Mountain Bike

[Moscow Mule]

If you're not comfortable with ebay, wiggle have got a sale on

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ra/Sale/26/534/

Also, check bike radar for reviews etc

[Lockhouse]

As others have said, you need to up your budget. Alternatively try a supplier local to you. My local bike shop was undercutting Evans By £80 on a £450 bike. Also I would look for shops via Google that have remainders of last year's models which they sell at a heavy discount. eBay is also an option, but it's always a gamble.

[daviejones]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am not after something that will take real abuse, the main thing for me is that it should be fairly light.....

[SlimRick]

Specialized Hardrock Sport - bought mine about 3 years ago for that price, and it rocks!

Bought mine from here:
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/speci...e-id45252.html

[xchaotic]

At that budget levels, I'd recommend second-hand as well.
It's not like you risk a lot.
Some second-hand bikes I bought were real gems and once I sold my quite cheaply too with a genuine reason - I have since moved to London and no use for DH bike round here. So the bike that once retailed for £2150 I sold for a mere £700 and it really was in a mint condition...
I know that there are more people in similar situation - moving abroad etc, so if you look closely you can get a great deal.

Lech

[The Lone Gunman]

If you live in a Uni town then I would wait a few weeks.

The new students are not used to budgeting and will have a large lump sum sitting in their bank accounts soon.
They will go out and buy lots of new goodies including bikes.
Within a few weeks they will realise there is a shortfall in their budget to the end of term and will try to sell their newly acquired goods. Shortly after they realise the second hand value is bugger all and that there are lots of other students doing the same thing they will reduce the price to panic levels just to get some money back.

[deckster]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am not after something that will take real abuse, the main thing for me is that it should be fairly light.....

The thing is with bikes, lightness is about the most expensive requirement. You can easily spec-up a £300 bike with full suspension, more gears than you can ever want and probably even disk brakes if you look hard enough, but they will be shoddy quality and weigh an absolute ton. Equally you can spend well over 3 grand on a bike with very few gadgets, which weighs almost nothing.

If weight is your primary concern, you need to
1) pay more
2) get one with as few gizmos as possible.

Are you actually going to use it for hard off-road cycling, or just ambling down canal towpaths and fireroads? If the latter, and you really care about weight, I'd strongly recommend you avoid any kind of suspension at all as it will really save the lbs and free up the £s to make the rest of the components higher quality (and therefore lighter).

[daviejones]

I will not be doing hard off road riding, more canal paths and getting some much needed excercise...

I had one with suspension and it was like cycling on a bouncy castle...

[JoJoGabor]

I will not be doing hard off road riding, more canal paths and getting some much needed excercise...

I had one with suspension and it was like cycling on a bouncy castle...

Yeah cheap suspension forks are worse than having rigid forks.

[Moscow Mule]

Yeah cheap suspension forks are worse than having rigid forks.

And about 98% of people riding full-sus bikes really don't need them...