HI everyone,

I want to buy my first XC bike, prefer a hardtail. I’m looking at doing some mild XC but can’t afford to spend loads.

Happy to buy used or new for around ~£300

Recommendations?

thanks!

Got to be something like a Specialized Hardrock around that sort of price, really. Good little frame, decent enough bits for the money, blus worth upgrading as you become more experienced a rider. Great ‘starter’ bike.

Get yourself down to some bike shops though. The likes of Evans especially have loads of 2011 stock they’ll be wanting to shift for new 2012 gear, so plenty of bargains about. The best time of year to buy a bike imo.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-2011-mountain-bike-ec024187

Buying new, that’s a big ask… Best I can think of is the Carrera Vengeance, at £330. That gets you workable disk brakes and gears, and a suspension fork that gets the job done. People assume the frames and wheels in these must be rubbish but in fact, they’re really pretty nice.