£350 bike decision help please

[ranarama]

I'm looking for a new bike (first bike for at least 15 years) and I need some advice. I intend to use the bike for riding to work, so mostly road stuff, but also possibly some towpath stuff. I have no great desire to go hardcore offroad but who knows so I've decided to get a mountain bike because of that rather than a hybrid.

I was looking to spend around £350 but can push it to £370. Seems like a reasonable sum to me without getting into silly money. I've basically narrowed it down to the GT Avalanche 2.0 Disc (2006), the Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc (2006) or the Trek 4300 Disc (2006).

Would you recommend any of these above the other two or should I be looking for something else?

 

[ranarama]

And at the risk of looking daft.....

What are they?

A make and model of bike... Specialized Hardrock

Thanks for the feedback all. Really unsure still but, Breamy, your Trek 4500 2005 suggestion is one I'd seen and am really considering. I've had a bit of a rethink about finances and the other one (as well as my original suggestions) are a bit overbudget as I have to include helmet and lock in all of this. The Specialized Hardrock Sport (without discs) is now on the possible list.

I'm waiting to hear back from work if they'll do the Ride2Work scheme so I may be able to afford something a bit better but HR seem to have disapperared for the last two weeks.