Hi,

Recently bought a hardtail but wish to compliment it with a full suspension for the rough stuff. Just wondering whether it is possible to get a decent full suspension for a budget of £400. Appreciate new isn’t likely so lightly used if 5-10 year old alu framed bike may be possible. I’m 15 stone so needs to pretty strong. From what I’ve seen I might be able to pick up a used boardman but are there any other bargain makes and models to look out for? Advice welcome

I wouldn’t bother to be honest. You’ll have just as much fun on your hardtail. To get a full suss that you will benefit from you would need to spend a bit more than that in my opinion.

got a 6yr old Enduro last year for about £500

Subsequently spent at least the same (probably closer to twice as much) to bring it up to my spec (as bits broke / wore out / were superseded)

benefit is that I’ve done all the work myself so now know how to do anything on it, and I’ve got the tools to do it. Plus I could spread the cost over a year instead of finding it all at once

horses for courses really…I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do it that way

Rockrider 9.1 or 9.2?

To be honest, I wouldn’t bother either, but saying that, I know some people who’ve picked up complete bargains on ebay – perhaps not quite £400, but maybe £600.

I think I’m having a case of buyers remorse. Bought a Genesis Latitude Ti a little while back. I love it but a few trips to Llandegla makes me wonder whether I should have gone full supension. A cheapo full suspension would probably not be the way to go despite my restricted budget.

It is realistic, but it as you already know won’t be bling, as an example I put this together for an Alps trip for £500.

It rode brilliantly, DeVinci Guzzler.

You can get a decent full-sus for £400-500, if you’re prepared to do some buying/selling/repairing yourself.

A couple of parts of this were borrowed from the big bike (cranks/pedals), but it still came in around £500 in total.

How about selling the hardtail and putting the proceeds towards a better budget for a short travel full suss if that is what you would prefer? There are a lot of good ‘do it all’ bikes out there.

Bide your time and you should be able to pick up a decent nick, entry level FS bike like a Giant Trance off ebay. I got one in VGC for £400 before.

Also look at Marin, Mongoose and othe unfashionable brands.

If you’re on a budget and just looking for a decent FSer then forget the Gucci niche brands think Common and sensible.

Look for Kona, Specialized, Boardman, Norco or Giant, basically stick to the not so posh brands you see more frequently being ridden than lusted over, you are not shopping at the Intense or Santa Cruz end of the market…

Oh and have a squiz through the Pinkbike Buy/sell section, far more sensible seller price expectations than you’ll find on STW classifieds or ebay…

You can get a perfectly good 2nd hand FS bike for £400…

To follow up on Chakaping’s suggestion I have a mid 2000’s Marin Wolf ridge that has done nothing since Jan when I bought my new(ish) Orange 5

I’m not sure how much it is worth, but I would have thought it might be a worth a look at –

Has Fox forks and rear shock / hope brakes and adjustable amounts of suspension (I always ran it in full boing mode though!)

PM me if interested and I can provide photos!

I was gonna come back and say Kona too.

Good solid bikes that seem to last really well.

Mk1 Boardman FS bikes seem to go around £4-500, then if you don’t get on with it, sell the frame for £175(ish) and your left with pretty good kit to go on another frame.

I done the above, then picked up a Trance frame with a few extra’s and have ended up with a Trance with half decent kit for £450.

Alistair, would be interested in a used Marin but no idea how to pm or email members. Thanks for everyone for their suggestions. Might get a second bike past the wife after all.

To follow up, it’s definitely do-able if you bide your time and lurk around the classifieds here and elsewhere. I picked up a Felt frame and shock for 200 quid, total build wasn’t much more than you’re looking to spend including Formula brakes, Rockshox recon fork etc.

no idea how to pm or email members.

Click the user name, email address should be in profile.

This morning my non biking neighbour showed me a pic on his phone of a bike he had been offered for £200 by his work colleague. Perfectly decent Alu full suss. Proper 4 bar. RS ario rear shock. Marz forks of some description. Elixirs and sensible low end spec. Would have been £800 new (and a good deal at that price)
If you could live with owning a carerra banshee X and its the right size it seemed like an absolute steal for someone.

I have a friend selling an old Anthem, poss frame + bits for not a huge amount.
Mail me