Mountain Biking - Please help with buying a bike

Hi!
I was thinking of buying a bike (about 500$).I was hoping that some of you guy's might help me with selecting a bike.
The choises are Specialized Hardrock comp a1 and Peugeot Origin.(these are the only bikes I can hire-purchase).
I know the specialized is much better,but its more expensive too.
What are the strenghts and weaknesses of these bikes?

Honestly, I cannot comment on the Peugeot, being from the US, that brand isn't widely know here. It was in the past, but I haven't seen any new Peugeot brand bikes in years.

I can comment on the Specialized bikes. Very well made, good component package. Specialized has many accessories made for them with their name on it. It's not the greatest stuff, but it's better than most in-house products. I've been a fan of Specialized bikes for years. I've owned several, and will probably buy more of their bikes given the opportunity.

L8R

Thanks for that!But does anyone know anything about Peugeot?I know their cars are really bad...I wouldnt buy one even if my life depended on it...but what about bikes?

I know it's a bit late, but Peugeot bikes are generally highly reliable, and of good quality. I don't know too much about the specifics of this one. However, I wouldn't judge the standard of their bikes by the standard of their cars. What bike did you end up going for?

I'm thinking about buying a Peugeot Origin second hand just now. Can you remember how much they cost when new?

Indeed, since when did the quality of bikes have anything to do with cars!? Say take LG for instance, they make fridges and tv's. Fridges do their job, their tv's dont ( my opinion). When buying a bike you really have to look at compontents. Find out what fork, crank, wheels, tires ect it has.

I know it's a bit late,
Like 2 years Sparky. Varg made the two posts in this thread and bailed. He doesn't care anymore

Guys, this was two yrs ago.

long long ago

WOW! arh! All that wasted time, didn't check that. Some of these threads should be deleted....

WOW! arh! All that wasted time, didn't check that. Some of these threads should be deleted....
Been calling for that for years. I'm thinking a 2 year cut off (from last activity)

I agree, there is absolutley NO POINT to keeping really old threads. Unless there were one or two you really wanted to keep, and there was somehow of doing that, just deleted the rest. Start the topic over, and most of the old threads probably have inacurate information or are just poinless. Some of the threads I have started have been deleted because they are just pointless.

and what about all those hundreds of users that have signed up years ago and are now extinct?

I think what would work best, lock all threads created by a person when they have 6 months of inactivity. Maybe less, I don't know.

I think what would work best, lock all threads created by a person when they have 6 months of inactivity. Maybe less, I don't know.
Actually that's a great idea. The threads would still be there as a read-only reference without the annoyance of newbies responding to them

Yep, then we can be assured of genuine, current topics, while we watch those ones die into the 100th page.....

and what about all those hundreds of users that have signed up years ago and are now extinct?
Yeah i agree, people that have signed up, and hardly haven't posted in like a year should have their account deleted or something.