The wife took a significant post kid riding hiatus, even moreso than me. She has an obsolete Cannondale hardtail from the early mid 2000s with a crappy Manitou fork that was used mostly for street riding with narrow slicks the past years. The other day, we put the WTB knobbys back on and rode some fun local singletrack with the 4 yo on the Shotgun seat with me. We all had a blast and with the 9 yo wanting to ride more, she plans on getting out there a lot more.
The question is what bike for our local trails. Would prefer used to get more bike for the money. Shes not going to use this enough to justify spending a decent amount of $$$, but definitely could use an upgrade from what shes on now. Given the cost constraints, thinking a hardtail with higher volume tires is probably the only way to go, but also think as someone who would like the bike to be more comfortable and easier to ride through our local roots and rocks, a short travel FS wouldn't be the worst thing.
Basically, what's the sweet spot to get something that's capable enough to make light trail / casual XC riding fun without a big financial commitment for something that may only get used a few times a month?
Bookmarks