Mountain Bike Choice?

feverpitch010

Hi. I was wondering if anyone could help me choose an mountain bike which would best suit me?
Being almost 40 I was around when BMX racing was around at the start and I really got into that. Though as like a lot of others I grew up and got into other sports like football and rugby. But now my body has told me enough is enough. That's how i've got around to deciding to give mountain biking a go.
I've read some mags and did some checking on the net but I still can't decide which bike best suits. What i'm looking for is a bike which I can use on the road and trails. Though as i'm new to this i'm not sure upon the number, or the level of difficulty the trails are in Northern Ireland.
Any tips on the pros and cons of hardtails, full-suspension and 29ers would be grateful.
I have a budget of between £750 - £1000.

I7 Extreme

I think a lightweight xc bike would probably be good as long as your not doing very rough trials. i've heard that giant trance's are good but i've never been on one and i dont know how light they are. In my opinion its usualy best to buy bikes second hand, you can get a used top of the range for the price of a new mid/top. If you keep looking in the classified ads you might find something good. +look at the advice for buying second hand bikes.

Pudseyp

For a mix of road and trail I would probably go for a hardtail with your budget with front forks of either 100mm or 120mm travel.

Spec wise you cannot beat these two..
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2537

DaveBickers

I think you should take a look at ragley. Super looking bikes with some modern geometry. Link below to one near the top end of your budget.

http://www.ragleybikes.com/2011-complet ... piglet-x7/