Pivot's not *brand* new...they've been around since 2007, I believe, and the guy who founded Pivot was at the helm at Titus for quite a while.

With a budget of 4 grand though, I don't think you can really go wrong. Demo as many as you can. A lot of stores will take the price of the demo off the final price of the bike. If you're spending that much cash, don't just test ride it around the parking lot (unless you REALLY fall in love with the parking lot test ride and there are no demos around you). When I was buying my full-suspension, I came on here with my top picks from research...and then I went and bought a completely different bike after I fell in love during a demo.