Quote Originally Posted by TheNuclearOne View Post
So after a couple of weeks of recent back pain and drama which has sorted itself out far quicker than i thought it ever would I've decided to lose some unneeded kilo's.

Back in the day i just used to diet a bit and jog 5k's every second day among other things but i'm past those days. More recent but still many many years ago i hit the gym for 6 years or so and was in great shape but i don't overly want to do that at this stage of life either.

So it's time for a bike. My last MTB was about 15 years ago and not worth fixing up.

I just want an entry level piece and have scoured reviews the last week or so. I'm only going to commute mostly around town with maybe a little country road riding for a change of pace. Won't be flat out racing down the local mountain tracks anytime soon (tho i might get excite and do some touring around the hills) so a basic unit is good.

I've pretty much settled on the Trek Marlin 5. I would have looked at 4 but reasonably local stores have none in and bike stock like so much else is backlogged due to covid etc so i'm not keen to wait 4 or so months when there are other options. After much checking it seems a good pick against the Giant ATX/Talon 3, Norco Storm 5 and a couple of others i was looking at and should do much more than i need.
I'd spend a little extra and go the Norco Storm 2 for the simple fact you pick up the 1x drivetrain (a massive improvement over the 3x drivetrain). If you are happy to wait a little, the Aldi hardtail was amazing bang for buck at $450. 1x drivetrain, and made by Polygon (decent brand) they were an absolute steal. No idea when they'll do them again though.