Best mountain bikes under $1,000

[Chubba]

It’s a common question from beginners, or parents with a kid who’s into serious riding — what do you have to spend to get a trailworthy bike? In most cases in the US, a mountain bike capable of taking on a weekend of proper off-road riding or a first race costs $1,000.

 

For that price, you'll usually get a good quality lightweight (for the money) aluminium frame, efficient gears and hydraulic disc brakes, and a suspension fork that's more of a help than a hindrance. Pay less and you risk ending up with a bike that's overweight – and therefore harder work to pedal – and has components that'll rapidly wear out.

 

We decided to put nine of the latest bikes to the test — eight hardtails (mountain bikes with front suspension but a rigid rear end) and one full-suspension bike — with the goal of finding a trio of machines that cost $1,000 or less that we'd recommend to our own family and friends.

 

And UK readers shouldn't feel left out — we've already published BikeRadar guides to the Best Mountain Bikes Under £1,000 and Best Mountain Bikes Under £500.

 

Who won?

 

In the end, without too much debate — due to a rigorous 42-category numeric rating system — we came up with the podium: Felt’s Nine Sport in gold, Cannondale’s Trail SL 3 in silver (both with four-star BikeRadar ratings) and the Scott Scale 29 Comp in bronze with 3.5 stars.

 

Also worthy of mention are the Redline D600, with a very well rounded package, and the Specialized Rockhopper Comp. The latter has slider dropouts, which means that if you catch the biking bug and decided to upgrade to a costlier machine, it can take on a new life as a singlespeed. Trek’s Mamba has the best suspension fork on test and a decent frame, but this has meant compromises when it comes to the accompanying components and overall weight.

 

Make no mistake, your first real mountain bike costing $1,000 is unlikely to be the last you'll ever own, at least in its original form; stuff is going to break and you should factor that into your budget. As our US editor, James Huang, explained in his recent Sub-$1,000 Bike Test blog, there’s a huge difference between a $1,000 bike and a bike costing $3,000-$4,000, in terms of performance, quality and durability. If you ride these bikes hard on true mountain trails — as we have — stuff will break; it’s unfortunate, but the reality.

 

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