brothers new bike choice

creamsodauk

about 3 months ago i gave my brother my specailized hardrock 2011 disc too ride, hes quiet quickly become more and more into it and with the specailized having done other 1200 miles since i owned it last june is pretty creaky and beginning to show the signs of abuse with buckled wheels and so on, it will be rebuilt by me and used as a spare but he now wants something new

I ride a marin and i love it, very sturdy and very well equiped so i had a look around and found the below on sale as thats about his budget

is there anything else out there that will beat or compete specs wise to the marrin below?

http://www.marin.co.uk/2012/bikepage.php?ModNo=12BT

supersonic

Plenty - the Marin is awful for the money, entry level fork that weighs a ton, and drivetrain as found on bikes less than half the price.

The Boardman Comp absolutely trounces it, as does the Decathlon Rockrider 8.1

cooldad

Although if you like Marins this is not a bad deal
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2011