if you are a clydesdale or a "heavy" rider, meaning not graceful as a biker, then go with the Allmountain. if you have better balance than a rock and weigh less than 180 pounds , save some weight and go XC.
dont ANYONE say you wont break a XC bike doing regular stuff. I will tell you , from experience, that if you are aggressive, weigh more than 180 or are not graceful , you WILL break stuff.
I went with an Allmountain for the reason of getting tired of breaking rims,forks,bars,stems,seatposts, crankarms,chains,and FRAMES. I usually was able to keep a XC frame for 2 years tops and that was after replacing several components due to failure. I am not a freerider but an aggresive rider that weighs ( depending on time of year) between 190 and 210 #and have the grace of a turtle.
I have had the Devinci Guzzler 2 years, next month, and have had nothing break except the bottom bracket( factory flaw I was told), a chain link, and 2 pairs of pedals due to bearing failure and they were just a little noisy, not frozen YET( TIME Alium). I havent even had to true the Mavic321 rims that came with it. the only maintenence Ive needed to do was grease the hub bearings and adjust the gear cable on the rear. I just changed the brake pads and have over 3k miles on the HFX9s.
I also ride over stuff, not around like on HT and lighter bikes. big roots, holes and rocks, no problem on the Guzzler
Allmountain bikes weigh more but are a LOT tougher than racing bikes.
dont rule out the Mongoose Teocali Super or Elite. a LOT of bike for the $
Last edited by iamthetas; 07-26-06 at 06:44 PM.