RST Omega SC

Advantages: Aluminium Frame, Good gear set, looks ace!
Disadvantages: no rear suspension

...This bike has got fantastic geometry and is therefor a very comfortable ride. The tripple triange frame is very solid and the bike goes where you point it. When i bought the bike it came with 27 gears, cable disc brakes,(which will soon be upgraded), and some decent shocks. So far i love it!! the bike looks ace too. What a visually pleaseing piece of design. Great bike to upgrade. Starting components are reasonable as u get what u pay for, in this case a great frame and some slightly shady parts. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the components if u r an occasional MTBer but if u go offroad lots you'll need stronger components which can handle rougher stuff than the RST's it comes with as standard.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Price, style
Disadvantages: For this price you don't get brilliance!

...too hard to look better than they are. The Trek 820 looks much like any other Trek, simple but stylish. The 820 is pretty much bottom of the Trek mountain bike range, but that doesn't mean it's crap. Trek are generally recognised as one of the better bike manufacturers around. The bike is steel framed, which is now a rather outdated, heavy material. However, for the casual cyclist this shouldn't be any problem. The 820 is only going to be too heavy if you're carrying it up mountains/over rivers/whatever the pros do! In fact you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between this and an aluminium frame. The ride is much smoother than anything else I've experienced. Front suspension forks really do make a difference, and although the ones provided here (RST 191 CL) are nothing special, they do the job well enough... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Solid Sturdy Frame, great feel, great looks.
Disadvantages: Front Suspension isn't the greatest

...I've recently decided to get back into cycling. It took me a while to decide what sort of bike to go for, mountain bike, road bike, hybrid bike etc. I finally decided to go for a mountain bike as I plan to go off-road quite a bit as well as my commute to work and there are plenty of areas for me to try off-roading locally. My budget was quite small compared to what a lot of these bikes go for, I was only prepared to spend in the region of £300. I decided upon the Specialized Hardrock Sport and I have no complaints. Visually the bike looks great, when you have a closer look you can see that it is very well made, the frame and the welding look pretty sturdy to say the least. I know some of the components on the bike aren't the best and I was pre-warned about the front suspension being a bit suspect. The RST Gilla's aren... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful