Thanks a lot. From what I see the Gary Fischer Marlin seems like the best value of the bunch. Now I have to go test ride it. From what I've read, the Genesis geometry is a love-it-or-hate-it thing.

I do think that the regular Rockhopper would be a contender but my LBS didn't have it in his price list. He only had the Rockhopper Comp. I suspect it is pricy only because of the "LX" rear derailer. It appears to be higher up in the chain based on this link: http://bike.shimano.com/publish/cont...uct_links.html

I have learned from this thread that in this price range the bikes with disks tend to skimp on the other components.

I've also seen the Hardrock Sport get positive votes but it has the RST forks (my buddy suggested I avoid these) and it has an "OK" rear derailer.

Would it be worth checking out other LSB for places that carry GT, Cannondales or other marks?

Last question, when buying from a LSB, can I negotiate tune-ups and/or accessories? The last bike I bought was from a X-Mart about 15 years ago so I have little experience in this area. Any tips on this are greatly appreciated. I'll come back with more questions/thoughts as I go through this thread more often. (17 pages is a lot of reading!)