The spec is about right for the price point, and i'm not seeing anything that jumps out as a bad buy. I think at this point, it's still a little difficult to be picky if you're buying an average frame size.
As I mentioned I probably know more about how certain inks refract light to create shimmering effects than I do about value in mountain bike land, so I'm happy to take that endorsement of "it's ok"ness, haha.
Is he going to be riding single track (reasonable to very rough to hike through) or lighter off-road like gravel trails? If the former, then yeah, you want at least a front shock. If the latter, he may be better off with a gravel bike, which looks like a conventional drop-bar road bike but with wider, grippier tires.
It's largely an urban setting with some untamed riverbed areas and really cruddy infrastructure that's more or less tantamount to roads devolving into dirt trails so the front shock may be justified, but asking as someone who learned to ride a bike in his late 20s (cough) is there operator risk when front shocks are over-specced? This is my first time encountering "gravel bike". Yikes.
The Judy spec'ed on the Decathlon is not terrible. Thing is, if you're rarely encountering terrain where the shock makes a noticeable improvement in comfort and handling, then you're forever dragging around an extra kilo+ in your steering chain and feeling that slight bounciness all the time.
A gravel bike can usually run 40mm or wider tires. Pumped to 1.7 bar or so, it's already a really plush ride.
Yeah, to echo that comment, being comfortable on the bike to begin with is paramount to feeling safe and confident. If the shock makes it feel more safe, then it's fine. if the shock distracts since it's a little unnerving at first, then look for something else.
I might have completely forgot about that thread. Whoops. Thanks guys! Gonna be grilling him about preferences I suppose, and catching up on some reading there.
@Lyander I agree with @ergopower that based on the use cases you described, a hybrid might fit the bill. You would save money over the hardtail Decathlon, and it would be more fun to ride in an urban setting. I have a 2020 version of this one, and it's great on light trails: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/escape-disc-2-2022
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