Hi all – first post here!

I’m looking for my first MTB somewhere around £500, and have been keeping my eye on eBay, PinkBike, Facebook and so on for second-hand bikes.

I’ve generally done rides on hire bikes at trail centres (rather sporadically) for the last year, especially Glentress. Did the red run for the first time last weekend (although I skipped some of the harder stuff!). So I’m generally looking for something that can handle trails whilst giving me a good chance to progress in future. I’m also somewhat interested in the idea of cycling up some Munros. Done a fair few on foot, but never on a bike…

So from those requirements I decided I was looking for a second-hand hardtail with maybe a 140mm fork. I like the simplicity of a 1x system, but for Munros I don’t know how that would work in terms of ratios. I’m avoiding 26″ wheels, and I’m absolutely not interested in a triple chainset after fighting with the one on my road bike so often.

But today I noticed today that Boardman bikes are 20% off at Halfords, and the reviews are generally pretty good. I can also get a further 10% off I become a member of British Cycling.

In terms of what I wanted originally, I think the Boardman Team 29er is close – it’s a 120mm fork which is perhaps slightly less than I’d like, and it’s a 1X chainset, which I definitely like. However, I think I’d have to drop to a 30T or 32T chainring for climbing Munros (not opposed to doing this).

So, has anyone tried it? How is it? How would it be as a first MTB? Am I better off waiting, maybe until Black Friday or even until January? Is there something that’ll be much better for my needs out there? Would it be okay as something that I could upgrade in future (maybe swap the fork one day, then perhaps build something up from a new frame)?

Thanks for your help!

The Voodoo bizango is worth a look as well. Gets a lot of great reviews.

Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of good things. There are three small problems – firstly, I’m finding it a bit difficult to compare the specs myself, aside from the numbers. They’re both 120mm forks, for example, but I don’t know how a Suntour Radion compares to a RockShox Recon Silver (although I’ve heard good things about RockShox Recons). Also the Boardman is a 1X which sounds good in principle, but I don’t actually know which of the groupsets is better. Same goes for brakes, geometry, etc. etc.

Secondly, it seems they were on sale for £480 about 4 weeks ago, so I’d feel like I was being ripped off if I bought one now. Would have to wait for it to come back on sale (although I’m sure this will happen in January if not before).

The last problem is my cycling buddy already has one and I’m not sure we can cycle around on the same bike, haha.

If upgrading the fork is on the cards then the Boardman is the choice due to it having a tapered head tube. The choice of straight 1 1/8 steerer forks would be far more restricted,if you went for the Bizango.

TBH, either would work well for you, and both would be great first bikes, but if it were my money it would go on the Boardman of the two. It’s 1x (the GX groupset works well), modern geometry, decent kit – get riding!

The bizango has a 44mm head tube so you can run any fork – I have a 1.5″ straight steerer in mine.

For munro riding a 1×11 isn’t necessarily a good thing. You need low gears as you can be climbing for hours, so gradients that you can climb in higher gears for short periods by standing, you will be sitting and spinning. You then need high gears for the fast descents. My munro bike runs a triple and I rarely use the middle ring. Set up properly a front mech changes just as easily and smoothly as a rear mech.

Weight is much more important for a munro bike than a trail bike. You will be pushing /carrying a lot of the time and an extra couple of kg makes a huge difference. The suntour fork works well but it weighs 2.5kg. A rockshox pike is 1.8 kg. The wheels on the bizango are heavy as well.

Have a look at secondhand Boardman Pro 29ers, loads on ebay and they seem to go for £500-ish.

It’s a good frame with really great spec – Sram GX 1×11, Guide brakes, Reba fork. Geometry is quite modern too and its a decent triple-butted frame.

Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye on eBay. I found a brand new VooDoo Canzo offered for £550 – would that be a good idea? I’m really not keen on a triple but I could easily upgrade to a double in future.