Help Me Choose a Bike

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  Willco88 on 16/10/2020 - 10:00

  I personally like AVANTI brand

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  DashCam AKA Rolts on 16/10/2020 - 11:08

  Might have a bit of a wait, my local bike store has a only a fraction of its normal stock. What it is receiving, is already sold/ordered. I've wanted a particular helmet, in a popular size, and that has been about a 6 week wait. LBSs have been slammed.

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    namenotspecified on 16/10/2020 - 11:22

    Yeah it's not an ideal time obviously. I can't believe how much of an impact Covid still has on bikes! Unless it's by design at this point

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  Gronk on 16/10/2020 - 11:44

  Just picked up a Scott Aspect 770, can't really offer any comparison because I hadn't ridden for ages either but it does the job quite nicely…

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  kingsville on 16/10/2020 - 12:06

  I normally recommend secondhand, but prices seem ridiculous at the moment.

  Of the three you've looked at, I'd go the Apollo for the 2x8sp rather than 3x7sp gears.
  Given the price range, all will be pretty heavy.
  For my own riding with family and commuting (rail trails but not mtb trails) I prefer putting cyclocross tyres on a bike like this: https://www.99bikes.com.au/merida21-speeder-20-anthracite-bl…

  If you can test ride, pick whichever feels best.

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    namenotspecified on 16/10/2020 - 12:27

    Interesting, thanks for that. How do you find the fork without suspension off road?

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      kingsville on 16/10/2020 - 16:07

      +2

      rigid fork is fine with larger volume tyres.

      For example, the 700x30 on the merida speeder should be ok on a gravel path. If you have something like 700x42 then it'd take more off the bumps.

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      trongy on 16/10/2020 - 21:58

      Owning both type of bike, I would say it very much depends on the type of off road surface. Rigid forks and medium width tyres (say 30-40mm) are fine if the surface is smooth well packed gravel or dirt. As the surface gets bumpier, or you start getting more loose gravel or dirt, you need to put more effort into bike handling. Past a certain point it stops being fun. That's when a mountain bike with suspension forks plus wider (say 50-60mm) tyres running at lower pressure really comes into it's own.

      I would say the mountain bike is much more versatile, at the expense of efficiency. Efficiency is less important until you kid can ride faster than you.

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  Drakesy on 16/10/2020 - 13:03

  The Merida is running cable disc brakes which aren't really worth the time.
  The other 2 are hydraulic which is fine.
  Have you thought about giant?

  Just repeating what others have said since covid, stocks have been very low hence high prices. Might want to check gumtree or marketplace to get a decent deal. 2021 stuff should be in November/October, although delayed due to factory shutdowns over covid and backorders with other bikeshops.

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  wiipantz on 16/10/2020 - 13:14

  -1

  Schwinn is the only Bike I endorse… what I'm saying is these are mostly choices based on opinions for the individual and you will need to do your own choosing to suit your needs personally.

  Seriously though Schwinn are the best

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    Drakesy on 16/10/2020 - 13:41

    +1

    Schwinn were good up until they unfortunately sold out and became a cheap Kmart bike targeting the lower-mid level recreational user price point.

    They do have more expensive bikes but the ones in the higher price ranges just don't compete.

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  Euphemistic on 16/10/2020 - 14:46

  +1

  for riding what you describe I agree a mountain bike would suffice. As these are entry level the forks won’t be flash, but buying a rigid fork on a mountain bike is near impossible.

  Go for the biggest tyres if not buying a mountain bike. Suspension forks on a hybrid, or commuter bike just add weight, complexity and don’t provide a lot of benefit. You get more benefit out of wider tyres at slightly lower pressure.

  Hydraulic disc brakes are good, but cables aren’t terrible. I’ve found that except for faster road riding a 2 chainring setup means more front shifting than sitting in the middle ring of a 3x setup most of the time.

  End of the day, for a beginner often the biggest consideration is fit, ride feel and colour preference over the details of the specs. You have to want to ride it and feeling good on it makes that happen. Modern ‘brand name’ bikes are pretty good and while you’ll get better parts on one feature, typically another feature will have lesser parts on equal priced bikes. Don’t get overly stressed about getting ‘the best’ specification if you prefer the feel of what is technically a lesser bike.

  I have, and have had, multiple bikes of all spec levels. End of the day, there isn’t much in it unless you are pushing the bike to its limits regularly eg racing.

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  Garroshs on 17/10/2020 - 11:19

  I've been looking at the

  Giant talon 2
  Treck marlin 6
  Specialised rockhopper

  And I'm most likely going to get the giant talon 2.

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  namenotspecified on 25/10/2020 - 14:44

  Hi all I just wanted to follow up and thank everyone for their help. I tried a few of the above and ended up finding a great condition used Merida big seven 100 at a realistic price

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    kingsville on 26/10/2020 - 16:27

    enjoy!

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    Specter003 on 28/10/2020 - 15:24

    How much did u pay ?? just curious to see if they negotiate