“EVEN THOUGH TH ESP EC SUGGESTED KILLER PERFORMANCE, ITS DESCENDING AND CLIMBING COMPETENCE STILL CAUGHT USA LITTLE OFF-GUARD”

We test four bikes priced from £600 to £900 to see if you can still get a trail-ready ride for well under a grand

Bike brands are forever striving to offer the most performance and the best value they can. While the pandemic and Brexit are clearly having a negative impact on prices, today’s sub-£1k bikes appear to represent a big leap forwards, in terms of both parts and geometry, compared to their three or four-year-old counterparts. If these improvements on paper translate to better performance on the trail, it’s great news for buyers on a budget.

Although not commonplace at this price point, we’re starting to see higher-end components such as dropper seatposts and name-brand 1x drivetrains (with just a single chainring up front) filter down to this market segment, along with modern geometry inspired by more expensive and burlier bikes.

You can also expect hydraulic disc brakes and 120mm-travel suspension forks – sometimes with compression damping adjustment, but more frequently with a lockout – plus tyres seen on bikes costing more cash. These spec upgrades help make bikes around this price ready to rip trail-centre routes and natural singletrack and bridleways without making you break into too much of a sweat.

Upgrade potential is a key factor, because as your abilities and appetite increase, you’ll be grateful to not have to buy a whole new bike to improve performance. For example, if a bike uses the Boost axle standard for its frame and fork, that allows access to a plethora of lighter and stronger wheels. Even if it doesn’t come with a dropper post, the frame may still have the requisite internal routing to add one. Another thing to check is whether the stock wheels and tyres are tubeless-ready – upgrading to a tubeless set-up will open up a world of extra grip and performance while saving weight, not to mention the joy of not having to mend punctured inner tubes.

We tested our four hardtails on a mix of the trails they’re most likely to be ridden on, ranging from fireroads and bridleways through to more technical trail-centre loops and singletrack, to find out exactly where they excel and where their limits are.