Halfords has long been a destination for excellent value mountain bikes, with the likes of Voodoo and Boardman offering excellent performance at realistic prices. Now the automotive superstore chain has launched a new Carrera Titan X boasting an alloy frame, 130mm of travel, and a dropper post, all for just £850.

Although I’ve seen the best full-suspension bikes hit this price point before (the Polygon Siskiu D5, for example), that was a few years ago, and it had a very basic spec with no dropper post as standard. So this Carrera Titan X is a potential hot ticket for anyone looking to get into the sport, or dip their toe in the world of full-suspension bikes.

The new Carrera Titan X could be a great way to get into mountain biking without breaking the bank.

Forming the backbone of the Titan X is an alloy frame with a single-pivot linkage design where the shock is driven by a swing-link under the top tube. Carrera doesn’t list the rear suspension travel, but it’s likely to be in the region of 120-130mm. Using an air shock at the back ensures that it’s easy to set-up correctly for a wide variety of rider weights.

Up front is a Suntour XCR34 LO-R Air fork with 130mm travel, 34mm upper tubes and rebound damping adjustment. Again, air forks are rare at this price point, but give the advantage of being easy to set up and lighter than coil sprung options.

Clean lines and a well-considered spec point to a bike that should be ready to shred out of the box.

Shimano’s simple but robust Cues drivetrain features on the Titan X, with a wide-range 10-speed cassette that should allow you to climb all but the steepest ascents. Brakes are also courtesy of Shimano, with hydraulic discs front and rear.

There’s a short 45mm stem and wide 780mm bars for confident, accurate steering control, and I’m happy to see WTB’s fast-rolling yet grippy Trail Boss tyres front and rear. Carrera has saved some weight, and cost, by using smaller 27.5in wheels instead of 29in options, but given the price point, I reckon that’s a fair choice.

The Carrera Titan is £200 cheaper, and gets a few downgrades, but retains the same frame.

Finally, there’s a dropper post with 125mm of travel and an internally routed cable remote on the handlebars. Something few bikes at this price can boast, whether hardtail or full-suspension.

You can choose from three sizes – small, medium, and large – with the reach starting at 424mm for the small, and expanding to 480mm on the large. The head angle is a capable 65º, while the chainstays are relatively short at 435mm. It looks like a decent set of numbers, even if the seat tube and head tube lengths are a bit on the tall side compared to more expensive, cutting-edge models.

With great bikes from Voodoo and Boardman also sold at Halfords, the motoring giant is showing it also knows its stuff on two wheels.

And if you can’t stretch to the Titan X, there’s also a cheaper Titan model with a lower spec, no dropper post, and a shorter travel coil fork, for just £650. That’s full retail price. Which is pretty staggering. Check them out at your local Halfords store, or to view them online, click here. For a little bit more, we can heartily recommend the Voodoo Canzo and the Boardman MTR 8.9, also from Halfords.