Vitus VEE-1
£260
This is a hard-as-nails bruiser of a bike with one gear and no suspension fork. It's light but its simplicity is both its beauty and its downfall. It's a basic bike for urban work and play, with a strong emphasis on play. As it is, it's very capable of tackling anything from going to work, school, shopping or playing on street structures, but it has potential to be a great low-cost single-gear mountain bike too.
For off-road use you'd need to reduce the gear ratio by fitting a smaller chainring (around £20 would get you something suitable) and you'd need knobbly tyres if you're venturing into the slippery stuff. It has rack mounts and bottle bosses, setting it apart from other 'big wheel BMX' type bikes, and it only takes a little imagination to see what else it's good for.
Someone will inevitably point out in the comments section below this article that you can get a £260 bike with lots of gears and suspension, so we'll point out the quality compromises you put up with at this price if you want bells and whistles. The VEE-1 has the simplistic brawn and evil beauty of a BMX plus ride anywhere, do anything utilitarian practicality. Click here to read our full review
Saracen TuffTrax
£260
This Saracen manages the tricky balancing act of being stable enough to reassure a newcomer but flighty enough to offer some reward when the same novice starts to get the hang of things. The well thought-out and detail-packed frame forms the basis for an agile and confident handling bike. Compromises come in the form of a limited gear range and a heavy set of wheels, but what you get for your money is very impressive and remarkably fun.Click here to read our full review
Islabikes Beinn 29
£400
When champion off-road racer Isla Rowntree set up the Islabikes brand, she was aiming to create the best kids’ bikes on the market. In her spare time she’s custom-built some superb adults bikes for herself and a few friends.
The Beinn 29 is her first off-the-peg adult offering, and it's a great choice for any off-road beginner. With its parts upgrade options, adjustability and adaptability, there are very few riders it wouldn’t suit. The ride feel is as good as 29ers we've tested at twice the price and it’s lighter than all of them.
The Beinn 29 is probably the best, and lightest, starter mountain bike we’ve tested. click here to read our full review
Diamondback Response Sport
£500
The Response Sport was introduced to the UK shortly after the whole range was launched. There is a US version with different finishing kit. You won’t find many £500 bikes with 27 Shimano Deore gears, Shimano disc brakes and a RockShox fork. While the Dart 2 is basic compared to more costly RockShox forks, its controlled rebound sets it apart from the more clunky rebounds of many rival forks on £500 bikes.
The nine-speed rear gears and hydraulic disc brakes mean it’s more future proof than some of its price rivals. Add that to confident handling on all types of terrain and you have a bike that we’d recommend to anyone with trail ambition. Beefy tyres, strong wheels and a wide handlebar add to the appeal, but also make it harder work than some other bikes if you spend a lot of your time on blacktop.
The decent frame and excellent parts package add to a confident ride, to make a great £500 worth. click here to read our full review
Jamis Durango 1
£450
Jamis is an established US brand that’s now imported into the UK by Evans. We chose it for this test because it looks like a well equipped good value machine with a frame that’ll take better components when stuff starts wearing - not that there’s anything wrong with the components it already has.
The only obvious downgrade compared to some other bikes in this price-range is that it has cable disc brakes instead of hydraulics. The Durango 1 is a good value bike that feels comfortable and confident on and off road. While hydraulic disc brakes and a better fork would improve it considerably, at this price we’re not complaining. It was the lightest and most popular, in terms of ride feel, in a test with other similarly priced hardtails. The icing on the cake is the fact that it comes with 27 gears, and a 34-tooth sprocket on the cassette.Click here to read our full review
Decathlon Rockrider 8.0
£429.95
If you happen to live within reach of one of Decathlon's superstores, you'll find a decent selection of low-cost mountain bikes that are remarkably good value for money compared to most of the big brand opposition. The B'twin Rockrider 8.0 is lumbered with a very basic suspension fork but with a decent lightweight aluminium frame, 27 gears and hydraulic brakes it's about £100 cheaper than many of its similarly specced rivals.
That makes it a good starting point if you really don't have any more to spend. Its performance off-road is reasonably good and the lockout on the fork is a good blacktop option. If you can manage £70 more, take a look at the b'Twin 8.1. Its RockShox Tora fork offers much better performance than most others on bikes at this price, making it a great buy at the £500 mark. Click here to read our review of the 2010 bike.
Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc
£459.99
We were very impressed by last year's Hardrock Comp Disc. This year's it's been replaced in Specialized's line-up by the Sport Disc. We haven't had a chance to test this yet but it looks like it's very much in the same vein, with a quality A1 Premium Aluminium frame, decent wheels and tyres for off-road use, plus Avid's mechanical disc brakes and 24-speed gears. While a few bikes come with 27 gears at this price, few offer the precise but forgiving ride feel of the Hardrock.
If you're setting your ambitions on proper rough terrain mountain biking rather than the occasional gentle ride on a towpath, then it's well worth doing what you can to up your budget to the £599.99 Hardrock Pro Disc, which has a far better controlled suspension fork than the Sport Disc plus hydraulic brakes.
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