Originally Posted by forum*rider

My uncle has a scalpel 800 and I like it fine for what you describe, light XC. My uncle is alot more gentle with his bikes. It's got enough suspension to soak up the small stuff, light and climbs like crazy.

BTW The scalpel has lockout on the rear shock so you can use that to "lockout" the rear shock. This will make the shock stiff and the bike will handle like a hardtail.

Some other companies to check out:

Kona
Trek
Giant
Specialized


My one gripe about cannondale bikes is the headshock. Since it has a 1.5" headtube cdales can only take standard 1 1/8" forks with the use of spacers or special headsets.