killerasp

My LBS only has the Dawg left in stock. I looked at it online and it looks like a good bike. What do you think of it?

A BS 1 hr away has the same bike for 15% off. I was thinking of going to my LBS to try it out and bargin with them. If they can give it to me for 15% off then will pay for it. Ill even pay with it in cash if they give me the deal. What do you think.....if you had a LBS, would you give me the deal?

Maelstrom 

It is a great trailbike. I would definately consider it as a good bike, and one of my favorite short travel (under 5 inch) trailbike. The parts on it are good enough to get you going and as you break stuff replace it. The fork is really the only weak spot.

What is the price they are charging for it. At closeout for a 2003 I wouldn't pay much more than 1300 american or so.

killerasp

My lbs has it for retail: 1599. The store 1 hr away from me has it for 1599 minus 15% which comes out to about 300 off.

Do you think i should ask them to lower the price since its a 2003 model?

Maelstrom 

1300 is a great price at closeout on 2003. I would stick to that price. You don't want to gouge your shop too much. They will already be cutting it close on that price.

Although this is a weird bike as there is no component improvement for 2004 and no price decrease increase. Very odd beast. I would jump at the 1300$ for the 2003 as waiting till 2004 won't see any improvement in bike or price.

killerasp

lets see if my LBS will match the price of the bike shop that is in another city. i dont want to travel 90mins to buy a bike. im even willing to drop 1300 cash to buy it if i like it.

killerasp

in your opinion, do you think they woudl lower their price from 1599 to 1300 to match their price? im gonna pull of a major guilty case to get them to do so.

Maelstrom 

Its rides well. Similar in design (4 bar rockers system) to its brother the Stinky. It was my original idea for a bike when it had a coil over shock, but with an air shock it isn't my cup of tea. I would definately consider one for myself if I ever wanted a regular trail bike Enjoy the test ride

Maelstrom 

Depends on the shop. I seem to luck out when dealing with shops but Ihave heard of many nightmares when it comes to dealing with them. Just mention that it is closeout time and its the last one (hopefully you are an xl or really small, thats makes the bike hard to sell) and you will drop 1300 cash to take it off their hands. If they start to hum and haw, mention you have seen it elsewhere for 1300 but would like to attempt to stick with you lbs. If that doesn't work and they don't budge I would go to the other shop...

For me if they came down to 1400 and were really cool about it I would pay the extra. Thats your preference though

killerasp

im new to suspension so it will feel real good from a dude that is coming off a rigid bike.

why do you say its bad?

Maelstrom 

If you are coming off a rigid it will feel fine. It is super stiff (vertical not tortional) and has only one adjust - rebound. The air feels firm as well. It isn't a super plush fork like Marz. Most people coming off of rigid's don't like Marz because they feel soft, where rock shox are firm. Its the purpose of them.

Marzocchis ramp up to be really stiff at the bottom of the hit instead of the top. Which means you typically loose pedal efficiency but have a better feel through nasty hits. The exr's don't feel like regular Marz forks at all ...

killerasp

hrm...i understood about half of whatyou just typed. ill have to do some more research to understand about shoxs.

in your opinion, is the rear shock decent?

Maelstrom 

Yes...it is a good shock ...

Just envision how pushing on a shock feels. When you press down on the handlebars it feels either soft or hard. Marz feel soft at the top. As you press further down it ramps up and becomes stiff. I love this on the trails however true xc guy sometimes prefer something that feels stiff throughout the travel. So at the top it is stiff and the bottom it feels stiff to. The exr feels the second way (unlike most marzocchis). Means it is good at pedaling but doesn't feel as nice in rock gardens etc...however coming from a rigid you probably won't like it being really soft at the top and ramping up towards the bottom.

This is all of course personal opinion from testing shocks.

dirtbikedude

Yo Killer, The Dawg is a great bike and if you can get it for 1300 you are paying a little above cost.

Are you sure it is a Dawg and not a Bear? They are the same but the Bear is two years old and that is what most shops are selling for 1300.

Do you buy a lot from your LBS? If so they may have no problem matching the price because they know you will be happy and that will keep you comming back.

Also, do they sell a lot of Konas? If so that will help because when a shop buys the bikes in quantity they get better deals then if they only stock a few at a time.

Mael's got his head up his arse once again

The EXR is a ... just messin' with ya M.

As Mael said the EXR will do good by you especialy if you are comming from a ridged rig. As your skills improve and the parts wear out you can then think about up grading but for now you will have a nice all-around rig.

killerasp

Usually when biking season rolls around ill go there very often.

Last year i found myself going there 3 or 4 times a week.

skdsl

I love my Dawg, so I have to recommend it . I only bought the frame and used all of my own parts.

Maelstrom 

So thats why people say I talk out my arse

NealH

So why do you prefer the coil shock over air??

Dannihilator

Tougher shock.