On an impulse, on the way home from work this arv, I called back into the Trek dealer. Rang the wife to meet me with the kids. Measured the boy up on a Marlin 7 29er, medium size and I gave the Roscoe 8 another look over. Old mate gave me a price as a package and I went for it. Told him that I don't but floor stock and he grabbed a fresh Marlin out of a box and built it and ordered me a new Roscoe 8. Should be here this time next week. To say my boy was excited would be an understatement.
So, what pushed me over the line? Buying local. The deal was pretty good, $2477 for both. 6 months of free adjustments and checkovers. No bloody stock of the Marin until lord knows when. Even rang Bicycles Online back and spoke to someone higher up the ladder thinking they might have more info on availability. Wrong.
The other thing was I think I getting sucked into the vortex of thinking I needed more spec than I really did. At the end of the day I'm riding for fun and exercise and maybe I'll do some social stuff. I'm not racing for sheep stations. Although the Trek might be a bit lower on spec, I'll never outride it.
Job done. Search over.
Cheers, Mike.