Hello, well some may remember me asking if I should build or buy before. And I finally decided that right now, it would be best if I bought a bike, and replace parts as I go gaining some knowledge on the way. Maybe somewhere in the future i'll build one.

Anyways, as the title implies i'm looking for a bike that would be good for the various activities I want to do, which would mainly be street, and easy to moderate trail riding. After checking out various makes and models I came up with a few bikes that interest me. And here they are...

Rocky Mountain Slayer
Kona Dawg
Kona Coiler
Specialized Epic
Giant NRS

If any of these bikes are way out of my price range (i'm more that willing to go above $2500CDN if the bike is recommended enough) or just unsuitable, please tell me so I can remove them from the list. And if there are any other bikes which you would think would be more suitable, don't hesitate to recommend it.

And with the 2006 models trickling out, would it be benificial to wait for them?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Side note: I weigh ~220lbs or ~98kg

Edit: Fixed link

Rocky Mountain Slayer or Kona Dawg, but you might want to go with a hardtail for street riding. And the Specialized Epic link leads to the Kona Coiler.

Any of those bikes will work for you. But they aren't ideal if you're mainly using them on the street or easy/moderate trails...Slayer, Dawg and Coiler are relatively big bikes for that purpose. As mentioned, consider a hardtail. Maybe something like a Banshee Scirocco if you want a sturdy bike. Personally, I'd chose a Specialized FSR over the Epic for more all-around riding.

Check out what Devinci and Norco have to offer.

Well, I wouldn't completly rule out harder trails. But I got to build up some confidence before I could really say if I want to try hard trails or not. Plus, I would hate to have buyers remorse and think "What if..." by getting a bike a little less, only to get another bike a year later. (I lost a good $200 on ear buds that way :( )

After looking at Norco's line up, I figure this may be a good option.

Norco XC Enduro

No one else has any info? I would have figured more people had tried some of these bikes..

People might be confused with your 5 choices...3 freeride type bikes and 2 race bikes...for street and possible easy trail use. Not the kind of bikes a person would buy or ride for those purposes.
Hang in there, something will come up.

Hah... I suppose that is kind of odd.


In an effort to get more general input please take the following in to consideration.
Ignore what I want to use it for. And then please rank these bikes based on personal experience, how long it lasted, parts used, etc...

Thanks.

Actually, if we look at things by concentrating on what you want to use the bike for, this may reduce your choices.

Do you see yourself hanging out around town doing tricks or do you see yourself going out of town to hit some cross-country trails with your buddies/with a mountain bike club?

When you say you want to ride street, does this mean a short ride to your local park or do you mean riding out to work with a 25km commute?

Just curious how did you come up with the list of those five bikes? For the riding you describe I wouldn't go with any of the ones listed.

As far as wanting to know how those bikes lasted for people that wouldn't really be all that beneficial either since the people that own those bikes probably use them for different purposes than you will. It's pretty safe to say that if someone used a freeride type bike for light trail riding it would last forever, it just would not be very efficient. Then if someone used a xc race bike for freeriding it won't last long.

As an example an Intense M3 is a much better bike than a hardrock, however it's worthless for light trails and street riding. You need to chose a bike that fits your riding style.

Trails probably, got to take advantage of what's around me... But I wanted something that would be atleast decent for road riding by doing little more than swapping out the tires.

As for how I came up with the choices, I just looked at what each company had to offer in terms of geometry, price range, and a few reviews where applicable (mostly from mtbr.com).