Kaufberatungsthread.. With a difference

[TeaBag]

Hi,
I hope someone can help me, and sorry, but my written German is not very good. I can read German, even do the odd crossword in the Bild zeitung, but I cannot write it, hence everything in English.

Well that’s probably scared about 95% of everybody away, so before the rest click the little X at the top right of their screen I’ll get to the point.

I’m from Scotland, over here on a student exchange plan. I have a small budget; working in a bar at night does not help to amass riches. So if I scrape all my pennies together I might get around 600 euros. Oh, and I do not have red hair or wear a kilt, well I do, but not when riding a bike, I might get arrested.. I am 193cm tall and weigh a fatty 95kgs, hence I need a bike to get fit and keep the girls smiling.

I have read and re-read hundreds of tips, pages, test reports etc. It has all gone into one ear and out the other; I sometimes feel as if I’m trying to read Chinese. I don’t know the difference between LX or XT gears and 3 weeks ago was the first time I had ever heard of the make Stevens. Yes, I am every bike sales persons dream, and probably this forums worst nightmare. So before I go into a bike shop and get ripped of by some guy with a big grin and white smiley teeth, I thought I would go to the people who know, that is you guys, and girls.

Now, from what I have read, Stevens seems to be my best bet, the x6 is a babe. Cube and Scott (HA! I should buy a Scott just for the name) are also very good. Am I correct in saying that the x6 is the best bike that one can buy for its price?

Another thing is, my local bike dealer only seems to have Bulls and Merida, what’s the general opinion on these makes? A friend of mine also bought a Jamis bike for a bucket load of money, a few thousand if I remember rightly. He tells me it’s the best thing since the wheel was invented, and anything around my price range, well, he wouldn’t be seen dead on; so I can’t expect much help from him. Is Jamis really that good, it would be nice to know some technical stuff so I can make him choke on his next beer by proving him wrong.

Now 2 bikes that I have been looking at are the:

Scott P4 Sportster and the Stevens x6. Now if I do buy the Stevens, I wont have enough money left to buy a bike stand, but if it is worth it, then tell me. I have found a Scott P4 for 499 euros, leaving me enough money for some extras, board comp etc. I don’t mind buying over the i-net, and any information or tips you can give me will be great. If you can’t help me I’ll probably end up buying an overpriced undersized ‘Bau Markt’ bike, and have to suffer my Jamis friends laughing fits every time he sees me.

If you have read this far, then thanks for your time.

 

[Cpace]

Well, in my opinion the Stevens bike, you have propposed, is not that bad. For this price, you can't really expect much more of a bike. The difference between LX an XT gear is mainly the price an the weight, they basically work in the same way.

 

[Schiky]

Hi!

Well i will try to give you some short hints on english.
1. The best bike you can buy for 600€ is, if you dont mind buying over the internet, as you said in your post, the Transalp Stoker VII http://www.transalp24.de/index.html?d_565.htm. If you would rather like to buy at a local dealer have a look for Cube, Scott, Bergamont, Stevens or similar brands. The best would be, if you could find a bike from the last year.
2. Technical parts you should look for are. The most important thing is that the shifting parts are on Deore level or better, but i think you can´t expect mor then LX and you also won´t need mor then Deore or LX. The suspension (Federgabel) is another part, but i think you will have to make a compromise (Kompromiss) if you only got 600€. Mostly the bikes will have a Suntour suspension.
3. I can´t tell you much about Bulls and Merida, but in my opinion the low budget bikes of Bulls are not really good.
4. You can buy better bikes then the Scott P4 for about 500€. As i said before the Stoker VII is probably the best bike for this amount of money.

So i hope i could help you, if you got mor questions don´t mind asking me again. I will try to answer on english even if i am not that used to talk or write on english. At school i got english lessons and on my two trips to the USA i was able to train my english, but in Germany you don´t use it so it´s a little bit different. (Die Englischkentnisse rosten mit der Zeit halt ein! I hope you can understand everything and if you got more questions you can also write me an Email).

Oh the question about Jamis, i don´t know a lot about this brand. But as i heard they build very good bikes but there are several other brand which build bikes on the same level or even better bikes.

 

[Jaypeare]

Hi,

Now, from what I have read, Stevens seems to be my best bet, the x6 is a babe. Cube and Scott (HA! I should buy a Scott just for the name) are also very good. Am I correct in saying that the x6 is the best bike that one can buy for its price?

It might not be the best bike, but it certainly is a good deal. You will find bikes that have better equipment, but they will most likely be only available from online shops, meaning you wont have a local store for service and repairs. And of course, you wont be able to test drive the bike you want beforehand, and this I consider more important than getting the best parts available for this price. If the bike's geometry doesn't fit you, the nice shiny highend parts won't help you.

Stevens and Cube are often mentioned to be among the brands with a big dealer network that offer the best price-performance-ratio in Germany. Scott builds good bikes too, but in comparison they are quite expensive. You pay for the name .

Another thing is, my local bike dealer only seems to have Bulls and Merida, what’s the general opinion on these makes?

Bulls is not loved in this forum because it is the home brand of a big dealer network with - lets say - sometimes strange policies. The bikes often were dazzlers, tuned up with some shiny parts to trick the unaware. However, the new product range seems to be ok. The quality of the frames is ok, most frames in this price class come from the same factories in Taiwan anyway. Merida is a very big bike company. Good quality, but not really cheap. If you find a bike that fits your needs, theres nothing wrong with these brands.

Now 2 bikes that I have been looking at are the:
Scott P4 Sportster and the Stevens x6.

So you are looking for cross bikes? It would be helpful to know what you want to do and where you want to drive with your bike.

If you happen to be near the Ruhr area and a MTB is also ok, you might want to take a look at my signature .