Buying First MTB, £320 Budget

Overdoze

Hi,

I am looking to buy my first mountain bike to keep fit. I will be using it leisurely on and off road. I will also be doing the occasional light trail.

I don't know much about bikes, so I am looking for some advise. After a bit of research I have narrowed down to the following bikes. I would like to know what are the best options and why, so I can try them out.

I can get 20% discount at Cycles UK making the £400 bikes £320. With the discount are they as good/better than the Bantu?

Specialized Pitch Sport 650B

http://www.cyclesuk.com/en/Specialized-Pitch-Sport-650B-Mountain-Bike-Black-and-White/m-27002.aspx

GT Avalanche Sport 27.5

http://www.cyclesuk.com/en/GT-Avalanche-Sport-275-MTB-2015-Black/m-33723.aspx

Cube Aim Disc 27.5 2015

http://www.cyclesuk.com/en/Cube-Aim-Disc-275-2015-Hardtail-White-Red-Blue/m-29651.aspx

Voodoo Bantu

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bantu-mountain-bike-2013-2014-20

Any and all advise would be much appreciated

rockmonkeysc

Definitely the Voodoo. Easily the best out of that lot. It has the best fork which counts for a lot.

cooldad

What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Overdoze

Thanks for your replies. What makes the Voodoo's forks better? The GT has hydraulic lock out, which I read is better than mechanical? Also the GT has a 9 Speed Shimano Alivio Rear Derailleur vs. the Voodoo's 8 Speed Shimano Acera, does this make much difference?

I am still learning and would like to know what sort of components to check for? And if it's worth trying-out both bikes.

cooldad

The GT has mechanical lock out, according to your link, so totally useless forks.

Overdoze

Yeah, I am seeing some site's say mechanical and some say hydraulic, so will have to check that. What are the differences?

The Rookie

A mechanical lock out does just that, otherwise the fork is undamped, a hydraulic lockout means the fork has a hydraulic damper making it much better controlled all the time, when locked it won't be fully rigid, it just turns the damping upto maximum so there will still be some slight movement available.

Overdoze

Thanks for clearing that up, looks like the VooDoo Bantu is the best I can get for my budget. Unless there is something I haven't considered?