Honestly for light trails the Suntur is fine. Like ColinL said, if you plan on doing some harder riding(roots, drops, large rocks, Jumps) more than street use, a 29er MTB will be better suited for your needs. A Trek Mamba is under a grand and has a 100mm Rockshox fork. 40mm more travel than that DS. It really isn't a snobby thing, i have put the fork through a beating. The travel is just too short for high drops and highspeed downhills. When it bottoms out, your wrists just take such a beating. Here is what it says on the fork.