Best budget full-suspension mountain bikes 2024 | Bike Perfect

Nov 04, 2024

Our expert picks of cheap full-suspension MTBs that will boost your control and confidence on any trail

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It used to be the case that there was little point in shopping for the best budget full-suspension mountain bikes. The extra cost of adding pivots, a rear shock and a more complex frame design always meant that even the best full-suspension mountain bikes for those on a tighter budget had too many component compromises compared to the best hardtail MTBs, which delivered a really well-sorted ride. Often the suspension components or the frame were poor quality or outdated too.

Thankfully, there are now a growing number of bikes out there with sorted suspension, worthy components and up-to-date frame geometry that are genuinely more controlled and more fun than a hardtail and are worthy of upgrading into something really good. So here’s our pick of the best budget full-suspension bikes to kickstart your full-sus riding experience.

If you are unsure what to look for, skip to the bottom of this article to find out how to choose the best budget full-suspension mountain bike for you.

Best overall

Best budget full-sus bike overall

Great ride quality and a well-thought-out spec for a reasonable price.

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Best cross-country

Best budget full-sus XC bike

A superbly capable and rapid cross-country MTB at an excellent price.

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Best handling

Best full-sus bike for all-round riding

Boasts a smooth four-bar suspension system that competes with much more expensive bikes.

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Best short travel

Best shorter travel full-sus bike

A naturally fast and efficient full-sus bike with a great spec for the money.

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Best all-rounder

Best all-round performer full-sus bike

Ready-to-rock full-suspension trail bike package with excellent geometry.

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Best spec

Best spec budget full-sus bike

High-quality trail bike with a seriously comprehensive spec.

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Best for flow trails

Best budget full-sus bike for flowy trails

Alloy flex-stay bike that's great for cruising flow trails.

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Best lightweight

Best lighter weight budget full-sus bike

Lightweight, and excellent value spec from the German online bike brand.

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Canyon mountain bikes are well known for their incredible ride quality, so no matter whether you are paying top dollar or penny-pinching, you should expect a bike that has a dialed ride quality out on the trail. Canyon's top-of-the-range Neuron CF SLX 9.0 LTD really impressed us when we tested it and the Neuron 5 should have much the same suspension efficiency, lightweight and lively ride on twisting XC trails.

As is to be expected on a bike that is really pushing the boundaries of what 'budget' means, it's unsurprising that the Canyon Neuron 5 has one of the best specs out of all the bikes in this guide. Reliable suspension from RockShox, gearing from SRAM and braking by Shimano should see you through plenty of trail miles without fuss.

For more on the Neuron, see our Canyon Neuron 6 review – the next model up in the range.

Our expert review:

The Specialized Chisel hardtail is an alloy XC bike that costs half the price of its fancier carbon-framed rivals and puts many of them to shame. The recently launched FS version looks like doing something similar to full-suspension carbon XC bikes, which is why our tester, Guy Kesteven, rated the Chisel FS as 4.5 out of 5 in his review.

So what makes it such a great bike for the money? Well, first off, the Chisel FS' frame is constructed using Specialized’s unique ‘SmartWeld’ alloy tubing. The hydroformed tubes have semi-closed ends like a drinks can. This gives them extra strength at the ends and increases the weld area so Specialized can use super thin, varying wall thickness in the rest of the tubes. The resulting frame weighs just 2,720g (size medium, inc. shock and fixtures) which is seriously impressive, and the resulting overall weight for our size large test bike was 14.47kg – which is light at this price.

In addition to that, the Chisel FS' geometry is taken from Specialized's much fancier Epic 8 and Epic Evo 8 frames and is bang up to date for capable and confident cross-country/downcountry performance.

Guy summed as the Chisel FS. "Super-fast, impressively light, full-suspension bike for the cash, with excellent pedal / plush suspension balance, sorted geometry, great contact points and proper all-weather race tires."

For more, see our full Specialized Chisel FS review.

This latest version of GT's Sensor has been around since last year and uses a really well-executed take on a classic suspension layout rather than the unique designs of GT’s past. ST stands for short travel, but the four-bar linkage with a RockShox Deluxe Select + RT shock means you’re getting a really smooth and neutral 120mm travel rear end that can compete with much more expensive bikes.

Reach is reasonable at 485mm on the large tested, and you get a short (45mm) stem and wide (780mm) bars for control. The 12-speed SRAM NX Eagle gears work well, as do the SRAM G2 RSC brakes.

The 27mm (internal width) WTB rims on Formula hubs are pretty lightweight for their class and are shod with triple compound Maxxis tires. However while the Dissector (front) and Rekon (rear) work well in the dry, they lack grip in wet and/or muddy conditions.

While the mismatched (140mm front/120mm rear) suspension setup sounds imbalanced, it actually works well in most situations as the Sensor ST's geo naturally pushes your weight forward. However, with less travel in the rear, this can cause issues over rougher sections of trail.

Our tester, technical editor Guy Kesteven, summed up the Sensor ST: "GT's Sensor ST Pro is a nicely balanced, vice-free, easy-riding yet reasonably efficient all-rounder for classic – rather than enduro style – trail riding."

For more, see our full GT Sensor ST Carbon Pro review.

Our expert review:

Faultline A2 is the cheapest full-suspension 29er trail mountain bike from US brand Jamis. It follows the classic shock under top tube driven by a swing link design, matched to a pivot on the seat stay and a main pivot level with the chainring top. That means the rear wheel moves in a simple arc, but it’s a well balanced one.

The spec is impressively solid, dependable and recognizable brand name based. RockShox provides the 130mm Recon Silver RL fork and Deluxe Select R air-sprung rear damper. Transmission is 11-speed Shimano Deore including matching bottom bracket, through-axle crankset and 10-51 tooth wide range cassette. Brakes are Shimano too, but the entry-level M200 spec with a 160mm rear rotor. The hubs are also Shimano, laced to WTB 25mm rims fitted with tubeless ready WTB tires. Bar and stem are Race Face with a WTB Volt saddle on the KS dropper.

In our tests we found it gains speed easily for an economy option despite a near 16kg weight. The 760mm bar gives reasonable leverage through a head angle that’s appropriate for a trail all-rounder with 130/120mm travel. The Recon fork is consistently controlled and the toothy Vigilante front tire adds confidence in dry turns too. Add in the inherent reliability of the Shimano and RockShox kit, plus harder ‘Fast Rolling’ compound tires and it’s a good choice for high mileage riding on tamer trails.

For more details, check out our full Jamis Faultline A2 review.

While most of the bikes here now have decent geometry, Marin’s Rift Zone bikes set the benchmark for bringing proper no-holds-barred rough play numbers to the affordable bike rankings. 65.5-degree head tube locks the front wheel into the terrain with a 35mm stem. A 77-degree seat angle still gives it attacking poise on climbs while the 430mm chainstays give a super responsive rear-end feel.

The 'Multitrac' frame gives 130mm of travel and while it comes with a 141mm QR rear it can be upgraded to a full 148mm width Boost bolted thru-axle. Suspension is taken care of by the Slide Boost RC fork with 140mm travel, and the X-Fusion O2 Pro R shock. Vee Tire dual compound Crown Gem tires are good all-round performers with broad tubeless-ready rims for stability and easy upgrading.

The gears are Shimano Deore 11-speed and the brakes Tektro HDM-280. You’ll need to pay more for the Rift Zone 2 to get a dropper post as standard, but overall value is good for a shop-bought, globally available bike.

The parent company of Polygon manufactures bikes and frames for a big list of other brands including some real premium names. Buying its own bikes gets you the same quality at a much lower price though and the Siskiu T7 is a thoroughly modern trail bike at a great price.

Here you get the option of 27.5-inch wheels in smaller frame sizes and then 29er on the bigger bikes. That gets you either 150mm forks and 140mm rear travel or 140mm fork and 135mm rear. Either way head angles are around 65-degrees with a 76.5-degree seat angle and a long 480mm reach on the large for excellent self-correcting stability. Super-short seat tubes keep the center of gravity low and you get long-stroke dropper seatposts as standard. You get a super-short 35mm stem for super-responsive steering with a RockShox Deluxe Plus Select shock and lightweight Recon RL fork. Add a 12-speed Shimano gearing mix and 2.4in wide Schwalbe Hans Dampf tires on wide tubeless-ready rims and you’ve got a seriously comprehensive spec for a total bargain price. Especially considering it comes from proper bike shops not just delivered in a box for you to build.

If you want a lighter, XC format then the Siskiu D7 and D5 deliver a slick-looking 120mm suspension performance, making Polygon a bargain bike powerhouse.

While many of the best cross-country mountain bikes on the market are moving to flex-stay suspension designs, the reason for this is that by removing some pivots it saves weight and reduces the amount of things that need to be serviced. That said, Giant's budget Stance has been using its Flex Point design for years to create a rocker activated single-pivot system to deliver decent trail performance at a lower price.

The impressively low price is further aided by Giant's massive economies of scale and the fact that almost every component is also sourced in-house – even the forks are Giant's own design. The Suntour shock, Shimano drivetrain, cranks and brakes, and Maxxis tires are the exclusions to this. The only missing piece is a dropper post, although the frame does feature routing for an internally routed dropper post should you wish to add one yourself.

The decent selection of parts and quality frame production is paired with some fairly neutral geometry which will be best suited to cruising flow trails and new riders looking for fun rather than going full send through steep rock gardens.

German online bike brands are smashing the value-for-money comparison game these days and Radon reaches down lower on budget than Canyon or YT.

The Radon comes with the RockShox Pike Ultimate fork and RockShox Deluxe Select+ rear shock. As well as this you get mid-range SRAM NX/GX Expanded Eagle 12-speed gears, powerful Magura brakes, a proper post as standard and Maxxis Forecaster tires on quality Sun Ringle wheels. According to Radon that makes it just 14.35kg.

The only downside in what looks an unbeatable deal is that the frame is relatively old (it still has tabs for a front derailleur) and that’s reflected in the short and relatively steep geometry. If you’re not after slack and long then save your pennies and your effort on the climbs with the super-value Skeen.

The only thing you can’t upgrade on a mountain bike is the shape of it. Some manufacturers (not the ones featured here) just use old, outdated steep-and-short frames as the basis for their cheap bikes. Others make new frames but weirdly seem to think that the fresh riders likely to be buying at this price point would benefit from something that’s twitchy and sketchy rather than stable and confident.

As a rough guide, 120mm travel bikes should have a 67-degree head angle, moving towards 65-degree as travel extends to 150mm and you’re getting faster on descents. Reach figures should be 460+mm on a large, with a 50mm or shorter stem and a 760mm or wider bar for decent power steering.

At the lower end of the price range, you’re almost certainly going to take a hit on suspension quality. That means 32mm steel legs rather than 35mm alloy legs on forks and simple rear shocks with limited adjustment and potentially less than perfect damping. You can expect to get equipment from Manitou, Suntour, X-Fusion or own-branded gear rather than RockShox or Marzocchi dampers although you can get them in this list. That doesn’t mean that cheaper forks and shocks etc can’t work well, but read our reviews to guide you in the right direction and potentially be more prepared to do more servicing and general TLC.

The real surprise with this list is how good the rest of the spec on several of these bikes is, with comparable brake and gear setups to hardtail bikes. The days of super long stems and narrow bars ruining the ride are thankfully behind us too and even saddles and grips are generally sorted. The thing you probably won’t get and will have to upgrade to is a dropper seat post but make sure that the frame you choose is at least ready for an internally routed setup.

Whether you get a hardtail or a suspension bike, swapping tires is a great way to make real performance gains at a reasonable price. So if you’re buying from a shop and have a bit of cash left in your budget then ask if they can swap them (or set the existing ones up tubeless) before you get the original ones dirty.

It all depends on the type of trails you plan on riding, although almost all of the best budget full-suspension bikes focus on trail riding. Pricing starts at around $1,500 for a bike that is going to give decent performance on the trail. That said it can vary between different brands and the price points they choose.

The amount of extra kit and performance you get on the next bike up in the range – and the price gap – can alter significantly. In some cases, brand managers will sacrifice some profit to create a really killer value entry-level bike. In other cases, it’s you who’ll be making those sacrifices. It’s certainly always worth checking what saving a bit longer or digging deeper into your budget will get you and where relevant we’ve flagged up whether the ‘next bike up’ is the better deal here. If you can stretch your budget, check out our pick of the best mountain bikes under $2500.

All the budget full-suspension bikes tested here have been ridden on a wide range of trails, from singletrack to technical woodsy riding, in a variety of weather conditions, from bone dry to properly sodden. We test bikes over a number of months so we can assess how they fare over time.

Guy Kesteven is BikePerfect’s tech editor. He spent a few years working in bike shops before starting writing and testing for bike mags in 1996. Since then he’s tested many hundreds of full-suspension mountain bikes.

Guy Kesteven has been working on Bike Perfect since its launch in 2019. He started writing and testing for bike mags in 1996. Since then he’s written several million words about several thousand test bikes and a ridiculous amount of riding gear. He’s also penned a handful of bike-related books and he reviews MTBs over on YouTube.

Current rides: Cervelo ZFS-5, Specialized Chisel, custom Nicolai enduro tandem, Landescape/Swallow custom gravel tandem

Height: 180cm

Weight: 69kg

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