The GF (now wife) told me I had to get a bike so we could go on bike rides together, just get one from Halfords for £150 she says, it doesn't have to be pricey.
I used to love MTB's when I was younger about 15 years back & had a decent one so I wasn't going to get a £150 steel one.
I bought a used GT Avalanche 3.0 on e-Bay for £80 which had a knackered SR Suntour XCM fork on it, a buckled front wheel, & knackered tyres.
Turned out not to be so cheap, first up I took the wheels off my old bike which were Mavic D521's with Deore hubs & swapped the rear hub to a newer model as the bike had a rear disc brake but no front. At the same time I replaced the shifters & cassette for a 9 speed set as it was 8 speed but one of the shifters had been swapped for an ancient lever style shift and stuck new tyres on it.
I also binned the XCM fork and Tektro V-Brake up front and fitted 1998 Rock Shox Judy XC Long Travel off my old bike with a Deore V-Brake of the same vintage, both items were a ton better.
That got it rideable until I got the itch to upgrade it a bit more so I went & bought another front hub and a load of spokes, an SLX Disc brake (was going to go XT but couldn't justify cost) a new lower headset, a Manitou Minute Comp fork, a deore crankset, bottom bracket (inner ring on the fitted suntour was sucking the new chain) and new pedals as one was knocking.