Yeah, there's a few Giant haters....and some of us like to stir them up sometimes.
There's nothing special about a Giant, they're as common-as-arseholes, but you get a lot of bike for the price.
(think Holden commodore SS, rather than Porsche...)
Serious question for ya...
Do you think you will progress fairly quickly with your new hobby? ....or is this just a purchase for one or two rides a month on a local bike trail around the back of the local park etc...?
The reason I ask is this:
When I got back into the sport a couple of years back I was much like you - I didn't really know what bike to look for (everything had changed so much) but one thing I quickly realised - I was going to out-grow a hardtail real quick. So I narrowed my search to dual sus only.
And this is especially true in Tasmania.
I think there's a good chance your mates in the office will drag you to Derby or down the North-South track (arguably you can do the North South on a HT without too much pain)....but a dually gives you much more confidence straight out of the box.
Others will argue it's better to hone your skills on a HT first (and they have good reasons to argue this), but I think you'll find it frustrating at Derby or Maydena. And Hollybank's Juggernaut would be down-right scary on a hardtail IMO.
So if you can stretch the budget to a bit more, a good second hand dual-sus bike will last you a lot longer I think?
