C2W Halfords, mountain bike <£800 advice

Thinking of C2W scheme and was (in another thread) thinking was going to go for a hybrid but had a very quick look in Halfords and now think prefer mountain bike instead.
My use will be starting out again on bikes, never done proper mountain biking, what I want for is basic commuting and coastline hills and tracks. No forests etc, very basic use out and about around the doors as such.
Budget is <£800 and Halfords doing 15% trade in as well which will help with price. So I was edging towards Boardman MHT 8.6/8.8, but open to suggestions please.
Thanks
My use will be starting out again on bikes, never done proper mountain biking, what I want for is basic commuting and coastline hills and tracks. No forests etc, very basic use out and about around the doors as such.
Budget is <£800 and Halfords doing 15% trade in as well which will help with price. So I was edging towards Boardman MHT 8.6/8.8, but open to suggestions please.
Thanks
0
Posts
By far the best value for money at that price point from anywhere (not just Halfords), a 29er would also suite your usage better than a smaller wheel.
retired 9.6kg Carrera Kraken
The Carrera Hardtail combined thread - come on all you Carrera's!
The Sons Scott Genius RC20 build
2011 Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc (son #3s)
2013 Decathlon Triban 3 (red) (mine)
2019 Hoy Bonaly 26" Disc (son #2s)
2018 Voodoo Bizango (mine)
2018 Voodoo Maji (wife's)
Noticed the Boardman MHT 8.6 has 27.5, the 8.8 has 29, so as you say the 8.8 would be better? Is this because of riding on normal roads would be better?
Why does the 8.6 have 27 and 8.8 29?
I honestly can't see what you're paying £200 more for between the Boardman 8.8 and the Bizango. The Bizango fork is not Rockshox, but is a nice Suntour equivalent fork. The Boardman is heavier (I can vouch for the weight of the Bizango as being 12.8kg when I weighed it when I got home, so that's nearly a kilo lighter than the Boardman), the drive train is identical, the brakes are identical etc. Money may not be the sole decider if its C2W so I can undertand the appeal of a nice mature brand vs the more "youf" flavour of the Bizango (colour scheme, branding etc), but for £200 I know which I'd go for!
2011 Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc (son #3s)
2013 Decathlon Triban 3 (red) (mine)
2019 Hoy Bonaly 26" Disc (son #2s)
2018 Voodoo Bizango (mine)
2018 Voodoo Maji (wife's)