Chamelion
Likes Dirt
Hi all,
Back in 2008 I bought a Giant Alias, it had rockshox dart 2, hayes sole and x7s... upgraded the forks and brakes along the way, but the rest stayed the same and was fantastic. Did everything I asked of it.
Last time I rode was the kooralbyn 12 hour in around 2010, which I stupidly did on a chest infection. It really ruined me and took a long time to recover, which by that time I'd lost the passion for riding and put on a bunch of weight.
Fast forward to now and I'm recovering from testicular cancer and a round of chemo... I'm over being unhealthy and unfit, I want to get fit and healthy again, so I've been looking at bikes and what I've found is at that same price point where I purchased back in the day you now get noname forks, acera rear ders, only one or two chainrings as opposed to the 3 that I remember.... it's confusing as to why the componentry seems to have gotten worse for the same price point. Granted I see that the current SRAM X4 rear mechs look about identical to the X7s I had back in the day.
Anyway, I digress... onto the real point of this post.
I'll be using my bike commuting to the train, then the train to work, which is only about 2km in total, though I may ride to further train stations to increase my fitness. I'll be doing casual footpath rides with my wife too.... but my son and I have been talking and we are both keen to hit the trails too. So I'm just not so certain what I should be looking at.
I don't mind buying second hand to get a better bike for my money, which sits at a maxmimum of $1500.
I'm 178cm, 108kg (not for long!). I have slightly shorter than normal legs for my height and due to having 6E width feet I cannot, unfortunately, consider clipless pedals because none of the shoes will fit me.
Should I go for another hard tail? Should I go dual suspension? Is it OK to go with a 10 year old bike thats been well looked after so I can get something that might be nicer? Whats with the current fad of single chain rings and huuuge cassettes? Should I go a 29er or a 27.5? I'm really confused, to be honest.
Thanks in advance.
Matt.
Back in 2008 I bought a Giant Alias, it had rockshox dart 2, hayes sole and x7s... upgraded the forks and brakes along the way, but the rest stayed the same and was fantastic. Did everything I asked of it.
Last time I rode was the kooralbyn 12 hour in around 2010, which I stupidly did on a chest infection. It really ruined me and took a long time to recover, which by that time I'd lost the passion for riding and put on a bunch of weight.
Fast forward to now and I'm recovering from testicular cancer and a round of chemo... I'm over being unhealthy and unfit, I want to get fit and healthy again, so I've been looking at bikes and what I've found is at that same price point where I purchased back in the day you now get noname forks, acera rear ders, only one or two chainrings as opposed to the 3 that I remember.... it's confusing as to why the componentry seems to have gotten worse for the same price point. Granted I see that the current SRAM X4 rear mechs look about identical to the X7s I had back in the day.
Anyway, I digress... onto the real point of this post.
I'll be using my bike commuting to the train, then the train to work, which is only about 2km in total, though I may ride to further train stations to increase my fitness. I'll be doing casual footpath rides with my wife too.... but my son and I have been talking and we are both keen to hit the trails too. So I'm just not so certain what I should be looking at.
I don't mind buying second hand to get a better bike for my money, which sits at a maxmimum of $1500.
I'm 178cm, 108kg (not for long!). I have slightly shorter than normal legs for my height and due to having 6E width feet I cannot, unfortunately, consider clipless pedals because none of the shoes will fit me.
Should I go for another hard tail? Should I go dual suspension? Is it OK to go with a 10 year old bike thats been well looked after so I can get something that might be nicer? Whats with the current fad of single chain rings and huuuge cassettes? Should I go a 29er or a 27.5? I'm really confused, to be honest.
Thanks in advance.
Matt.