First Flat bar purchase HELP!
 

Which of the following do you believe is the better purchase.
I'm 42, weigh 85kg and are 6'4"
Looking at road and bike path riding..
Size XL

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/fl...ax-2/102835687

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/fl...disc/102762771

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/fl...rbon/102833572

Cheers

Muzza

The Comax 2 is probably the best deal is you stare at the specs, but I'd say get the one that fits you best. The Cross City has touring/MTB gearing (3x10), whereas the other two have road bike gearing (2x9 and 2x10). Do you need the granny gears for climbs or hauling touring luggage?

Well muzza the first and last are more road style bikes and the cross city 0 a mountain. You have to consider what you'll be using it for. The tire width goes up from 25 to 30 to 32mm which from first to last will make quite a difference in handling. If you're going to use the road almost exclusively I wouldn't even consider the cross city. Cross it off your list. But if you will be doing a proportion of your riding on narrow bike paths and some gravel tracks then it would be the best choice of the 3.

The bike paths here in Brisbane are narrow and I sometimes have to leave them to avoid pedestrians. I have to go into the grass, which is sometimes wet and sometimes boggy and I appreciate the traction and off-road agility a Hybrid mountain bike gives me. If you're mainly into cycling casually for exercise around the city then you won't suffer from buying a bike that is more mountain bike orientated. Later you can always change tires to smoother narrower ones if you like. But if you buy one more road orientated you will suffer on a lot of off-road surfaces. It might pay you at this point to look at a map of where you expect to ride, even drive a route or 2 in your car perhaps?

One question, why are you you looking at the 3-chain ring bikes? Do you perceive a need for ultra low gearing? The number of chain rings will make a big difference. If it was me I would want to sort out the gearing issue first and then move on to what bikes I like with that combination.
Hang in there.

I just chose three bikes at a similar price point as i wanna narrow down my choices before i go to test ride.
As for the 3 chain ring bikes, not sure what that is. Could you explain further.
Is the Giant Co Max the better bike that potentially serve my needs?

fair enough Muzz, but ease up on the "Help me find a new bike" threads will ya. This is the 4th thread you have started and some are just copy pastes of others. Asking the similar questions on multiple threads won't achieve better results and is actually bad practice since the responses to your posts will be spread far and wide. Other people will come here just to get advice by reading and it's easier if all the relevant info is in one place.

As for narrowing your choices, I'd say 3 bikes is about as narrow as you want to go.