I ended up buying the Giant. Rear suspension seems very tight. Front fork, RST 381 is toast. Less than an inch of travel. I opened up one side, pulled out the rod and squeezed the polymer tube to see how pliable it was.
Not very. it crumbled. I can get a rebuild kit for 53 bucks. I think my best bet though is to find a good used fork on CL or feebay. Any recommendations? Don't care about weight, just want something with decent travel and is bombproof. I do believe it is a 1 1/8 fork as bikepedia specs the headset at 1 1/8. Lockout would be nice as well, but, not necessary.