Small frame MTB for £1000ish?

Strat68

Hi guys,
I'm a total beginner about to start cycling to work and on days out with my son.
I'm looking for a small frame mountain bike for around £1000, likely to be a front suspension as full sus looks to be serious money.
I'd need a small frame (5'6) and a more relaxed ride rather than an all out race type bike.
For that budget what would you suggest?
I'd looked online at a Whyte 805 or Orange 120 - are they good options, they both have small frames available? Happy to buy a last year's model if that works out cheaper.

I'd prefer to try the fit of the bike and support a local shop if possible.
One more question that may sound stupid is what am I looking for when I try out a bike? Talk of slack angles is a foreign language to me

My new job offers the cycle-to-work scheme and has a secure place to leave the bike and a shower.
There's no company car park and a full day's parking is a tenner, so the bike will save me a fortune. It's not a long ride but through parks is scenic and safer than risking life and limb on the road!

Thanks for your help!

cooldad

What shops can you use on the scheme?

Strat68

I've just asked and they said we can use any of the 2000 shops listed in the www.cyclescheme.co.uk site, including online, so that's good news

The Rookie

Get to Decathlon and have a look at the 7-series bikes, great value.

trek_dan

Push the budget a little
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _2014_Bike

The Rookie

How do you 'push the budget' (legitimately at least) on a cycle to work bike?

Strat68

The Rookie wrote:

Get to Decathlon and have a look at the 7-series bikes, great value.

Turns out Decathlon do accept CycleScheme!
I'll pop over and take a look, thanks for the tip

cooldad

Rose anderson wrote:

So a MTB is badly needed for you. On the other hand you can also get adventurous journey in mountain. If you got your one then welcome if not you can go through here https://coolidealbike.com/ . I have read their post and they had given a excellent reviews on mountain bike.

No, they don't. It's a load of bollocks filled with BSOs.

rockmonkeysc

Rose anderson wrote:

So a MTB is badly needed for you. On the other hand you can also get adventurous journey in mountain. If you got your one then welcome if not you can go through here https://coolidealbike.com/ . I have read their post and they had given a excellent reviews on mountain bike.

What a load of toss. The Decathlon bikes are at least a billion times better than any of the crap heaps in that list.

Crazyjenkins01

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, what a load of sh1t!