Voodoo Hoodoo vs BTWIN RR 540 vs Used branded

plod2

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get into mountain biking and to buy my first bike. I want to start off with a hard-tail thats not too expensive. I've seen the Halfords Voodoo bikes have good reviews and are reasonably priced, I also own a BTWIN road bike from decathlon and am also considering their rockrider range.

A third option would be buying a branded bike (trek/specialized) second hand although I have little experience buying used. Would this be a better option than the new, less well-known brands?

Welcome to any thoughts/suggestions, budget is £400 - £600. Cheers!

BTWIN : http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-540-mountain-bike-id_8293149.html
Voodoo Hoodoo: http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-hoodoo-mountain-bike-18#tab1

Antm81

Look pretty similar to be honest, there can be good discounts at halfords, one example being joining British cycling for roughly £20 will get you a 10% discount.

Not sure exactly what model of fork is on the btwin, but the raidon on the voodoo isn't bad.

Personally if you don't mind used and like the voodoo, look for an earlier model, pre 2012 iirc, they have the raidon X1 fork instead of the x3. I got mine barely used for less than half the price than halfords are currently selling them for.