The 4yo is starting to outrace me on his bike (i generally jog along), and I'm looking at buying a bike to ride along with him. Also with my change of career, I can now ride to work (and sit on my backside all day, so I NEED to ride to work), whereas before I needed to cart too many tools with me....
Question is.....what sort/brand of bike would suit me? I know that riding and windsurfing are a good combination, also I need to get/keep fit, as well as enjoy time riding with the littlies!
Stats; 6'3", 110kgs, 35yo, light pockets!
Requirements; to enjoy a ride with the family, go for the odd workout ride (road), go offroad (good walking/riding scenic tracks around this area), and ride to/from work on a semi-daily basis.
Any advice would be appreciated......here's what I've learned:
Bikes from $70.00 at Kmart (don't reckon it'd last) - to - $6,000.00 for good carbon road bikes (not a chance! would rather spend 6K on w/surfing gear!).
Hybrid is a word that was tossed around by a mate?!?
Prefer pre-loved and quality than new crap if price came into it!
Whatever I spend.......will have to be taken from my w/surfing purchases annual fund!
I bought a hybrid (Avanti Discovery) for exactly the reasons you mentioned above, but found it wasn't particularly good at either onroad or offroad. So now I've got a Giant OCR3 for the road ($500 second hand) and a giant thermo1 for the tracks (about $800 new).
If I had to settle for just one bike I think I would go for the giant thermo1 (or Yukon if you want a more conventional frame) with those tyres that are slicks in the middle and knobblies on the sides. They have lock off shocks so you can set them for rigid for on road or soft for off road.
Just be carefull, I only got into it for a bit of exercise, but found I quickly became addicted after I found hills that almost killed me when I first got a bike are now really easy. Its gotta be good for you!!
Whatever I spend.......will have to be taken from my w/surfing purchases annual fund!
go kmart - ha ha.
the hybrids are efficient and comfy - no need for a racer unless u are racing, same with MTB.
if you are going to use it daily, then get something mid range upwards, cheapo brands WILL fall to pieces very quickly... at 110 kg's you'll also want a well built frame, with strong crank arms and bottom bracket.
you're probably lookin at around a grandish buyin new, or 500 hungy second.
go and see pedro in pushi,king street - if he's still there; and tell him you know julien the best pushy courier in melbourne EVER. 
If you want to ride on dirt tracks or take short cuts on your commute to work then you want to stick to the good old mountain bike.
Front suspension is good, avoid reas suspension for your type of riding.
Buy a pair of semi-slick tyres to make commuting/road/path riding easier and keep the grooved tyres that come on it for your trail riding.
Giant is a good brand. Well built and good value for money. I can also highly recommend the Thermo1 but they stopped making them last year (you may get a bargain on a run-out model)
You should spend $600 - $800 to get a bike that will last. Most bikes in this range will come with Shimano parts so check out shimano.com.au and get a feel for the different levels of components so you know what you are looking at when you go shopping.
Melbourne has some of the best bike shops in the country and the most competive pricing so shop around and don't be afraid to barter!
Hi Sailhack. Beware of a lot of the bikes you get from the discount stores - the quality in the parts/materials is telling after a while - metals used, chrome grades, weld quality etc. I was in the same boat so to speak and purchased a Giant "Rincon" mountain bike. Mountain bikes are great on and off road (even if it is just park tracks/occassional gravel etc). The "Rincon" is low to mid range spec for a mountain bike and cost about $400 a few years ago so probably about $600 today I suppose - the Giant frames are great - excellent construction and quality control. Having front suspension is great and I changed the tyres from the heavy standard nobbies to road tyres which gives a much better ride and less energy requirement to turn, if you plan to ride mainly on road. It has low to midspec gears/changers/suspension etc. - never take the super economical lowest in the range as the parts will wear-out/break sooner than you expect. At the other end of the scale there is probably no need to go too up-market either unless you plan to get serious with the riding - it is all too easy to get tempted with the next best up the line and so on - just need to be realistic with what you will use the bike for. The absolutely most important thing is to get the right size - so atleast pay a visit to a proper bike store and they will determine the correct bike frame size in the different styles (MB, road etc although there are some small differences within each type between the brands).
Hope this helps.
Thanks for all the advice....I just got back from a 'browse' in the local shops, I have seen the 'Giant' bikes advertised, apart from that all the other names you guys mentioned are alien to me. The local shops stock - Diamondback - Harrow - Shogun - Malvern Star - GT.....(and a couple of others I promised I wouldn't forget?!?)
The advice given by one of the guys in the shop was pretty spot-on going by the reponses above, go 'Mountain' but select tyres based on some road comfort, (centre continuous tread with nobbys on the sides for dirt). I went in thinking $400+.......now after looking at disc brakes and hydrolic(?) suspension/brakes might be $650+ but to spend more would be a waste, as 'hills' said about "getting addicted", I might as well not spend too much (not knowing much about it), and if I do get hooked, I can trade it in on a suitable bike.
The heavy-duty downhill bikes were a little too extreme (I'm pretty keen on self-preservation) pricewise, and build. I'll take on all advice and keep looking.......going on an old mate's motto - "never be in a hurry to buy"
Cheers Guys!
You probably won't get hydrolic disc brakes for under $900. If you do though, be wary of them if you're going to take your wheels off to transport it. If you accidentally apply the brake without the wheel in, its really hard to get the wheel back on. You basically have to bleed the brakes like a car and in some cases it can only be done by a bike shop. I've gone for cable discs that don't have this issue.
Happy hunting, you should be able to get something pretty good for the price range, especially if you go secondhand.
Got a pretty neat bike for 500bucks. Aluminium frame, front shocks, disc brakes (not hydraulic, but they are mint) and 24 gears. Ive been slack and ridden maybe 200km in the year ive had it
.
But its a dream to ride offroad. Mmmmm im gonna take it for a spin soon. (have to wait for rain, mud is more fun). Dam another excuse, im not going to wait for it to rain. Gonna ride it.
my bike is really good, i got the gaint thermo 1, big front shocks, hydrolic disk breaks, 21gears, great for offroad and on the road, really strong frame and looks cool too,
Have a good close look at www.cellbikes.com.au Then compare them to what you have already looked at. They have been covered in Aust bike mags as being good value for money. Its the service vs price issue with these guys, if you live outside of NSWetc.
Fair enough Leech, it may depend how hard they were applied as to how hard it is to get them apart, but that said, what you had to do it more hassle than you'll have with non hydrolics, especially if you are on your way to work in the morning with out a tool set with you. If you don't have to take your wheels off though then I'd certainly go for hydrolics, they're great in every other respect!
Then again I'm such a lazy B***, I welded up this bike rack so I wouldn't even have to go through the hassle of removing the wheel at all. The bike just drops straight into the carrier. 
BTW this is a thermo 1 which came with non hydrolic discs.
go for a fixed gear DIY - and pimp it up...
always unique and much more cooler than roady or MTB.
no need for brakes, gears, suspension, levers, derailers, servicing costs etc etc
go straight bars and hack em down real short, like this one....perfect for squeezing between 2 passing trams down the middle of collins street.
not very good off road and up steep hills though 
Windy, that second one looks like my first bike......dad found the frame at the tip, painted it 'duck-egg blue' and got hold of some rusty wheels (spokes missing), gal tube for handle-bars with rubber hose grips....viola!!! Happy 8th birthday Sailhack!
Great for the image when riding to school with other kids on their brand-new BMX thingys (I remember when the BMX trend took over from dragsters...with the gears on the cross-bar!) Nicole Kidman came later!
..........mmmmmmmm, dragsters..........footy-cards/pegs..........them's the days!
http://forums.farkin.net/forumdisplay.php?f=33
thats a good forum site
i used to use it when i was really into riding.
i have a full suspension kona bike but i dont recommend for riding to work as for it is very tiring.
head for either a road bike or a hardtail
gears arnt everything but can really help
hope this helps
-----> Scotty
