Mountain Bike Forums

i recently had a holiday up in the Lake District and hired some mountain bikes from were we were staying and went for a ride off road around Langdale, well have now well and truly been bit by the bug and want to get into trail riding offroad as a leisure outlet.

so my question to all you guy’s out there is can you recommend me a decent bike for around £200 - £250 range that will cope with off road work but be equally at home on the road. i am aware that you get what you pay for now days but as i am new to this i dont want to outlay vast amounts of cash on a bike now and then find it never gets used.

so if any of you can recommend me a good all round decent bike on at around the price above please let me know

thanks for all you assistance :D

i have seen the Specialized Hardrock 08 model bikes on offer in a few online retailers, are they a decent bike for a starting point ? and should i spend that bti extra and get the disc brake version ?

Yes, go for discs - miles better.

Disc brakes are great, but not on bikes under £300. Better off going for a light frame with decent equipment. Cheap discs are cable pull and a faff to keep working right.

As always i’d say spend £500, but I understand your budget. Wait until Sept/Oct and get an 08 bike (i.e. last years) which retailers might be selling off.

Tail winds................