Mountain bike buying advice please

[avrc]

I've been trying to find a hobby that both myself and my step son can enjoy and he'd like to do some off road biking. We live right around the corner from cannock chase so location is sorted but now I need to start looking for bikes for both myself and him.

We don't intend to do anything extreme, at least I don't intend to! I used to do some off road biking years ago along canals (just very uneven grass, dirt paths etc) and bought a cheap steel frame bike with some sort of rear suspension. I ended up replacing the tires, brakes, handlebar, grips etc etc so it really was a false economy and it weighed a bloody tonne.

I'm after something light, comfortable, decent build quality and ideally I want quick release wheels. I'm 5' 8" so don't need a massive frame. I'm not sure what else I might need to specify?

My budget ideally is around £300 for my bike which I know is still considered cheap but it's substantially more than I paid for my last mountain bike. If I can't get what I want for that price can you let me know what I do need to spend.

There's no immediate rush on this, my new pc build is taking priority first so It'll be a few months before I'm in a position to afford bikes.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help

 

[FartInferno]

If you pop into Mammoth Bike shop in Milford they have some bikes in that range and give decent advice based on your price range and expectations.


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[Raymond Lin]

This would be a decent starting point.

Hard tail, aluminium frame.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p4935/GIANT-REVEL-2-2013

p.s. look for clearance and last year's model, you would get more bike for your money, better parts generally as they don't change much year to year. I have a bike from 2009 and the spec is still roughly the same still.