How do you deal with all the choices?
 

So this fall I'm going to be going to school in lovely Boulder, CO. And here's my issue: I need a mountain bike, but I don't have too much money. Any bike over $2000 is out of my budget.

Anyways, I consider myself pretty well-informed as for the bikes available. However, the terrain there permits me to do just about any type of riding possible. That poses a problem: what kind of bike do I get, then?

I've only done trail riding so far. I like it, but I wish the stuff around here wasn't so tame. So the question is, do I get an XC bike, all-mountain, or freeride? I'm trying to anticipate limited future funds and future riding preferences. Should I go hardtail for speed and cost, or FS for control in technical terrain? Ideally I'd have a stable of 6-7 bikes, but that won't happen.

I'm agonizing over this, and I keep changing my bike preferences every day. I really like Kona and Specialized, but that doesn't narrow it down much. Anybody in similar situations, or go riding around there, and have any advice?

Hahaha...well to be honest I couldn't decide. I live in a place with equal number of options. I decided on an all-mountain bike (little longer travel) and a robust ht. Even then I have a 3rd being built for urban and dj...so in short, I am not help. I don't think one bike cuts it for a situation like yours. Especially with you coming from chicago :)

If I was FORCED to have one. A good allmountain 6x6 (old school fr) would be ideal. It would be able to handle anything decently.

What do you mean by "6x6" and "old school fr"?

Update:

Aw, geez. Started investigating some other brands. So many choices. Rocky Mountain, Santa Cruz, Yeti, not to mention your other well-known brands.

So I think I've narrowed it down to this: There are quite a few reputable bike shops in Boulder. Three I'm going to take a look at are University Cycles, Full Cycle Cycles, and Sports Garage. Between the three they cover just about every major mtb brand. Anyone know anything about these shops?

I have a background picture of a Brodie Holeshot on my computer.
I started to wonder why I seem to allways resort back to looking at "North Shore" bikes
I think back of my life and find that it is in my nature. I am 41 now and think back that I was never very happy just to run fast around a track. I had to challenge myself to climb that cliff or see if I could run all the way up that hill. I loved climbing trees when young and climbed roofs at work when I grew to an adult.
I think there are signs of what we really want to do with a bike if we think back in our lives. For me it was not the speed of doing something, it was could I do it.
Last year when I had my Brodie Bandit, I crashed 3 times a week on average. Mostly slow manouvers, trying to get over that boulder etc.
For me I think I need 2 bikes to start. A North Shore for my main riding and a light XC for going from point A to B (I live in a small city).
Another option would be to find new people to ride with in various clubs etc.
When I ask people I am riding with to ride their bike that are glad I asked.
People like promoting their bike and form of riding.
Yes the choices are many.

6x6 = six inchs travel front and back. Old school Freeride bikes has this much travel.

I have a Specializied FSR expert and I bought it just for everything. I put on an old pair of rims with smooth tires for busting around town. I can lock out the rear which also makes that ride sweet. I put wider off road tires for adventure racing to free ride stuff. I can take drops of 3-4 feet without too much grief. It's the best around tough rig I have ever bought. I beat the hell out of it and it's solid. Under 2K i dont' think you can do much better. I did price out the Kona's when I bought mine. They put their money and efforts into their frames and durablity, therefore their components will be less for the price. IMHO

If you hitting drops taller than 4 feet I would diffently go with something that had more travel, but then your going to have a lug around town.

CHOICES, CHOICES.

I'd recomend a good 5x5, or 4x5 bike. Anything more than that and it wont pedal well for $2K. Anything less and itd be easy to get in over your head. But i know poeple who live in boulder and they get along just fine with XC hardtails. Specialized makes great 4x4 and 5x5 bikes, kona has the dawg which would be a great bike for out there. Mael is from the North Shore and does everything, and i come from a strict XC background probably more comparable to your riding style.