Mountain Biking - Rockhopper Comp v XTC2 v F5

Ok so I am looking at mid level (I think) hardtail MTBs around $800 at my LBS. The three bikes in question are all around that price point (Specialized Rockhopper Comp Disc $770, Cannondale CO2 F5 $799, Giant XTC 2 $870) though I wont be [payign list as I am friends with the GM of my LBS. Choice is limited to these three because I want to buy from my LBS and not online.

So is there a glaring reason to rule out any of these bikes or pick one over the others? I know the Rockhopper is 8 speed but it is also the cheapest of the lot and really 8 or 9 speeds isn' t the biggest issue for me. They are all speced with the Dart 3 fork and all have mechanical discs (RH and F5 have BB5s and the XTC has Hayes MX4) other than that they are all AL frames made in Asia with butted tubes.

Anyhelp on which way to lean would be great...and is it worth another couple hundred bucks to go to the $1100 price point and get hydro discs? That would also mean I would get the headshock on the F4 and a frame made a couple hours south of my home...which may be a reason.

Thanks for any help.

Which one felt best when you rode them??????????????

Yea there is a problem...they don't have any of them built up in my size. :D

Yea I should know better.

I don't know that it's worth the extra $ to get the hydros, but it would definitely be worth it if you could upgrade the fork. I'm not a headshock fan, however.

I don't know that it's worth the extra $ to get the hydros, but it would definitely be worth it if you could upgrade the fork. I'm not a headshock fan, however.

Ok talk to me about the headshock comment. Why not? Do you like the Lefty?

I have heard good things about the headshock and the only real detractor I have heard is that it is proprietary. Well they do make adapters so if I wanted to get rid of the headshock at some point I could go to a standard fork or I could even go to a lefty. I had a 2006 Rush 800 (was foolish and sold it) and loved the lefty so if the headshock is similar to that then I am sure I will like it. I do have to be honest here though...other than my experience with the lefty I have no clue about any of these forks...which is sort of moot with the first group because they all have the same one.

Of the other two is the Marzocchi 22 or the Rock Shock Tora SLite a better fork? Or are they similar enough that it is a wash?

Yea, it's mostly the proprietary thing. I've heard lots of problems with headshocks going bad after a couple years and them being expensive to fix. I think that they probably work pretty well.

Any other comments on these bikes?

Ok so I just got off the phone with my friend at my LBS and told him what I was thinking...he very quickly said I should get the F5 of the bikes I was looking at...they have 2010s in stock in my size and he said the frame is different than the 2009 bike...being lighter but the rest of the spec is pretty much the same. He said don't bother to go for the F4 and said the Headshock is no being licensed out and isn't as good as it used to be because of it. Also said he could sell me the 2010 F5 for around $650 which sounds like a good deal to me...now I just need time to go down and ride it to make sure it will be right.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeej440/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/DSCN0516.JPG

And here it is..2010 Cannondale F5 in BBQ New fork is by RST...not sure how I feel about that but it is custom for Cannondale with a 1.5" steerer. I rode the Med and Lg and really other than the amount of seatpost they felt about the same so I went with the smaller one for more standover.

I thought I had a spare set of pedals but it turns out I put them on my wife's Serotta so I do need to pick up some pedals for it.