BIKETEST £1.600 TRAIL BIKES

It's no small spend, so what's out there for that kind of cash, and which bikes deserve your money?

There’s no getting away from it, mountain biking isn’t a cheap sport. The main requirement for entry a suitable bike costs a not-insubstantial amount of money, and if you want top-spec equipment, it'll cost you a pretty penny. But does that mean you need to spend an arm and a leg to have a good time? Not necessarily.

This issue we're testing four trail bikes costing 1,600 or less. We wanted to find out just how capable and fun the full-suspension bikes available at this price can be, and also what their downfalls are. Sure, these are towards the higher end of the budget’ mountain bike spectrum, but how much does being entry-level hold them back on the trails? What compromises have been made to hit that price point, and does that dampen your fun?

We were humbled by what we discovered when we gave these four bikes a good thrashing around trail centres and bike parks. All feature the same kind of tech as bikes twice or three times their price, including 1x drivetrains with wide-ratio cassettes, wide handlebars and short stems, dropper seatposts and adjustable suspension, not to mention decent geometry. They’re all worth upgrading over time, too, and use the same standards such as headset sizes and hub spacing as more expensive bikes. So, as your riding improves, these bikes can too.

Most impressive, though, is that we enjoyed 90 per cent of the same trail thrills on these steeds as we would have done on a mid-spectrail bike costing twice the price. So, for sheer bang for your buck, these 1,600-ish machines are brilliant value. It’s great to see that bikes on the cheaper end of the full-suspension spectrum deliver tons of fun and solid performance. Read on to see where each one shines and where each has its compromises.

JAMIS FAW TUNE AN TAULILINE AZ

£1,600 (with £5 GO Outdoors card) A ride for mellower trails