I’m looking to venture into the world of DH bike ownership, however with a pretty limited student budget.

I’ve seen a 2011 Saracen Myst with a relatively good spec for £700. Has anyone had any experience of them/ are they any good? If not, what else should I be looking for with an absolute maximum budget of £700?

The myst is a great DH starter bike. However for 700 you might need to spend some money on bearings, fork servicing etc.

Mate just got a Demo and spent around that much. He did have the luxury of it having 135mm dropouts so just fitted his old 26″ wheels. You might be able to get a Status with the single crown x-fusion forks for that amount.

I 2nd the status. I got one for around your budget with CCDB shock Marzocchi 888 evos, hope brakes, everything you could want really. It is a great bike. There were a few on Pinkbike for decent money.

Myst looks like a good bike though.

Also look at Kona Operator, Orange 224 and Nukeproof Scalp around that price.

All will be short by modern standards so size up if possible.

Thanks for the opinions! The myst sold so the hunt continues!

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wtd-downhill-bike-large-max-800

Did you check on PB? I’ve applied some filters for you, £900 to give you a bit of haggling room…

I’m quite impressed with what can be had

If you’re not too tall the Scott Voltage is a great starter fr/dh bike. Not quite as full on as a proper dh bike but still happy on the rough stuff as it is on the jumps which it excels at. I’m 5’8″ ish on a short one and it feels good but I wish I’d got the longer version as it’d probably make it a bit better for all round riding.

Don’t forget canyon dh bikes. Mine was £1500 new a couple of summers ago so there should be some s/h ones in budget.

They are on sale on canyons website at the moment, but out of budget.