Which Bike to choose sub 1k

I’m currently looking at getting a new MTB bike through the cycle to work scheme, so it needs to be around £1000 mark, although my local shop have said they’ll put on through at £1000 and I can pay up £200 extra. The guy in the shop has recomended a whyte bike is probably best?

Last year I went for the Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc and I used quite for trail riding and for my daily commute as you can imagine after a year the bike is pretty much ready for the scrap heap, I need to replace the suspension, rear wheel, new tyres, rear cassette, chian and the breaks need bleeding, so the cost of thinkign it up, just doesn’t seem worth it.

I’ve invested in a fixie for my daily as the up keep will be easier, but I need to get a new mountain bike, I’m totally confused as to what to go for, It will be used soley for off road and trail centre riding. At the moment i’m considering

– the boardman team FS http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777809_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

the whyte 805, 629 or maybe spending the extra £200 on the 901

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should go for?

Don’t think you can go far wrong with the Boardman judging by the reviews. That would be my pick and with the price drop taking it under £1k seems a proper bargain.

Everyone seems to say the Boardman is the best value at the price point you’re at.

Use it as an excuse to demo them and decide which one you like best.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p4212/CUBE-REACTION-RACE-%282012%29

This if its in your size and open to the scheme.

Edit: I always check out pauls cycles for potentially good prices you can get on older models, usually just have to be lucky on size.

Shifters aside (personal dislike), all the Boardmans I’ve ridden have been really good. 🙂

Decathlon

i have the boardman team fs, lots of things i like about it.
It rides really well, the suspension is good for the price (invest in a shock pump to tune it). The wheels are good for the pricepoint. SRAM X7 gears are easy to tune and seem to have worked nicely for me, only needed the odd tweak on the barrel adjuster to keep the rear shifting sweetly.
Changing the tyres can help get the type of ride you want, stick something big and grippy on the front and it’s lots of fun. Whack on quicker rolling tyres and pump up the shock and fork and it’ll crack along quickly without too much pedal bob

Things i don’t like; the crankset is a 42/27 which means it feels like there’s never an easy climbing gear there when you just want to spin up something steep. I’m in the process of changing to a 38/24

The saddle is an acquired taste and i replaced that quickly.

It also comes with Avid Elixr 3’s which i hated and have now replaced.
The service i got from Halfrauds was terrible, i spent a good 3hrs fettling and getting the thing set up right as opposed to the almost unrideable set up they sold to me.

I’ve switched out the bar, stem, saddle and stuck in a dropper post and it’s a great trail bike, but it’s easily swapped out for more XC orientated stuff which is what i’ll be doing for the Colne Valley MTB challenge