Best mountain bikes you can buy for under £2,000 - tried and tested hardtail and full suspension bikes
Plus video round up of our top six bikes
Two thousand pounds is a decent amount of money to spend on a new mountain bike, making it essential you buy the best one for you. We've tested a range of full suspension and hardtail bikes all costing under 2k, the ones listed below have all scores over four out of five stars in review making them well worth a look when you purchase your next new bike.
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[Updated with video 18th January 2021]
The best mountain bikes you can buy for under £2,000
Either scroll away or hit the links below to scroll straight to the bike of your choice:
- Vitus Mythique 29 VRS
- Calibre Sentry
- Boardman MTR 8.9
- Marin Rift Zone 2
- Ragley Piglet
- Sonder Transmitter NX1 Revelation
- Merida One-Twenty 600
- Vitus Sentier 27 VRS
- 2020 Calibre Bossnut
- Decathlon AM100 HT
- Specialized Fuse Comp 29
- Vitus Escarpe 29 CR
Vitus Mythique 29 VRS
£1449
The Vitus Mythique 29 VRS is a solid performer at the budget end of the scale. The 1x12 drivetrain is a real advantage and the geometry suits whatever kind of riding you fancy, while the tyres are a great spec for UK use. While some components underperform – the X-Fusion fork and Shimano brakes most notably – they're okay for the price. What's more, the Mythique is a bike worth upgrading, and for new riders looking for their first full suspension trail bike (without destroying the bank account), it’s a sensible choice.
Calibre Sentry
£2,000
The Calibre Sentry has rewritten the rule book where full suspension enduro bikes are concerned; it's the full package, incorporating progressive geometry, some spot on component choices and a price so low that you’ll need to sit down before you read it.
Boardman MTR 8.9
£1,600
Boardman's new MTR 8.9 manages to deliver the amazing value their full suspension range has always offered, but performance is now a step up thanks to revised geometry and suspension. It's not just a good bike for the money; it's a bike that's more than capable of shaming machines double or triple the price.
Marin Rift Zone 2
£1,845
The Marin Rift Zone 2 is a 125mm full suspension trail bike that will please riders and wallets. While it’s heavy for a short-travel mountain bike, and the tyres don't suit its all-rounder intentions, the Rift Zone is a great proposition that's just begging for some choice upgrades.
Ragley Piglet
£,1750
Ragley's Piglet hardtail offers confident, fun handling with a solid selection of bits attached to a well-made steel frame with some clever features. It's happy as an all-day trail bike but it thrives when things get steep and fun, which makes it easy to overlook it's only real foible of a relatively narrow range drivetrain.
Sonder Transmitter NX1 Revelation
£1,299
The Sonder Transmitter in this NX1 Revelation spec is an aluminium trail hardtail with impressive geometry and some good looks, with some obvious thought put into the frame. It is beaten by other bigger brands when it comes to value though, leaving us to make a decision between aggressive geometry or better parts.
Merida One-Twenty 600
£2,000
If you’ve got £2,000 to spend on a new bike and want a good all-round trail bike, you could do a lot worse than consider Merida’s One-Twenty 600. The 120mm travel 29er is a well-specced option with good geometry and suspension that combines to provide very good trail manners whether grinding up or slashing down.
Vitus Sentier 27 VRS
£1,400
The Vitus Sentier 27 VRS proved to be a fun trail bike at a very reasonable price, it’s not the most aggressive bike you’ll ever sit on but it's an entertaining ride and the spec updates for this year are great upgrades.
Also worth a look:
The following bikes are either a little more expensive than 2k, or a little cheaper but still worth a look. The cheaper ones can often rival more expensive bikes for both performance and value, whilst the more expensive options sometimes include great upgrades that are well worth a bit of budget stretching.
2020 Calibre Bossnut
£1,100
The 2020 Calibre Bikes Bossnut 3 hit the Go Outdoors shelves in August this year boasting new geometry, better components and dare I say it, even better value. Here at off-road.cc, we love this budget busting trail bike, its fun, its upgradable and in its full suspension form it’s a great, accessible introduction to mountain biking.
Decathlon AM100 HT
£950
The new Rockrider AM100 from Decathlon looks a great bike on paper but on the trail, it’s fantastic, a riot of fun and hugely capable. Modern geometry gifts this sub-£1,000 hardtail great handling and the parts package is all top-notch with no real weaknesses, with the dropper post being especially rare at this price.
Specialized Fuse Comp 29
£1,250
Specialized's Fuse Comp 29 is a 130mm trail hardtail that blends balanced handling with some very neat features. It's got a very respectable spec list for a shop bought bike, but dedicated distance sluggers will find it too heavy and those after techy thrills will find the geometry a bit tame. It might not score as highly as the rest of these bikes but if you are looking for bike brand that offers great customer service, plus a trail bike that is easy to upgrade, this one is worth a look.
Vitus Escarpe 29 CR
£2,000
The 2021 Vitus Escarpe is a ripper of a 29er trail bike. It pedals very well and descends like a sprightly enduro bike, plus all versions have a carbon front triangles matched with cool colours for sleek looks. This base model doesn’t have the parts longevity we’d like to see, but it’s a great starting place for a bike upgrade journey.
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