Best mountain bikes: five picks for UK trails

The Marlin is where most British riders should start. It's an aluminium hardtail with a suspension fork, hydraulic disc brakes and a proper spread of gears — enough for towpaths, forest tracks and a full day at a trail centre, without the weight or the servicing of rear suspension. Trek's sizing is the useful part: the smallest frame sizes use smaller wheels, so shorter riders don't end up wrestling a bike that feels like a barge. It's also the model here with the widest dealer support, which makes warranty work and servicing painless. The trade-off is that it's a jack of all trades: the fork and brakes are built to a price, and riders heading straight for rocky reds will want more travel.

Halfords' Voodoo range has long been the default answer for riders who want a genuinely trail-capable hardtail without spending much, and the Bizango Pro sits at the top of it. You get an aluminium frame, 29in wheels and geometry that's closer to a trail bike than the bargain-bin mountain bikes you'll find in the same shop. It's the pick for anyone testing whether they'll actually use a mountain bike before committing serious money.

The caveat is the shop, not the bike. Builds are done in store, so check the brakes, the gear indexing and that the stem and seatpost bolts are properly tightened before you ride away — or ask them to run through it with you. It's also heavier than the pricier hardtails here, and you'll feel that on long climbs.

The Fathom is Giant's aluminium hardtail for riders who've outgrown an entry-level bike. Longer and slacker than a cross-country racer, with 29in wheels and a stiff frame, it's the one to choose if most of your riding happens at a trail centre and you want to keep things simple. You get the composure of a trail bike without a rear shock to service or pivots to replace.

It climbs well, carries speed through berms and feels far less nervous than a bargain hardtail when the trail starts pointing down. Many builds come with a dropper post — check the spec of the model year you're buying, because kit does change between seasons. The honest limit is that a hardtail still gets bounced off line on steep, rocky descents where a full-suspension bike just tracks the ground.

Boardman's MTR is the most straightforward route into a full-suspension trail bike in Britain. It's sold through Halfords, so you can sit on one before you commit, and it's built around an aluminium frame with a rear shock and trail-oriented geometry. If your local riding is rooty, rocky and steep enough that a hardtail keeps getting knocked off line, rear suspension is worth the extra weight and the extra servicing.

Treat it as a starting point rather than a finished bike. The fork and shock are basic, so they're the parts you'll notice first when you improve, and a rear shock adds a servicing item a hardtail simply doesn't have. As with any shop-built bike, give it a check-over — or ask for one — before the first proper ride.

The Fuel EX is Trek's do-everything trail platform, and the 5 is the entry point to it. It's the bike to choose if you've already decided full suspension is where you're heading and you'd rather buy once. The frame is shared with much more expensive builds, so upgrading the fork, wheels or brakes later makes genuine sense rather than polishing a dead end.

What you sacrifice at this level is weight and component quality — the 5 carries the heavier, more basic kit, and you feel it on long fire-road climbs. What you gain over the Boardman is a platform that will still be worth improving in three or four years, plus Trek's dealer network when something needs sorting. If the budget stretches, this is the full-suspension bike we'd point most riders at.