Mountain Biking - Newbie question

Hello to everyone. I'm new to mountain Biking and to this board. I'm looking for an opinion here. I'm looking into getting either the Gary Fisher Mamba(2002 model) or the Advance(2003 model). They are the same price and the Advance looks like a better deal, but being new I'd like to see about a second opinion. I attempted to link the pages for them but I was unable to. These two models are under the Classic Mountain (http://www.fisherbikes.com/bikes/series.asp?series=classic) section. You do have to select 2002 and 2003 seperately.

Any help is appreciated.

I dont know much about those 2.But overall i really like the fishers.We have a marlin,tassajara and big sur in the family.If you can save the money the tassajara is a great value bike.

I work at a shop that's a GF dealer. Same bike, different year, different paint! No more steel Mamba's (2002 were steel), all aluminum. I really like this year's paint scheme. Very sharp looking bikes - all levels.

Good entry level bikes - regardless of model year. Nothing stellar, but decent. If you're going to be doing a lot of off-road, perhaps swap the stem to one with a more forward position. The stock stem was picked since most buyers rarely use their bikes off-road.

Difference b/t Advance and Wahoo is a little better fork on the Wahoo and a step up in components. The frame is the same, but the paint colors are different.

If you step up to the Tassajara, you get a lot better fork and a couple of steps up in components. This is what I would consider an entry level RACE frame. A good bike for an "enthusiast." Someone who's going to ride it more than once a week and take it on some challenging trails.

A bike you don't have to upgrade in order to compete!


L8R

First I'd like to thank everyone for the input. As much as would like to go with the Tassajara, I unfortunately have a tight budget to contend with. I am probably going to go with the Advance since it does have the aluminum frame(and I admit I think it looks cooler). I'll try to get some pictures of it once I get it and put them up here.

Hey, where in FL are you?

I'm over in Sarasota.

Let me know, I (kinda) work at the Village Bike Shop here. They're a GF Dealer.

L8R

I'm in Jacksonville. I just went on lunch and bought the Mamba. I'm pretty happy with it. I'll have to get on it as soon as I can.