Originally Posted by Karldar

My ride partner's got an '04 non-disc that he can't stand. That's partially due to the fact that the frame seems to be the only part that's held up so far. He's also very rough on it, especially component-wise. Not sure what you'd call our riding style, but it's basically XC with some FR and DJ thrown in where we can get it. Not sure how the '05 and '06 models are spec'd in relation to the '04, but, hopefully, they can take a little more abuse. I've ridden his and it just feels "cheap", if you get my drift. I do think they're a decent value for what you spend, actually and upgrades would help a lot(with his at least-he's just tired of putting money into it).