Full Suspension Mountain Bikes come in four different breeds. Cross country, Trail, Enduro and Downhill. The most common being Trail bikes which can range from around £1500 to amounts you don’t even want to think of. The under £2000 category is hugely popular and generally contains bikes with a good spec, proper air suspension and a high-quality aluminium frame. Which is everything you need to start hammering down some trails and advancing your skills. Here is our guide to the best full-suspension mountain bikes under £2000
The Specialized Stumpjumper has long been Specialized’s flagship mountain bike. For 2019 the Stumpy has been redesigned with a radical new asymmetric frame. Last year the Camber would have been in this category but it has been replaced by the Stumpjumper ST (Short Travel). At £1800 the base model Stumpjumper ST comes with
Specialized has had to trim the spec down to get the price down. So you get a Sunrace cassette and a Sram chainset instead of matching Shimano SLX and the wheels are basic. However, you still get Specialized Butcher and Purgatory tyres and their Henge sport saddle, all of which are brilliant.
The Men’s model is a 29er with 120mm of rear travel and 130mm front. Whereas the Women’s model has 27.5” wheels with 130mm of travel front and rear.
The Trek Fuel is the ideal first full suspension bike with the choice of either confidence-boosting 27.5+ or high rolling 29er wheels. With a 140mm RockShox Recon RL fork. A matching 130mm RockShox Deluxe RL rear shock. The Fuel definitely beats the Stumpjumper on suspension. However, it has a smaller 10 speed Shimano Deore drivetrain, which is completely adequate but not as good as the Stumpy’s 11-speed SLX. The Fuel benefits from a number of Trek’s well-developed technologies. Like the active pivot braking, mono link and the straight shot with knock block frame design. If you are more interested in suspension and frame technology this is the bike to go for. If you are a beginner, you can’t go wrong with the 27.5 plus Fuel.
The Cannondale Habit 3 has a similar spec to the Trek Fuel. With 10mm less travel at the front and a Fox Float performance with 3 position adjustments at the rear. You can run 29, 27.5 or 27.5+ wheels thanks to the Habits Flip Chip. Which adjusts the geometry of the frame at the flip of a switch. It has 130mm of travel front and rear for a good balance of climbing and descending ability. As well as Cannondale’s new Proportional Response suspension design. This basically means the pivots are in different places on each frame size so that the suspension can be optimised for any size rider much better. It’s a vast improvement on the ‘one size fits all’ designs of a few years ago.
The first thing you notice about the Sensor is its price. At £1599.99 it’s the cheapest in its category. Yet you get a beautiful design frame that has had some really great reviews. Already and a smart-looking Rockshox Recon 130mm fork with stealthy black stanchions. The downside is that it has a bit of a mismatch of parts to bring the price down. The X-fusion rear shock and 11 speed Sram NX Eagle are more than adequate for tearing up trails. This would be a great choice for a beginner looking to boost their confidence on technical trails.