Ive tried to get him to go second hand but he seems intent on getting a new bike.

It will be his firts bike since his Raleigh thats about a million years old.

Will he be able to get anything new for that price worth getting?

Oh and it will be a standard front suspension MTB.

Any one recommend anything?

Is he actually going to use it for mountain biking?

Pauls Cycles have some OKish stuff at £300 – the GT Outpost from last year has some vaguely decent bits on it. Alivio will stand up to off road use, but I'd not want tourney on an MTB.

Really though, he'll have to be lucky to land on a reasonable spec bike for £300 – it'll have to be a reduced old model. £400 is a more realistic figure.

On the other hand, if he doens't actually need a mountain bike, steer him towards a hybrid – they seem pretty good value to me, and you miss a lot of the stuff that makes cheap mountain bikes bad – namely heavy and rubbish forks.

Ha yeah, it's all he can afford and he just wants to get out and ride.

I reckon something like the GT Avalanche 3.0 on Pauls Cycles should be fine. Least its got suspension and discs.

Can't fault him for wanting to ride.

lots in the sales at the mo..

evans: evans sale bikes

I've told him £400 is more realistic.

What would you guys suggest at £400?

Im a bit out of the loop on off the peg as i've bought frames and built my last 2 bikes.

Kona Fire Mountain 2010.

To be fair, I have a mate who rides an old Giant – it's got some nice bits on it (LX Vees, XT levers etc), but ultimately it's not a great frame, with cheap forks, and a very basic wheelset, and mostly Alivio level kit.

He still manages to get round everything I do, and he doesn't have to do stupid amounts of maintenance as some would have you believe.