Best Value Mountain Bikes
Mark Colafranceschi
Updated September 8, 2023
Mountain bikes can be pricey, and It doesn't matter if you're a trail hero, hill climb crusher, or downhill bomber. If you want to go out on the trails, it will cost some dough. Fortunately, there are some great options out there that will stretch your dollar a little further. So without further ado, here's our hand-picked list of some of the best value mountain bikes in the trail, cross-country, enduro, and downhill categories.
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A carbon trail bike that is ready to crush climbs and rip back down.
The Izzo is a shorter travel, all-around carbon trail bike that's ready to descend without sacrificing pedaling performance or light weight for the climbs. It has 130mm of travel front and rear and an agile, quick geometry to keep you flowing through tight, tricky singletrack. With SRAM G2 brakes and sticky Maxxis Minion tires so you can rip the downhills with confidence.
The Izzo features internal cable routing, chainstay protection, and an adjustable flip chip, It has all features of a modern trail bike with a respectable SRAM NX Eagle drivetrain and Fox performance suspension.
Throw it all together, and you have a spectacularly designed, capable, fast, and fun trail bike ready for anything.
A high value, capable cross country trail bike with great specs and features.
Canyon is known for putting together high spec’d bikes at a great price thanks to their consumer direct sales model. The Canyons Lux Trail CF 6 is Canyons full-suspension carbon cross-country trail bike, and it stands true to the Canyons value-driven model. The Lux trail has 110mm of rear-wheel travel matched with a 120mm fork, so you get a little more plush than a dedicated cross-country bike while maintaining a snappy, efficient, and fast platform to get you up and over the hill with ease. A Shimano SLX drivetrain and Fox performance suspension offer fantastic performance at a great value, and trail-ready features like the integrated chain guide, dropper seatpost, and remote lockout make the bike well-equipped for any trail outing.
The Canyon Lux Trail is at home on the racetrack, on the trails, and anywhere in between, and it's the perfect option for anyone looking for a capable cross-country trail bike in an approachable well, rounded package.
An solid alloy enduro/all-mountain that pedals well and shreds everything from flowy single track to gnarly tech.
The Ripmo AF borrows from Ibis’s award-winning Carbon fiber Ripmo and packages it up in an affordable, playful all-mountain/enduro rig but now in an aluminum frame option with a friendlier price point. The Ripmo features a bit slacker geometry and larger travel numbers than the carbon version, with 147mm of rear wheel travel and 160mm of fork travel. It’s also coil spring compatible, so you can maximize trail feel for a planted smooth ride. The Ripmo AF GX comes with smooth, affordable, and rugged Marzocchi suspension, and a SRAM Eagle NX drivetrain giving you plenty of gearing range for big enduro laps.
A high performance downhill bike thats built to rip.
The YT Tues Core 2 is an affordable, high performance downhill freeride bike built for gnarly adrenaline-surging descents and bike park hot laps. It’s got a rugged SRAM Boxxer Select fork and SRAM GX DH drivetrain that won’t hold you back giving you the confidence to rally freeride lines and cruise at epic speed like a dream. Aanyone looking to max out on bike park laps and needs a bike with excellent performance at a great price should check out the YT Tues Core 2
No matter your riding style, you don’t have to break the bank to get a superb, reliable mountain bike. These are a few of our top picks for XC, Trail, Enduro, and downhill categories that offer unbeatable value to keep you shredding longer, better, and for less cash.
RRP | £3,299 | £3,199 | (£2,842) | £3,499 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Spec Level | ||||
Weight | 14.6 kg | 12.2 kg | 3.7 kg (frame) | 17.6 kg |
Frame | Carbon | Carbon | Aluminum | Aluminum |
Fork | Fox Performance Float 34 | Fox Performance Float 34 | Marzocchi Bomber Z1 Coil | RockShox BoXXer Select |
Wheel Size | 29″ | 29″ | 29″ | 27.5″ |
Groupset | NX Eagle | SLX | GX Eagle, NX Eagle | GX, Truvativ Descendant |
Drivetrain | 1 × 12 | 1 × 12 | 1 × 12 | 1 × 7 |
Travel | 130mm rear, 130mm front | 110mm rear, 120mm front | 147mm rear, 160mm front | 200mm rear, 200mm front |
Seatpost | Dropper | Dropper | Dropper | Rigid |
Where to Buy | £3,299 At YT Industries |
