Advice on first mountain bike

Tom_D3

I'm looking to start mountain biking, and need a mountain bike. As I have a low budget (Under £200), I have been looking at the used market. In my area, I have found these bikes:
- Specialized HRXC (2008?)
- Specialized Rockhopper (2004ish?)
- Trek 3500 2014
- Kona Stuff 2005

All of these bikes have disk brakes, and are in good condition. I know that there will likely be some problems, however I have experience fixing bikes after riding road.
I will be doing mostly trail riding and possibly some jumps, and am looking for a good all rounder bike to start mountain biking, so would like some advice on which will be most suitable.

Thanks in advance

Lungs94

£200 is really low budget to start off mountain biking, but I'd suggest looking at second hand Carerra or Voodoo, I wouldnt buy a bike older than 2010 most likely will need alot of parts replacing nor would I look at buying a bike for £200 from the major brands, horrible spec for the money.

JGTR

Saw a Carrera in Halfors today for £199, rigid fork but looked well worth the money

Jonesinamilion

I always have a look in the FS section on here, most bikes are over this budget BUT if you haven't already, a "wanted" ad might prompt someone to part with something decent for your money?

Try also searching for used decathlon bikes on the bay, new ones (I love mine) are good value so I can only assume a used will be in budget?

Tom_D3

Thanks for the advice:)

Ive manged to increase my budget, but I'd still like to go used. The bikes now available to me are:
Giant Yukon FX
Giant XTC 2.5
Specialized Hardrock Pro
GT Agressor XC2

All of these bikes are in good condition (From a local second hand bike dealer), but I was wondering which one would you reccomend?

Thanks

supersonic

Depends on the year, have been several versions of each (and they vary). What you want to look for is:

- a fork with rebound damping, preferably hydraulic and adjustable.
- disc brakes, hydraulic is a big bonus
- 8 speed rear cassette or higher (not a crew on freewheel).

And of course fit and feel. I'd see if you can find some more info on them.

Tom_D3

Giant Yukon fx 2008:
Fork: RockShox Dart 2, 100mm travel
Shock: Giant Air, 4" travel
Brakes: Hayes HMX-4 w/160mm rotor brakes, Tektro Alloy levers
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore
Rear Derailleur: SRAM SX4
Cassette: 8-speed, 11 - 32 teeth

Giant XTC 2.5 2007:
FORK RockShox Recon 351 air 80mm travel, Motion control remote lock out
BRAKES Avid Juicy 3, 160mm rotors
WHEELS Mavic XM117 rims, Shimano 475 hubs
DRIVETRAIN Shimano LX 27 speed shifters, XT rear mech
9 speed cassette

Specialized Hardrock Pro 2008:
Fork: SR Suntour SF7-XCM-HLO 100mm travel
Brakeset: Avid BB-5 w/6" rotor brakes, Avid FR-5 levers
Drivetrain: mix of shimano Alivio and Altus
8-speed, 11 - 32 teeth

The Rookie

Of those the Giant XTC is stand out better, better fork (by a long way), better drivetrain and hydraulic brakes. However is is very much an XC bike, so what sort of usage do you envisage?

You would almost certainly get better value with a used Voodoo/Rockrider/Carrera than any of those.
As an example http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carrera-krake ... SwtJZXVVx3 is better than the Yukon or Lardrock and a better trail bike than the XTC.