Hi
I'm scouring Ebay for a bargain, and then I realised I might be approaching things from the wrong angle.
My budget is only 250 ish, so I'm limited to 10 year old quality bikes, or recent cheap bikes. I had been assuming an old Stumpjumper would be a better bet than a recent Hardrock (to use the Specialized range as examples). Has progress in components and frames come so far that these are essentially equivalent?
I'm going to be using it as a commuter bike mainly, though I'd like to be able to take it off road given the opportunity. It's going to replace a raleigh 3 speed, so I'll need to be able to fit mudguards and a rack, and it's got to be light ish to justify the change. I'd love a nice steel frame and alfine gears, but my budget just doesn't go that far.
I've given up on three idea of a nice 80s steel frame as retro kit seems to have a massive premium on it...
Any help or guidance would be gratefully appreciated
Cheers
Duncan