For you mountain bike riders, recommend me a bike in the $600 price range

I don't mountain bike as much as road bike but my mountain bike is a fairly early model dual suspension Schwinn that has the air piston type rear suspension. While it's "OK" in the woods, it's horrible on hard dirt or paved roads as the rear end just bounces around too much. I hope to mountain bike more this summer with friends after work but it will often time be on mixed terrain, sometimes including pavement but also sometimes kind of too rough terrain to use my number one bike, my hybrid on.

So if funds will allow, I may try to buy a new mountain bike but I would have a $600 maximum cap and am looking for recommendations. I don't want a dual suspension unless the rear can be locked out and if getting a dual suspension with a lock out rear in this price range greatly compromises bike componentry that I would get with just a front suspension bike, then I would not want to do that as well. My friend swears by his folding bike here,
http://www.montagueco.com/productmx.html
but while it does sound nice for transportation, I figure there must be serious compromise in the bike components as a lot of the money must have gone towards the frame.

Interested in what recomendations you get! Have you been to http://www.mtbr.com?

You should swing by your LBS to check out a Trek 6000. One of my riding buddies picked one up about a month ago and it's a really good bike for the price. Components are a mix of Deore and Bontrager Sport/Select. Not high-end, but they get the job done. It has Avid BB-5 disc brakes which are really quite good. He got it for just under $600 at a LBS here in PA.

Linkie:

http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike.php?bikeid=1032600&f=18

- Chris

Why don't you install an aftermarket shock, and perhaps upgrade to XT parts, on your old bike so you can buy more flashlights?

Yeah, I know. I realize that with bikes in certain price range, you get certain features from many manufacturers. I guess I'm interested in what kind of bike I can get in this price range, being a hardtail or a dually. Do they have bike sites that rate and offer good values for a variety of price ranges? I know MTBR has a ton of user reviews but it doesn't seem to be too organized or segregated into price ranges.

AlexGT said:

Interested in what recomendations you get! Have you been to http://www.mtbr.com?

Click to expand...

I buy and sell bikes on the side... I always want to look at an aluminum bike before buying it, but Ive had 100% success with buying used steel bikes. My main mountain bike is a KHS Team Montana with XT, XTR and White components. The frame when new was $800... Add in at least another $600 for form and components... I think I have $290 in it and its as solid as it was when new. If you arent planning on getting a lot of air or going agressively up hills, steel is generally a LOT more comfortable on paved roads... Since you are wanting a dual purpose bike, Id suggest you at least consider a steel bike. And you can get some CRAZY good deals on them since the trend is away from steel frames.