Originally Posted by chelboed
I just don't know why in the world a "recreational rider" would want such an expensive and race-dedicated bike.
I'll field that question. The frame in question is pretty sweet, notably for its handling and lack of flex when hammering out of the saddle. At 220#, the OP shouldn't have too much trouble on it. A slightly bigger rear tire would probably take most of the zing out of rear-wheel hits. I'd also suggest that the bike isn't "race-dedicated", it simply has geometry that allows one to travel quickly along trails that don't involve drops and big air. It's been labeled as a race bike by Specialized, but at one time almost all hardtails were designed like it, whether they were for racing or not. The Epic wouldn't be bad either, but it really was designed as a race bike, with maximum speed in mind.