Mountain Biking - New to mountain biking need some advice...

Hey guys as you can tell from my handle I'm new to this scene. The last time I rode anything remotely close to a mountain bike was my wal-mart special back in grade school. I had this crazy random idea when I was working out and jumped on the cycle. I hate running so I figured I should get a bike to get back in shape. I singled out road riding cause I'd rather be out in the woods on trails. A friend at work rides trails around here and pointed me towards a local bike shop. I'm lookin for entry $300-500 price ranged bike. The shop carry's Kona, Raleigh, and Cannondale. The guy lead me towards the 18" Kona Fire Mountain or the Raleigh Mojave 5.0. The Fire Mountain is only 40 bucks more and has Rock Shox Dart 1 Fork and Hayes MX4 Discs, which he says makes the Kona a little better. I can say I'm pretty athletic and am at about 150 lbs so I think I'm lookin at the right level of bike. I could easily spend less but I figured its just a little more to get some better quality. So if anyone can give me their $.2 about these bikes or another brand in this level, please inform me!!! Oh and sorry for the novel! Thanks.

Whatever you get, ride the **** out of it and have a great time! I don't have any experience with any of these bikes so I can't really help unfortunately.

Try to ride all the bikes that are in your price range and get the one that fits you the best. You'll be much happier on a bike thats fits and is fun for you to ride.

what they said...

what they said...

Oh thank god, for a second there, I thought you were going to give advice..

Oh thank god, for a second there, I thought you were going to give advice..
He did, just not his own....he may think of something later....

Thanks for the comments guys. Any other suggestions in bikes? I'm sure I'm within reach of some other brand bike shops but that Kona seems like a good fit for me so far anyway. I just dont want to rush into it and get something I won't be happy with or realize I could have gotten something alot more for the same price. The guy at the shop said that with the lower end Cannondale's I would pretty much be paying for the name. Anyways, keep the comments coming!

my advice was the same as the guys above me, and i didnt want to repost, but at the same time give advice, so it works. and i couldnt tell himhe should get the (insert bike name here) over the (insert other bike name here) because (insert fact about "better" bike), since i have no experience riding them

In that price range if your getting new from there. I would get the kona they altleast make their cheap bikes a little bit good.
Shop craigslist, ebays good but evrything tends to sky rocket at about 1min