I’m in the market for an upgrade and not sure whether to try something different. I’ve only ever had HT’s.

I’m doing cyclescheme, so can only spend up to £1000. Would a full sus for that amount be ok? Or would I be better off with a HT which might have a better spec…I’ve considered a 29er as well as I like long distance rides, not necessarily over technical though thanks to recent bad falls/injuries.

Thoughts if you please!

Lots of choices, what have you narrowed it down to?

Yes a full sus would be OK at that price, but probably get a better specc’d hardtail, but it sounds like you know this allready.

My opinion would be to go hardtail & the lightest bike you can find. Its what I would be looking for if I was buying a £1000 bike for my wife.

It’s tricky around the £1000 mark, normally the forks and wheels will be significantly down-spec’d over a hardtail in the same price range, to the point where you might enjoy the hardtail more. I’d only go the FS route if I was prepared to spend more money on upgrades fairly soon after.

agreed £1000 would be pretty low spec, if you do long rides and dont do big drops and jumps a hard tail is more than capable.

by the sounds of it a nice 29er hard tail would suit you

if you can use c2w in decathlon then go for the rockrider 9.1,comes in around £800 and its a great FS for the money,got superb review in mbuk few months back,i have the older model and its a damn good bike for the money.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-91-2013-id_8213074.html
so new 2013 model so you could get the 2012 model cheaper if you went in but the new one looks pretty sweet

Nope, only Evans and Halfords on my c2w scheme 🙁

I’d seen a BMC full sus that I liked for £900, but also liked the look of some 29ers, I guess I like the idea of a full sus being a bit more “forgiving” – ideally though I wanted lockout and the BMC Shiver doesn’t have that, although I do like the bike nonetheless.

But yeah I don’t really do jumps/big drops any more (thanks to too many injuries) – more XC with a bit of DH, I’m not afraid of rocks and roots but I’m never going to be a freerider!

Are you looking for WSD bikes only?

the boardman FS from Halfords would be my choice tbh

IMHO it really depends where you ride tbh my FS get the least amount of use as I save it for really big mountain rides and/or really rocky stuff,
If i could only have one bike a Hardtail makes more sense tbh at that price point you will get far better spec as well

However if you think you must have FS then do get it
FWIW I could ride everything i ride on the FS on the hardtail justa little slower and bumpier

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777809_langId_-1_categoryId_165499#tab2

Not wedded to WSD, but it depends on the make/model for whether it fits as with all things.

The Boardman FS – I looked at it but it’s over the £1000 limit and they won’t let you top up, they’re really strict about it.

What is the discount? I.e how does cycle to work scheme work?

Here’s a curve ball for you.

Imho steer clear of the whole overweighted, overpriced, wallowy clunkers that is all FS bikes.

Gear heads love spending money on their self named “rigs”. but they’re slow imprecise and massively heavy, even the massively expensive carbon fancies.
If a new bike is a must; a top end hardtail is always a better choice. IMO.

@littlemiss if you really want to go for a FS to try it out then by all means. For me if it were a bike for £1,000 I’d stick to a better spec’d HT vs the FS

I’m in the same position, gone hard tail.