Mountain Biking - I need major help!

I am 18 withe a slender 6'4" frame at about 190 pounds. I have been riding about a year on a trek 4500, that is mostly stock. I am going to invest about $1400 in a new bike but am thinking of sticking to a hardtail mainly because of the nicer components i will get. I am seriously considering the Specialized Stumpjumper Hardtail with disc brakes. I mostly prefer to ride downhill and i am thinking about getting more agressive and start riding the park and getting some air. What bike would you guys recomend? Any help is appriciated. Thanks. Andrew.

Kona Cowan maybe?
The stumpjumper really isn't a bike meant for getting air. It'll be great for racing, going fast, etc. Get a beefier bike if you want to do that, you won't be happy when your brand new $1400 bike breaks because you used it for a purpose it wasn't designed for.

Yeah, if you try riding downhill on the stumpjumper you'll have 2 halfs of a very expensive trail bike.

Check out the Kona Stuff too, it's a bit cheaper than the Cowan, I'm gonna get one myself.

I have the Kona Hoss right now and have nothing but nice things to say about it. I should have gotten the Hoss Dee Lux but they're out of them and I got my Hoss for 30% off.

But the Stuff and Cowan are strictly jumps and not downhill. What would be a good cross?

Well, for a hardtail, a jump/freeride trail bike will be as close as you can get to a downhill bike.

'Real' DH bikes will, of course, be full suspension, and those might differ a little from a 'real' full suspension freeride bike.

Strict dirt jumping bikes will probably have a rigid fork, small, short frame, and single speed with only one brake in the back. The kona stuff/cowan are a good compromise... they have gears, suspension, and good geometry for trail riding OR jumps. Not as good for trails as a Stumpy... possibly not as good for jumps as a dirt BMX.

When you say Dh, are you talking about shuttle runs with a very technical course or just bombin' down fireroads and nice single track with smallish jumps and drops?

When you say park, are you speaking about a mountain bike park or a skate park?

If you are going to be doing real DH specific (no brakes, ripping down the hill as fast as possible) rides and going to a mtb parks I would suggest a fs instead of a ht. 1400 will get you a decent fs frame with moderate components. I would also suggest staying with nothing more then XT because as the parts break (or should I say brake ;) ) it wont cost as much to replace them and they will break if you do serious dh'ing and jumping.

:beer:

I have decided on the Specialized Enduro FSR. I am talking about more of ripping down hills ,big drops and more agressive stuff. Fire roads are no problem. So do you think im on the right track?

Also im really stupid but what do you mean by XT?

XT as in Deore XT level derailleurs, shifters, cranks, etc.