Advice Needed : Diamondback Insight 2 VS Giant Alight 3 VS Marin Kentfield CS2 ?

[RastaCook]

Hi,
I know almost nothing about bikes, but am helping my GF shop for a bike...

A little background... My GF is very small, about 5feet tall 110lbs , she hasn't had a bike for over 15 years, she is 30yo now. The purpose of the bike is mainly to get some exercise, there might be some very light "off-road" circumstances (grass / shortcut trails in small "wooden" area) but generally, it will be used on the road and we have a small bike path next to our house.

Today we went to a bunch of different stores around the city and these are the 3 main contenders, which bike would you recommend and why?

Diamondback Insight 2 2013 charcoal @ 480$ (CAD)
Giant Alight 3 2015 white @ 420$ (CAD)
Marin Kentfield CS2 2013 grey @ 450$ (CAD)

The bikes are new regardless of the year mentioned. Note that for the diamondback I am 100% sure that the model is the Insight 2, but i'm not sure if it's really the 2013 model... the salesperson told me it was last years model (2013) but according to diamondback's website the insight 2 model for 2013 is supposed to be BLUE, the one I saw in store was charcoal, which seems to correspond to the insight 2 2011 model... Not sure what to make of this... are they trying to sell me a 3 year old model as a "last year's model"? Or is it possible that diamondback made 2013 insight 2 in other colors than blue...

Also, feel free to suggest alternatives, if so, i'd prefer something that is common enough that I can find locally but otherwise keep in mind that with shipping, it should not be more expensive than the bike specified above, the budget is already stretched as is, even though this is an "entry" budget.

I'd appreciate any other tip too.

Thanks !

 

[AyeYo]

Honestly, flip a coin and then have her pick which ever one has the color she likes best. Or, crazy idea... have her test ride them and get which one she likes best.

Any of those will be just fine for casual riding. Any of those will go over grass/dirt/gravel just fine. They're all quite similar in seating position and all have similar equipment. The Diamondback has the advantage of the 8 speed, but I certainly wouldn't base my decision on that one item. I personally like the step through design of the Giant. I'd probably really appreciate that if I was 5'0" and riding casually, but the best bet is for her to actually ride them and decide.

If you're at a regular retail store (Dicks, Sports Authority, Walmart (god forbid)) then it's entirely possible the person selling you the bike doesn't even really know what year it actually is and isn't trying to intentionally mislead you. If you're already stretching the budget in the ~$450 range then I don't think you'll get many alternate suggestions. There's nothing wrong with any of the bikes you've found for what she'll be using them for.

 

[oldbobcat]

These bikes are very similar that any differentiating will be hair-splitting or personal.

Well, I lean toward the Giant or the Diamondback. Did you know that Diamondback makes a women's version of the Insight, called the Clarity?