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There is no two ways about it, mountain biking is an expensive sport, especially if you’re just getting into it. However, with savvy eyes, you can get everything you need for a more reasonable sum. If I had £1,500 to start mountain biking with, this is how I would spend it.
As a disclaimer, I’ve taken all of these prices at full RRP. If you’re willing to shop around a bit, or even go second-hand, you’ll definitely save some cash. But when researching all the gear I would buy, it’s pretty impressive that you can kit yourself up to the nines for less than £1,500. The off.road.cc team has tested much of this kit first-hand, too, so I won’t be throwing in cheap gear for the sake of saving a few pounds at the risk of it not being reliable. That is, unless I really have to.
If you’re looking to kit yourself out with gear to begin your mountain biking career with, you don’t need to buy absolutely all of this at once, and some things, you might not need to buy at all. So carefully consider and predict what you’ll need from the outset, if at all.
After my trawl through the internet, I’ve spent £1,497.88, so I’ve got some cash left over for a Mars bar or something.
The bike: Voodoo Bizango Pro
£950
Without a doubt, the most expensive piece of the puzzle is the bike. Prices for bikes range from the undoubtedly modest to astronomical, but if you’re just dipping your toe into the sport, going for something that’s more affordable doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll be a bad purchase. In fact, it can mean that you’ll be buying a simpler mountain bike that’s easier to get on with and learn on in your early days.
Taking up £950 of my £1,500 budget is the Voodoo Bizango Pro, which fits very well as a bike that’s simple and well up to the task, but it comes with absolutely everything you need, and nothing you don’t.
This hardtail sits more towards the trail end of the MTB spectrum, but for £950, it offers the full package. It’s shaped with a decent geometry that’ll suit the breadth of riding you’ll come across in your first few years, and it even has the goods to cope with harder riding as you progress.
Importantly, it’s got a dropper post as standard, and thru-axle hubs, which means you’ll be able to drop your saddle on the fly to open up more space over the bike, and wheel and fork upgrades are definitely on the cards. It’s Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) compatible, too. At the very least, that means that derailleur hanger replacements are readily available.
Its componentry isn’t anything to sniff at for the price, either. The RockShox Psylo Gold RC with 130mm of travel is a solid contender at this price point, and it benefits from modern 12-speed shifting from Shimano and its highly-rated Deore range, and Shimano hydraulic brakes. There’s then a set of Maxxis Forekaster tyres that are sorted with EXO casings, and they’re tubeless ready, should you want to ditch some weight, boost traction and improve puncture resistance down the line.
Yes, it’s a Halfords bike, but it’s tough to find such a well-sorted bike for the cash. We tested the non-Pro Bizango a little while back and had a great time with it. To be honest, if you’re looking to spend less money still, it’s a mighty fine option.
Buy the Voodoo Bizango Pro from Halfords for £950
Muc-Off MTB Tubeless sealant
£6 per pouch
The Voodoo Bizango Pro’s tyres are tubeless ready, so I’m going to take a bit of a punt and assume that its wheels are taped ready for a tubeless conversion. Most of the time, bikes with tubeless-ready tyres are ready to go, but beware, sometimes they do require taping.
Rarely, bikes come with tubeless sealant included in the box, so I’m going to assume that the Bizango Pro doesn’t.
When converting your wheels to run tubeless tyres, tyre sealant is a vital ingredient for a solid seal. It’s a liquid that coats the inside of your tyre, stopping air from permeating through the carcass, but importantly, it should seal most punctures that you pick up when riding. In most cases, you won’t even know that you’ve punctured.
Muc-Off’s stuff does the job, and it’s a little more affordable per pouch than from other brands, so it keeps me well within my £1,500 budget.
Now, the £6 pouch isn’t enough for one 29-inch tyre, according to Muc-Off, but I’m on a budget here, and something’s better than nothing.
Buy the Muc-Off MTB Tubeless Sealant for £6
Hunt Tubeless Valves
£5.99 per valve
With any tubeless conversion, you’ll need valves that are compatible with a tubeless setup. Valves come at a fairly wide range of prices, but the truth is, basic ol’ presta tubeless valves do just the trick.
Hunt’s valves are pretty cheap, and we’ve tested a bunch of them during our tests on Hunt’s wheels, so they work just fine.
Buy the Hunt Tubeless Valves for £6.99
Helmet: Leatt MTB AllMtn 1.0
£70
We’re now at a point where well-equipped helmets don’t cost tonnes of money, while bringing the comfort and many of the features you’ll find on others, several times the price. One of those is Leatt’s MTB AllMtn 1.0.
Alright, it might not be the coolest looking helmet around, but it’s super comfortable, delivers good airflow and importantly, it’s equipped with a rotational impact reduction system in the form of 360 Turbine. This is super useful because it claims to boost safety by absorbing some of the rotational forces that occur during most impacts that happen when cycling.
Buy the Leatt MTB AllMtn 1.0 helmet from Tredz for £69.99
Track pump: Topeak Joeblow Mountain EX
£40
The amount of inflation gizmos that you’ll need for your mountain bike is pretty surprising, but trust me, all of them will come in handy. For general pre-ride tyre inflation, or at-home tubeless installation, you’ll want a good track pump, and the Topeak Joeblow Mountain EX is exactly that.
Built especially to inflate high-volume mountain bike tyres, it does so pretty quickly while balancing capability with a build quality that helps achieve a lower price. While there are some plastic bits on the pump, don’t go thinking it’s flimsy. I reviewed this pump in 2023, and it’s still my go-to to this very day.
Buy the Topeak JoeBlow Mountain EX Floor Pump from Tredz for £28.99
Mini pump: Truflo Air Flow Pocket
£29.99
So you’ve got your main track pump, but you won’t be able to carry that around with you on your rides, so you’ll need a mini pump for when the inevitable puncture happens.
When buying a mini-pump, there are things you’ll need to look out for – whether it’s built for high volume or high pressure and its valve compatibility. High-volume pumps are better suited to inflating the high-volume tyres you’ll have on your mountain bike. High-pressure pumps help achieve the higher pressures used on road bikes.
Then, there are two main standards of tyre valve – Presta and Schrader. You’ll be hard pushed to find a performance mountain bike that doesn’t use Presta valves, so buy a pump that’s compatible with those. Schrader valves are usually found on lower-end bikes.
The Truflo Air Flow Pocket may be a renamed version of the MiniMTN High Volume pump I tested a while ago, and that’s another that’s still going strong for me. It’s constructed of CNC-machined aluminium, so it’s durable, and it uses a telescopic design, which means that it can deliver a lot of air per stroke, while being small enough to stash in a pocket.
Buy the Truflo Air Flow Pocket High Volume CNC Mini Pump from Westbrook Cycles for £29.99
Shock pump: Decathlon Fork/Bike Shock Pump
£22
The last actual pump you’ll need is a shock pump. These are designed for the very high pressures that you’ll need to inflate the air-sprung suspension found on most modern mountain bikes, and the Voodoo Bizango Pro.
You shouldn’t need to reach for a shock pump all that often, so you can skimp a little here. But make sure you invest in one of these to really open up suspension adjustment opportunities.
I’ll admit, I’ve picked this one because it’s affordable, but given how infrequently it’ll be used, I can get away with it, I reckon.
Buy the Decathlon Fork/Bike Shock pump for £19.99
Co2 inflator: Topeak AirBoost Nano with 25g Co2
£21.99
But that’s not all for your inflation matters! With tubeless tyre setups, it’s very possible that the tyre can unseat itself if you pick up a puncture. Some mini-pumps can reseat tubeless tyres, but with even the best, it’s quite an effort to do so. That’s where a Co2 inflator comes in.
While not an essential tool, a Co2 inflator will almost instantly unload a tyre’s worth of Co2 into a tyre to reseat the bead and get you rolling at the turn of a dial, or press of a valve.
Again, these are things you shouldn’t need to use all that often, but reliability is key here, which is why I’ve gone for a Topeak product. Better still, it comes with a Co2 canister in the box.
Buy the Topeak Nano Airbooster CO2 Inflator from Halfords for £21.99
Tubeless plugs
£5
If you’re running a tubeless setup, the best way of repairing a puncture that your tubeless sealant cannot is by using tubeless plugs. Often referred to as bacon strips, slugs and other crazy names, these are poked into a tyre using a proper tool.
By doing so, you’ll physically fill a puncture with some sticky rubber, giving your sealant a better chance of sealing the puncture. They’re a must-have, for sure.
Multi-tool: Topeak Mini PT30
£49.99
Another must-have is a multi-tool. At some point in your riding career, a bit of your bike will break, or you might need to tweak something on your handlebar or similar while you’re out riding. The best way of equipping yourself with all of the right tools without lugging a toolbox with you is a multi-tool.
The Topeak Mini PT30 might be one of the pricier multi-tools around, but I’ve chosen it because it comes with everything you need, and more, to get yourself rolling again. There’s a chain tool, all of the allen keys, spoke wrenches and a few torx bits for good measure. It’s pretty small, too, so it can easily be stashed in a bag or a pocket.
And you might be wondering why I’ve not yet mentioned a tubeless plug tool… The PT30 has one built in, as well as a knife for trimming off exposed tubeless plugs. But this tool doesn’t come with tubeless plugs, which is why I’ve listed them above.
Buy the Topeak Mini PT30 from Lordgun Bicycles for £28.22
An inner tube
Around £10
While tubeless sealant is good at sealing punctures, and tubeless plugs are good at fixing larger holes, sometimes neither will do the job. Only then will you need to revert to a good ol’ inner tube.
Put aside a tenner for one, make sure it’s compatible with your wheelsize and keep it in a backpack for when the worst happens… speaking of…
Backpack: Albek H20-Haul Three
£69.98
With all of that repair goodness that you’ve equipped yourself with, you’ll need something to carry it all in. And you might as well choose a bag that’ll carry fluids, too. So I’ve picked the Albek H20-Haul Three.
While the off.road.cc team has tested more affordable options, like Rockrider’s XC Light hydration pack, I expect Albek’s offering to be more stable thanks to its X-Brace harness system. It’s able to pack 1.5L of water, so hydration is well sorted, and there’s space to carry those essential tools and extras.
Buy the Albek H20 Haul Three Hydration Pack from Balfe’s Bikes for £70
Knee pads: Madison Flux Ultra Light knee pads
£49.99
For the next few bits and bobs, I’ve picked a bunch of stuff from Madison because it’s affordable, and darn good value for money.
Every mountain biker falls a lot and often, knees are the first things to hit the ground, at least they touch down the hardest, so I recommend every rider to invest in a good set of knee pads. That’s, unless you’re going for cross-country riding, where every gram counts.
Like Rapha’s Trail knee pads, Madison’s Flux Ultra Light Level 1 pads come with insertions produced by Rheon, and they’re pretty simple. They’re built to be comfortable during long stints in the saddle while providing vital knee protection.
Clothing: Madison range
Gloves £19.99, jersey £29.99, shorts £39.99, jacket £69.99
Again, another bunch of Madison kit because it’s good, and not horrifically expensive.
When you’re starting, performance mountain bike clothing is definitely optional as you’ll have plenty of fun on a bike, whatever you wear… if anything at all. However, clothing built for cycling will be more comfortable, more breathable, and it’ll come with fancy technologies that’ll wick sweat away from your skin, helping you feel dry no matter how sweaty you get.
Here, I’ve picked Madison’s Freewheel Trail gloves. Gloves are things that fall into an optional but useful category. Many riders don’t like wearing gloves, preferring a more direct feel with a bike’s grips, but they can provide more traction and a touch of protection during a fall.
Then, there’s Madison’s Flux Trail Jersey. It’s a short sleeve which’ll be ideal for summer and mid-seasons, plus it’ll be easier to layer when it gets cold out.
The Freewheel Men’s Trail Shorts offer plenty of length, so there shouldn’t be a gap between them and your knee pads. They’re also sorted with a C0 DWR finish that’ll stop spray for puddle crossing from totally drenching them.
Lastly, I’ve picked Madison’s Roam Windproof jacket. I’ve not picked a rain jacket because they can be rather pricy and many folk just won’t ride in the rain. Instead, a windproof is easy to carry around when not in use, but it’ll add a touch of protection through harsher weather. Plus, there’s a DWR coating added for some water resistance.
Eyewear: Madison Crypto clear lens glasses
£34.99
Glasses are also very optional, and a matter of personal taste, but I find that I ride more confidently while wearing them as they keep wind and rain out of my eyes, allowing me to focus on where I’m going. They also add a protective element, as when mountain biking, you never know when a twig’s going to flick you in the face.
Madison’s Crypto glasses are excellent options at a very reasonable price. Their large frame provides tonnes of coverage, and its simple lens does a great job of keeping fog at bay. If you want more than just a clear lens, which is generally suitable for all riding, these specs are available in a tonne of options for more or less money.
Buy the Madison Crypto glasses from 20Twenty Store for £34.99
