What modern bike for £3-400?

[jimo746]

A friend has asked me what bikes he should be looking at for his budget of £300-400.
It's his first MTB so I guess it's going to be used to/from work, at trail centres, and maybe some longer rides in the mountains.
He's been to a local shop which deals in Specialized and they were recommending bikes at £600+, his budget is a pretty strict £300-400 though.

So, at that budget I think it needs to be a hardtail, preferably with disc brakes, size 18"-19".
Felt and Cube seem to do some decent stuff around that figure, same with Merida, and there's the Spesh Rockhopper/Hardrock too.
He may possibly look at second hand bikes, so a few ideas on those would be helpful.

Anyone got any good suggestions?

 

[hamster]

For that kind of money it's a pretty awesome retro machine or a compromised modern one.
Probably the sweet spot on price / performance is a 10 year old hardtail. Too old to be fashionable and too young to be retro.

How about this? He'll still have cash spare after the fork rebuild...
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=254500

 

[Barneyballbags]

For that kind of money it's a pretty awesome retro machine or a compromised modern one.
Probably the sweet spot on price / performance is a 10 year old hardtail. Too old to be fashionable and too young to be retro.

How about this? He'll still have cash spare after the fork rebuild...
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=254500

That Cannondale is very nice, and because it's second hand he won't be so bothered about putting a few scratches on it!

I'd certainly look to get a decent used bike, rather than a low end new bike.

However, if your friend is dead set on buying new, then look at Cube, Canyon, Felt, Boardman, Voodoo, Carrera to name a few

 

[jimo746]

Thanks, I've told him to pay a visit to the local Hellfrauds and have a look at the Boardman range.
I think he's set on buying New tbh, he doesn't want the hassle of buying a retro used bike that might need work doing to it, rather get a new one out of the box so to speak.
To him a £79.99 BSO is a "mountainbike" :facepalm: it's taken quite a bit of cajoling on my part to convince him that it's worth spending a bit more to get a bike that should take all the abuse he can throw at it and keep on working.

 

[Elysarian]

I remember when £450 was the minimum for a "proper" mountain bike (break point might have been a little lower than that, IIRC MBUK used something along those lines)...

Below that you were looking at heavy frames and/or cheapo componentry (like the Altus C20 my Falcon came with).

I've absolutely no idea about current pricing as I haven't bought a complete bike new since that one.

 

[coomber]

Plenty of bargains for new models a few years old. Have a look on Pauls website, should get a nice 2010 or 2011 model for this. And spec is probably better than 2013 models.

 

[Andy B]

Disc brakes on a sub £400 bike usually means the spec has been downgraded elsewhere to accommodate the cost of disc brakes. £500+ (@RRP) gets a decent bike with full hydraulics with no real compromises

Pauls are good for older models at good prices, but if it's not local you have the mail order thing which can sometimes bite you in the ass if something goes wrong

Cube have a very good spec for the money even at full rrp, no OE tat on them either, all Shimano/Easton/FSA kit so if a part fails you can get spares & good back up from the dealer/importer

 

[cyfa2809]

What about decathlon?

 

[gradeAfailure]

Last year's Carrera Vulcan?

 

[cpggibson]

look at bikes , take somone with you who knows whats good for the money
shops first then internet, you will be ok purchasing online from a good place
its a hell of a lot cheaper that way and it will be your choice
delivery will be tracked , they will update you by e mail & tell you when it will be delivered
bought mine this way
good luck