Mountain bike for beginner - £750ish

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Hi, hoping I can get some advice for a roadie who is looking to do some mountain biking for a bit of variety.

I've had a couple of shots at MTB on a hire bike at Glentress, and really enjoyed it, and I live near some local trails (Beecraigs, Carron Valley), so looking to give it a go. I'd mainly be looking to do reasonably short off-road trail rides of an hour or 2 - I'd be sticking to the road bike for big days out.

I've had a look at bikes around the £750 mark, but I'm a bit lost with what kind of bike I want. I can see downhill, trail, sport, XC, enduro and other descriptions, and lots at this price point that are apparently 'great for beginners'.

Requirements -
I think I want a 1x drivetrain - not too fussed if 9/10/11/12 speed
Ideally some internal cabling (I have on my road bikes and love this for the lower maintenance)
Shimano hydraulic discs
I think I'd be better suited to a 29er
Would prefer not to go to Halfords if possible
Ideally something that looks good :-)
I'm about 6ft 4 and 90 kgs if that makes any difference.

Some bikes I've looked at -
https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Trek/Marlin-7-Mou...

And a good example of 2 bikes that seem similar but are clearly different models -
https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Orbea/MX-20-Mount...
https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Orbea/Alma-H50-29...

Any advice welcome, thanks.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

cml24 said:

Any reason not to go to Halfords?

Voodoo bizango is back in stock sometimes now and well regarded bike looking at the reviews. I've not ridden one myself I'll add though.

From a brief look the components on the Voodoo are a step up from your initial selections

Yes, the last time I went to Halfords to get a replacement wheel for my Boardman road bike, they refitted the tube and tyre without fitting any rim tape, and I had to walk home 3 miles with an unfixable puncture as a result - so a mixture of general bitterness and lack of confidence in them to put a bike together, especially with components I'm not familiar with (I'd be fine with checking over a road bike, but I'm not sure about MTB components).

The voodoo bikes do look good (components wise) for the money though.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Thanks for the replies, I agree that Halfords can be variable, although I'd just prefer not to use them if possible.

The Voodoo bikes do look to have a high spec for the money, as do the Vitus suggested. I can't find any of them in stock at my size (XL) in Halfords or Wiggle at the moment though.

Looking at bikes in stock at retailers at the moment, the ones I mentioned in the OP are there, plus this Cannondale which seems reasonably specced except for the Microshift shifters, and a couple of reasonable bikes.
https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product/mountain-bikes...

(lower spec Voodoo) https://www.halfords.com/bikes/mountain-bikes/vood...

(budget creep!) https://www.halfords.com/bikes/mountain-bikes/boar...

Does anyone have experience of the Voodoo bikes ?

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Thanks to all who took the time to reply, looks like I can rule out the Voodoo Bizango as I'd need the XL frame, and looking at the sizing I am right at the top end (6 foot 4 for the XL and I am 6 foot 4.5). A shame as it sounds like it would have been a great option, although it's freed me from dealing with Halfords.

I checked with Wiggle and it looks like the Vitus Sentier and Nucleus will be in stock in the next couple of weeks there, and I have a platinum discount, so would get 10% off them. Just need to choose between that and the Orbea Alma (in stock at Sigma sports) now.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-sentier-29-mountain...

Think I'm edging towards the Orbea as it looks great, which will make me want to go out on it, and seems to have all I need to get started except for pedals.
https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Orbea/Alma-H50-29...

Decisions decisions!

And apologies to heisthegaffer for tempting you to get a new bike

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

witko999 said:

For £750 I wouldn't bother with anything new personally. You'll be able to get something nice and lightly used on Pinkbike, of a much higher spec.

Thanks for this. I had a look on Pinkbike and there were only a couple of bikes around that price, and all were local collection only a long way from where I am (West Lothian). They don't seem to be cheap enough to outweigh the risk of buying privately and unseen. I sold a road bike recently in one day through facebook, guessing the MTB market is just as crazy.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

OP what did you hire at Peebles and what did you like and dislike about it?

Good question. It was a few years ago, but both times I'd just hired a basic hardtail which had internal hub gears (8 speed I think) rather than a derailleur setup. At the time it would have had 27.5 wheels I guess.

I liked the simplicity of only shifting in one place (i.e. no front chainring), and the whole experience of riding the trails was good fun - although having only watched MTB online, I didn't realise you had to cycle to the top I don't think I had any issues with the forks - not being used to suspension I basically had them either locked going up, or unlocked going down, which seemed to work for me. The level of suspension seemed fine for the speed I was going down the trails at.

It was really heavy though, and I felt it when pedalling up bumpy trails in the lowest gear when my friends with derailleurs seemed to be able to spin a much higher cadence. I lost momentum a few times and had to get off and push over rocky uphill bits that they seemed able to spin / roll over - probably a lot due to my lack of skills, but maybe a 29er would be better?

On the plus side, no-one mocked me for my full road gear

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

OP update. After a frustrating few weeks trawling the second hand market, and various new bikes I've looked at online selling out, I've gone for this one brand new:

https://www.cyclelane.co.uk/m1b154s370p22003/MERID...

Slight budget creep, but seems to have the spec I'm looking for (1x, dropper post, decent fork travel, TL ready), so happy with it compared to a lot of the bikes slightly cheaper which were mostly missing a dropper and/or being TL ready.

Picking it up on Saturday, should have my first off(s) this weekend