My dad has been after a new bike for a few months but doesn't know what to get and has been toying with buying new bits for his catalogue-esque MTB to shave some pounds off (21 speed, steel taper BB, extremely heavy budget suspension, etc...) so I want to get him a bike for xmas. He's really helped me out this last year when I've been short of ££ so thought it'd be a nice surprise but I'm struggling to find something suitable. The spec preferably would consist of 650b/700c, rigid, 9 speed at the back (I'd ditch the front mech to make life easy and save a bit more weight), flat bars, under £300. I've looked around and seen a couple of possibilities, this Boardman at Halfords for £349 though the tyres look a little to skinny (will be used mostly for canals, bridleways, etc) or this Triban 500 at Decathlon for £260 though it's 3x7 and slightly heavier as a result. Any suggestions???