Mountain Biking - Giant Rincon Vs. Giant Canyon

Went to a LBS yesterday to check out some bikes for the GF. I was looking at the Giant Rincon and right next to this bike they had a Giant Canyon. Both bikes were $499. The Rincon had Alivio and Acera components, but the Canyon had a Deore rear derailleur. The Canyon, was NOT a dual suspension. It was a hardtail. Don't know the year either, but the frame was yellow and silver, while the Rincon was a black and orange frame. I was thinking that for the same price the Canyon has better components, but I can't find any info online for it, other than it's got rear suspension, which this bike did not. I'm kinda confused now.

I'd go back and ask the LBS guy about it, but he was explaining to me and the GF that the Deore rear derailleur on one bike he was showing us, meant that the bike he was showing us(some Fuji thing)was more of a moutain bike than a road bike. Then he showed us a hybrid bike with an altus derailleur and told us that meant that bike was more of a road bike. I almost laughed out loud, but I figured it was good to know that either HE didn't know what he was talking about, or he did and was just feeding us a line of B.S. so asking him about the Giant's probably isn't going to net me the correct answer anyway.

For a $500 budget, a full suspension is going to weigh like a tank and not be very effective. At this price point get a hardtail. In fact, if I recall correctly, the Giant Yukon has a reputation as being one of the best deals going. Not sure on the price, though. Check your dealer.

For a $500 budget, a full suspension is going to weigh like a tank and not be very effective. At this price point get a hardtail. In fact, if I recall correctly, the Giant Yukon has a reputation as being one of the best deals going. Not sure on the price, though. Check your dealer.

That is the thing though(posted above), the Canyon at the LBS was NOT a FS. It was front suspension only. That was what confused me. I didn't ask what model year it was or anything. I was just scoping it out while the salesman was showing my GF some other bikes. It had Deore components though. The Rincon was also the same price($499) with Alivio components. Is 500 high for a Rincon anyway? On the Giant site I thought the MSRP was less than that. Could be wrong though. Anyone know what is going on at this LBS?

That is the thing though(posted above), the Canyon at the LBS was NOT a FS. It was front suspension only. That was what confused me. I didn't ask what model year it was or anything. I was just scoping it out while the salesman was showing my GF some other bikes. It had Deore components though. The Rincon was also the same price($499) with Alivio components. Is 500 high for a Rincon anyway? On the Giant site I thought the MSRP was less than that. Could be wrong though. Anyone know what is going on at this LBS?

I'm beginning to think that this LBS may not be on the up and up. All of the research I've done states that the Giant Canyon is a DS bike. This bike in the shop was NOT DS. The price of the Rincon was $499, but the Giant website says avg. price should be about $420 and I've found many below this online.

Then the sales guy gave us that b.s. about deore and alivio derailleurs. What does one do when the LBS is just trying to take advantage of uninformed consumers? This is the only LBS that carries the Giant brand and I really am interested in Giant. Is there a way to buy Giant online? I know most bike companies don't allow online sales, but I don't want to pay over the MSRP somewhere for a bike.

What would ya'll do?

i bought a 08 rincon a few months back as my first real mtb i guess. though on the low side it is a awesome bike. id say shop around a bit. do some haggling, i got mine for nearly $150 less than your lbs has it listed.

Sounds to me like your lbs is trying to pull a fast one. i looked up the giant canyon online and it is very hard to find, but when i do find some info. it says that it's a dual suspension and not even sold in the U.S.

$499 for a Rincon is CRAZY and the dude's explanation about alivio derailleur's being for road bikes and deore for mountain bikes is insane. I'd find a new lbs if I were you. Give up on Giant if that's the only place that sells them.

Places like this lbs really pi$$ me off cause they take advantage of newbies who don't know any better. With LBS's like this, you're better off asking the guys at Dick's or the like, for advice.

$499 is the '09 price. Either you were looking at an '09 Rincon, or they upped the price because they had the '09s in stock and didn't want people to ask "Well, why would I spend...."
The thing is that '08 Rincon's are out of stock in Giant's warehouses except in weird sizes, and the '09s are available, and '09s haven't been officially released yet.
And the "Canyon" you mention is a YUKON. The Yukon is the same frame, but with a little bit nicer components, like a Dart3 fork, Tektro mech's, Deore shifting, etc.

Either way, you'll end up with a good bike; I've never had anyone complain about either. And the '09 frames are much better now than the previous years; it's basically the XTC frame.

Ok, so the Canyon is a Yukon. Why did it say Canyon on the bike? If the Canyon is a nicer bike, would it be better for me to buy the Canyon from this LBS for $499?