2nd hand mountain bike under £300

[Reynard]

Ha ha, so you're in Cheam, not the ideal environment for a MTB. More tarmac than tracks I think?
You might find a hybrid would suit you better there. You'll still be able to take it off road and you'll still get the spread of gears but you won't have the energy sapping big heavy tyres, better for roads.

I'd second what @Cycleops is saying - a hybrid with a rigid front fork and wide, semi-slick tyres (something like a Schwalbe Road Cruiser) should probably cover most of the riding you're likely to meet in what is effectively suburbia. Unless you're planning on riding serious tracks and trails. By ditching the suspension fork, you'll get more bike for your buck - and a bike that's lighter, too. And as @fossyant says, if the front fork is borked, it can get spendy. On a small-ish budget, you're probably better off sticking to a simpler bike.

FWIW, I ride an old-style (late 90s) rigid MTB on the aforementioned tyres, and that does me fine on anything ranging from tarmac, sand and gravel to lumpy, muddy pot-holed farm tracks full of rocks and broken bricks.

 

[vickster]

I might have a medium sized Boardman hybrid for sale… it’s on 28mm tyres as standard, but expect it can take wider (and it could probably do with new tyres)

 

[battered]

I thought that front suspension was a hard tail, as I thought it were hard tail ( front only suspension) or full suspension ( which is back and front), I am avoiding full suspension, due to to cost and also weight, am I on the right lines?

thanks in advance

Yes you are. Less is more at £300. You will know the different between a newish or lightly used bike and one that is used and abused because there will be less visible wear, and things will still match.

 

[battered]

small world, If not a mountain bike, what then, how much can a hybrid take if you are going off road

It can take more than you can. Depends on tyres of course, and what flavour of hybrid it is. Is it basically a MTB with slicks, or is it a ride-to-work road bike with knobbly tyres? Both are hybrids. My rigid MTB with slicks can take anything I can throw at it. I've been trying to break it for 25 years. Every so often I wear something out, and it just looks at me as if to say " Yeah? Want to go again?" My proper mtb was sick last year, I ended up doing the trails on the oldie, after a tyre change. Other than crap brakes it was fine.