The main differences here will be the amount of travel the forks have, and the quality of the forks.

The ‘travel’ is how much the forks can compress; the bigger they are, the more they compress, the more they can absorb and roll over bigger obstacles like rocks and roots.

However, there is a trade off; more travel can also mean more weight. This is usually combined with a burlier frame, making them heavier overall than cross country bikes.

As a general rule, cross country bikes have slightly shorter travel than trail bikes. For a cross country bike, expect 80 to 100 mm of travel, and for a more trail-focused bike, 100 to 120 mm of travel. In the sub-£1000 price range, the vast majority of hardtails will have 100mm of travel.

Up to around £650, expect a Suntour suspension fork. Over £700, look for a RockShox XC28 or XC30 suspension fork.

Below £1000, the suspension in most forks comes courtesy of a coil spring. Unlike the air shocks you can get above this price point, these are harder to adapt to different rider weights.