GT Avalanche v Giant Boulder

jklumpp

Hi all, I'm new here, so I'm sorry if I'm asking a question that has been covered before.
My wife & I are looking to buy ourselves new bikes. Mainly Road/ bike paths/ some light trail use - But being an ex-BMX racer, I may be tempted to being a bit silly at times!
We have looked around all the local bike shops, & I have narrowed it down to a selection of either the GT Avalanche 3.0 (Au$429), or the Giant Boulder (AU$399).
Other bikes in the price range include Trek 3700 (Au$399), Shogun Trailbreaker 2 (Au$449), Haro V0 (Au$399), Mongoose Rockadile AL (Au$419), and maybe stretching to the Trek 3900 (Au$499), or Gitane T2 (Au$499).
So what recomendation would you guys give?
I'm leaning towards the GT....The componentry seems to be quite good for the price from what i can gather (though this is all new to me.....Are Suntour SR XC60 forks better than Insync 323??? )
I think the GT Timberline is the best bike for my wife, so for me to get a GT aswell makes sense in that we could get a deal from the one shop for 2 bikes.

Any help appreciated

moparchris

ummmmmmmmmmm hard to say lol i'd go for the giant myself, it has a better front deraleur from memory, the gt has suntour on the fornt right ?

and its a giant lol, giants are good

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GT Ruckus SS
2006 Giant Trance 1
Giant TCR Euro

jklumpp

The Differences are;
................................GT................... ....Giant
Front Derailluer ....Suntour XC-202 .......Shimano C-102
Forks ..................Suntour XC-60 .........Insync 323
Crankset .............Suntour XC-252 ........Shimano TX-71

Another option that I have found today is the Shogun Trailbreaker 2. It has a 7005 alloy frame (others are both 6061), C-102 Fr Derailluer, RST 191 T5 Forks, & Suntour XCC 100 crankset - For around the same price as the GT ($429)

So, of all these components, what is the better?

wanderer390000

Hi

I have GT Avalanche 3 i have found it to be gr8 no problem yet but i find rideing up hills the front wheel keep coming off the ground when going realy steep hills

But if i was buying again i would be willing to buy another GT

moparchris

shimano is better than suntour but theyre prettymuch the same bikes, i'd ride them all and see what you think rides the best, i work in a bike shop and we sell both the giant and GT, we sell alot more of the boulders than the avalanches, alot f people seem to find themmore comfortable, we also have some Jamis cross countrys which were very ppular because they were so much lighter than the others

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GT Ruckus SS
2006 Giant Trance 1
Giant TCR Euro

Ruedy

The wife and I both have Giants. My boy has a Jamis gotten as a gift from
my brother. I've looked at many brands including GT. I like the Giants over the GT's but now I'm torn between Giant or Jamis for my next bike.....Really like my son's Jamis.

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Ruedy

moparchris

jamis' are good bikes, i was gonna get one but the XTC was a slightly better price

__________________
GT Ruckus SS
2006 Giant Trance 1
Giant TCR Euro

GTridinmofo

Hey man. I own a GT avalanche 3.0 that i have had for about 6 months. I would highly recommend goin with the Avalanche because it is extremely reliably and rugged. And trust me on that one. Last weekend i had it sunken in mud so deep that the wheels were buried! My bike was TOTALLY caked in mud. Amazingly my discs were working like normal eventhough they were full of so much mud. So overall i would say that the GT Avalanche 3.0 is:

Overall preformance: 1 2 3 4 (5)
Durability: 1 2 3 4 (5)
Comfort: 1 2 3 4 (5) (stock seat very comfortable and handlebar positioning is great)

GTridinmofo

gt3413

I've got a 2006 avalanche 2.0 disc and I like it. However, after only 5 months, my rear disc brake (tektro aquila) is sticking and will probably have to be warrantied. I bought this bike mostly because I was just getting back into biking and the shimano deore derailleur (rear), impressed me. However, now I wish I had known more about all of the different components. If so, i would have bought a Specialized rockhopper at a different LBS. Ride what you think you might like and go from that point. It seems that there are different levels of components on many of the lower end bikes, likely to meet price points. So, its hard for me to say. Keep everyones opinion here in mind. I'm not too "unimpressed" with my GT. I just figured for the $529 price point that I wouldn't be having problems alread. Good luck, Greg