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@rodan
I was talking about bikes with my old man on the phone earlier and he said he fancies one himself. He was raving about a BSO he saw in Carrefour in France for €99, a full-sus mtb ("it had an aluminium frame and Shimano gears and everything!"), which caused some silent swearing and facepalming at my end. I told him he'd probably find something similarly priced/specced in ASDA or Hellfrauds, and then gave him the spiel about why this was a false economy and a Bad Idea.
Amusingly, he seemed happier about the idea of buying a bike from ASDA than from Halfords, but otherwise I'm not sure he listened. First off, he seems convinced that a full-sus mtb with knobbly tyres is what he needs for some light riding on the paths around where he lives. Second, he doesn't think he needs to spend much on a leisure bike. I think I need to show him some half decent alternatives that won't bust his wallet, but won't be so horrible to use that it'll sit and rust at the back of the garage after its maiden voyage. I'm thinking this is the kind of area he needs to be looking at:
...but I might be talking mince. Any better ideas?