Best Used Full Sus for £500

[benny.c]

My brother-in-law is looking for a full sus to accompany his son at Llandegla and some local off road rides. It’s got to be full sus and the budget is £500. He almost certainly won’t get in to it in a big way so the budget really is fixed - maybe £550 at the most.

I was thinking of a Calibre Bossnut, Mega TR or a Boardman MTR 8.6. Is there anything else I should be considering around that budget? TIA.

[Lotobear]

If buying second hand I would keep a completely open mind about a model and just look for the best bike you can find within budget.

Also, I would not discount a hardtail - he will get more for his money and if he's just starting on a MTB it will improve his bike skills over a full sus.

..just my thoughts.

[benny.c]

Thanks. He won’t be bothered by a particular manufacturer so anything will do really. His knees are a little dodgy so we thought a full sus would take some pressure off the old bones! I appreciate he’d get a better hard tail for the same cash though.

[Random84]

I second the comments about a hard tail.

I got my first full suspension MTB about 18 months ago and picked up a 29er Ragley Big Al in the Chain Reaction sale before Christmas, honestly the hard tail is so much fun!

The full suspension is easier to ride on the extreme bits and it's more forgiving when landing jumps but it's also heavier, not as easy up hill and requires a little bit of extra maintenance.

I took the hardtail to Llandegla about 2 weeks ago and regularly visit Gwydir Forest (Marin trail) and I don't feel like theres anything I can't do on the hardtail. A £500 full suspension bike is probably going to be pretty tired and heavy, he'll probably need to spend a bit to get it back up to speed or potentially have mechanical issues on the trail.

If I was him I would check out Chain Reaction to see if there are any bargains left in his size. Bear in mind he might struggle getting brand/ model specific parts when they go under. I couldn't get a spare hangar anywhere for my hardtail but a guy on the singletrack forum started cnc machining them, it looks better than the original.

[benny.c]

Yeah, I can see the reasoning and this was my £500 hardtail for Llandegla. It was fun but I do prefer a full sus personally, although the genesis never felt out of its depth.

I’ve not ridden Gwydir Mawr but am hoping to get up there in a week or two.

[OutInTheShed]

Depends what you want.
You might get a middling-high quality, older tech FS bike, in very good nick for that kind of money.
If you're wanting to do entry-level stuff then FS is nice in terms of not bruising your arse so you're walking funny for a week.

The OP is talking about a bloke who wants to go offroad with his son.
I can see why FS appeals.

Hardtail is very fashionable at the moment, there are some quality FS bikes around at reasonable money.
Either way I'd suggest getting something where everything works and the forks are not heavy steel SunTour.
Then again a couple of my nephews bought those Bossnut things around covid time and had a lot of fun.
They were 'value' new so probably value now.

A mate picked up a tidy FS Specialized for a bit over £500, I've had a go and I quite like it.
I didn't win a Santa Cruz on ebay for a bit more.
I see a bloke on the moor quite often on an old Orange, the old tech still works!

[benny.c]

There’s a fair few Bossnuts and Beastnuts around for £400-£500, even some as low as £300. They got decent reviews at the time and I’ve got a few bits and bobs in my spares box if anything needs replacing.

Thanks for the opinions so far - I’ll keep trawling eBay, Pinkbike and Facebook.