First mtb purchace advice

Your probably going to get responses telling you to spend more. All three of these bikes are a good place to start as a beginner and your price range is fine. If you know what you are looking for and at Pinkbike and Craigslist can have good deals on used bike where you get more bike for your money. You are in the right range as far as what you are looking at. 1x drivetrain is recommended. Saves weight but most importantly it simplifies the bike and one less thing to maintain or break. Maybe do a little research on shocks. Major component that is costly to fix or replace. I would say a good shock is in my top three features I look at in a bike. As you have time keep researching. Listening to different perspectives helps. Also eventually there can be information overdose. Eventually you have to decide what matters to you and what you are willing to wait and add to bike later or upgrade later. You need a bike and to work on skills first. Welcome to mountain biking. My guess is once you start riding it will be addictive as it is to most on this site.

The Motobecane has a better spec, but the frame looks like a cheap catalogue frame (ie not designed by the people selling it, they simply slap a badge on something cheap designed and produced out east). I’ve seen a few Motobecane bikes come into my shop for repair and they’re not good quality.

It’s better to spend the money on something with a better frame from a reputable company in my opinion. Marin and Giant have large dealer networks with good support in case anything goes wrong. The frames are also likely better quality and better handling since the brands selling the bike in this case design the frames and geometry themselves. Since the frame is one of the last things you’ll upgrade, if ever, it’s worth spending the money for a good one. To me the Marin looks like the best bike of the bunch by far.

I think hardtails are best with 29×2.6 tires.  Here are some bikes I like that have models that are closer to $1000.

Salsa Rangefinder

Rocky Mountain Growler

If you can spend closer to $1000 you will get a much better bike.

Welcome and as you are getting more into MTB you’ll want to be upgrading your bike,which will turn to be more expensive in the long run… I would suggest to invest around $900 and you’ll get a significant better MTB… The easiest way to do it is through financing. Nowadays many brands accept PayPal and/or Affirm financing so you can pay in 6 to 12 months with 0% interest rate.

As per the bike I would recommend to check the Vitus Sentier or Nukeproof Scout (Chainreaction cycles) or Polygon Siskiu D5 or Xtrada 7.0…  These are better options for almost the same money in my opinion. Check them out.  Bike Nerd posted great options. Wish you luck in your search.

If I was buying new, I would spend more money ($1500)

If I was buying used, then the price you are thinking about is ok.