Thanks for that.
I actually don't know which Elwood. When I asked the guy what model bike he was showing me he just said "Elwood". When I asked if I needed to remember any numbers in the name or anything he said "the newest one, 2008". So whichever that may be!?
I've already bought a helmet, ights and tyre pump so the $500 budget is for the bike alone. Though in saying that originally my budget was $300-350 until I realised you can only buy bikes second hand for that price (I was naive. I thought a standard middle of the range bike cost ~$150). So the cheaper the better!
What's a lockable/non-lockable suspesion fork? The only forks I know of are the ones I eat with and the ones in the road!
I think the Apollow may have had the advantage that it's wheels are easily removable (click lock system of some sort) and I have no idea if the Giant has that?