Mountain Biking - Marlin, Yukon, or Rockhopper?

Hello y'all! This is my first post here and I need some advice on my first mountain bike purchase in which I will make here in a few days. I've narrowed it down to 3 bikes, the Giant Yukon, Specialized Rockhopper, and Fisher Malin - all 2004 models. At my local LBS, they all run $429. The main use for the bike will be road/trail riding. It won't be a hardcore trail rider, it'll be mostly just XC. I'm looking for the bike that offers the best quality for the price. I've rode all but the Specialized but will be riding that here soon. I've read good reviews on all of them. The Yukon with discs is great but I haven't heard too many good things about the Suntour fork. I know MTB Action reviewed the Yukon, but I can't find the magazine anywhere to read about it. Anyone tell me what that article all said? What are the plus/minuses with these bikes? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

At that price point, I'd steer clear of the disc brakes. IMHO, you'll be far better off with V-brakes - lower weight, similar performance to cheap discs, and lower price means you'll get bettet components in other areas.

The Rockhopper is a great bike for the money - my wife has a 2003 model that she's been very pleased with (uses it mostly for light XC riding). Great frame and a good component set for the price.

The Fisher looks to be a good rig, though I wasn't that fond of the GF geometry in general. Your mileage may vary....

Specialized. ..I generally don't like Giant's bikes. They just don't feel strong...I don't see many gary fishers here so I can't say :)

Would you say the components on all 3 bikes are the same or are some on one bike better than the rest? I am a newbie to this so I'm not sure what components are better than others. Thanks!!

all the components on these bikes are pretty much the same...marginally better at most..

tho the 4 tiers you would most likely find are these, in order of "better" to worse:
Deore, Alivio, Acera, Altus

at this point its pretty much all a matter of personal preference... i dont think anybody can make a case for one bike being objectively better than the other. personally i hate the sloping top tube and oversized down tube on the Specialized... with that fatty gusset. looks ugly... plus it felt cheap and didnt ride well when i tested it. the marlin, with its heralded geometry, felt way upright and funky to me... wasnt as manueverable as i would have liked it. the giant rode well, but i dont like their ugly stems and i dont like them in general. again, those are all my personal gripes.

i can tell you that these low end suntour forks arent much to brag about. sure they help when you do 1-2 ft drops but for normal riding i dont notice jack... (tried the stiffness adjustments, too) but im pretty sure none of the other forks in this price range would provide substantially better performance anyways

if i had to do it again i would go with a good steel non-susp fork.. saves a ton of weight and simplifies the bike..but then again im turning into a bit of a luddite with the mtb :D

I have the 03 marlin and I love the geometry. climing hills on that thing is awesome. other friends are walking up and im powering on ahead. the breakes for v-brakes are pretty good but my pads have worn down so much they are pretty bad. ill get new pads in a few days. the fork isnt that great but what do you expect. can always upgrade but im a big fan of genisis geo.

I have a Gary Fisher tarpon, a step down from the marlin...GF had handle some STUFF!..better than my body

I'd throw the Trek 4500 into the mix. Then test ride all 4 four and buy what feels best. I don't think I would like the fork on the Giant. The GF Marlin, you will like the way it rides or you won't. My guess is if you are short you won't like it and if you are tall you will. But this probably isn't necessary true I guess. I'm very long from head to crotch, I like it.

Buy what feels good. As far as I can tell pretty much from all my window shopping is that for X amount of money you are going to get a certain component set. So for mid $400 range you are basically going to get the same type setup from any of the main manufactures. So I would buy what feels best. If made in USA is important to you I think the Marlin is the only one in this group made in the USA.