ride road and MTB) asking what size it was.
He didn’t know. He didn’t know where to find and and couldn’t tell me what size when I told him what to look for
No thanks on that one!
I have this exact bike... Really really looking forward to seeing what you guys do with it. For the price it's a great bike, I've done a few 30+ mile rides on it already and it's a actually a very capable hardtail, the deore transmission is surprisingly good, has a clutch mech!
You have to do some upgrades Neil! That would be a good video to do. From start to finish full upgrade, then at the end you shred the finished article somewhere. Loving the videos! 👍🚲
Just picked up one of these up for £400. I think actually they're a US company but Halford's are just a stockist btw.
Got a Giant Tramce 2 27.5 and Trek Superfly 29er. Total cost £1000 for both.
Trance on EBay, Superfly on Gumtree.
I got a good deal: I got a 2018 whyte 901 for £600 on eBay. 🤙
Sweet!
Niiice
cool ive seen that one
Looking forward to seeing what you do with this bike guys. I got exact same bike on the bike to work scheme last year. My wife claimed it but her upgrade is on order (Trek Roscoe 7) so I get my bike back lol
I’ve just bought myself a new mountain bike found this video so useful. Going to show my new bike on my channel when I pick it up at the weekend. So excited 😁
A couple of years back I grabbed a dean colonel titanium hardtail for just under £300. The bargains are out there to be had.
I bought the same bike recently so I could try get into mountain biking and it made me fall in love with the sport. Unfortunately as much as I would like to upgrade to a full suspension bike I just can afford it right now. However the Voodoo Hoodoo is doing a good job and I'm excited to see what up grade you guys do it
I got myself a trek marlin 6 2020 last week coz my marlin 5 2015-16 was stolen and its awsome!
Specialized also have a dealership in Bristol so I'm sure getting OEM parts won't be a problem!
I have an older Voodoo Hoodoo, real solid bike. Don't overlook them just because they are from Halfords.
With quarantine here in the states, most of the listings are very overpriced. A lot of the bikes listed are low end bikes the sellers are trying to get more than they cost new from. Especially on the platforms with no listing fees like facebook and craigslist.
Also look for mis spellings on ebay. Got a 2010 "Specialised' (note spelling) Stumpjumper Ht Comp with a spare set of decent wheels, definite cyclist with serial number in place for £100!
Halfords are an ok stop for a good place to start for a reasonable price staff knowledge can be an issue but there are still bargains I got my first bike from there a few yrs back 22 inch frame carerra ht 240 quid full service pack and warranty as it was purchased and returned due to being too big
Unfortunately for the bike I'm in the 100kg plus club and the forest of dene is unforgiving so 4 months later it had been in for warranty work 3 times but I knew mtb was for me so sold it and went for an enduro set up
Don't get me started on staff knowledge at Halfords! Car was struggling to start and with Halfords being just round corner I went to them as they do the free checks and fluid top ups, as suspected faulty battery but alternator and everything was all good....anyway man was like I can take you to the batteries if you'd like, so I go with him, and he points the the most expensive one which was also hugeee and said I'll need that one, I have a 1.0L Yaris....and then when I questioned him he said the cheaper smaller battery will work for a bit but then I'll be back in a few weeks cause the alternator wont sufficiently charge it...at that point I said thanks for his help and just walked out
About a year ago I bought a €200 giant xtc napa. I also didn't wanna spend a fortune as I just got into the sport, but man I was impressed on the amount of value you can get for €200 (full-suspension, 3x9 gearing, disc brakes, he even gave a bike stand, suspension pump and a small bike computer speedometer with it). It was pretty old, about 20 years or so. But still in very nice condition, only needed new tyres and has a bit of difficulty shifting into 3rd gear at the pedals (probably the chain only needs a bit of realignment, haven't fixed it yet because when driving on trails i dont really need any more than 2x9, do wanna fix it eventually tho). For what it is, it drives brilliant - used it multiple times on rough forest trails, and through wet mud, had the whole derailleur covered in goo absolutely abused it😂, and I'm curious to how long it's gonna keep up. In the end its a €200 bike that i already got a year of great fun out of and I couldn't care more if it collapsed tomorrow, but it isn't showing any sign it will and it drives still very nicely so I hope I can keep having fun with it on the long term!
This is what I needed about 5 months ago 😂 but still helpful
This is a tip look for bikes at the end of the season eg September ish as I got a virus sentier VRS 29er for only £400 and it was in really good state as it was a test/demo bike so if on eBay look for pictures that look really good quality and in a proper place not just someone's shed.