A mate of mine, who has never really cycled before, wants to have a crack at mountain biking.

I ride in the Peak district etc. so will happily show him some trails (and gently show him that biking is not all about riding on canals and old railway lines), but I’m struggling as to what sort of bike to recommend. I’d lend him a spare, to see how he gets on, but don’t really have anything the right size for him.

I don’t want him to get put off because he ends up riding something that is heavy, uncomfortable, not up to the task, but I wouldn’t want to be recommending he spends shed loads on something that ends up sat in his garage gathering dust either. (His missis would never talk to me again for a start!)

I was thinking something like an on one/ragley hardtail to get him off and running. Any other ideas? Any specialized, giant or equivalent models worth looking at?

Budget :- not sure really does £4-500 ish sound reasonable? or am I going to have to get him to find some extra pennies?

Voodoo Bizango on a cycle to work scheme works out at under £500, that’s before you get any other discounts that are floating about. Great spec for the money (I love mine)

As someone who did this only 2 years ago, I’d definitely start on Ebay/Pinkbike first and go second hand. For the same £500, you’ll get an £18 months old £1k bike that he’ll want to upgrade to anyway if he likes riding. And if he does not he’s got a much better chance of getting more of his money back if/when he re-lists.

Second hand was definitely my thinking as I’d say it is 50:50 whether this will be a fad or the kick start to a new hobby!

My main problem is that I don’t really know which of the many models at around that price are good/bad.

Anyone got any pointers?

PS He can’t do cycle to work as he runs his own company, so not sure it helps him too much.

Would’ve been a good bet otherwise.

I started on a 2012 Saracen Mantra. Although the group set is a mix of Atlus and Acera, it was never a problem. I don’t really notice a difference to the SLX/Zee/RaceFace stuff on my new bike.

The only thing I would’ve wanted to upgrade would be the fork. I never got more than 80mm travel out of a 120mm fork, and now get about 60mm out of it.

As things broke, they have been replaced. It now has an SLX rear-mech (about £4 difference in price on CRC), and Deore brakes (Quad went bust, and I couldn’t get the pads easily. The new ones don’t have Quad brakes). Still it was a great way to start out. 😉 [shameless plug] (It is also for sale for ~£150, it’s in the classifieds but will be somewhere in the depths. If your mate is interested, I can dig out the post.)

This kind of thing is great value…. Its what I went on to when I moved from my £400 starter. I kind of wish i’d just gone straight to this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-anthem-X-29er-/191506266680?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c96a9ba38

The entry level bike from 13 Bikes(available from Halfrauds) is a decent spec and fairly uptodate.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_14552_productId_1077896_langId_-1_categoryId_173014?cm_re=banner-_-13bikes+pages-_-all13bikes

Or the Pinnacle Ramin 1/2 depending on budget get good reviews and are in the right price range.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/ramin-one-2015-mountain-bike-ec071312

get on the facebook cycling selling pages, search ‘nearest big city cycle’ for example or pinkbike or ebay. This is a great time of year to buy a 2nd hand bike and if he doesn’t mind an out of date 26″ then there’s pickings a plenty.

Will have a look at those links, also started trawling the second hand market… definitely seems like the way to go … thanks for advice folks

What size are you after? We’re selling the last of our ex-hire bikes from last year – very well maintained and in great nick. Saracen Mantra Pros – we sell them at £395 with a few upgrades from the original £599 spec.

He’ll get a great used anthem or similar for 500

There’s a medium Trek Mamba 29er in the classifieds missing wheels and brakes for £150. Alternatively there are fully built ones on ebay for £450 or best offer in a range of sizes from a hire fleet.

I have a Dialled PA with Recons, crest rims, elixirs etc very very little used up for £495