I am riding in Boise, ID and most of the "quick to get to trails" around here are in the wide open jeep tracks and single track trails in the foothills. There is no narrowly missing your handlebars on trees and so on. Also I know that buying a new 29er is cheaper than building a new 29er but it is easier to spend a few bucks here and a few bucks there over time than to buy a new package at once. Plus I like the idea of piecing each part together. I don't mind used parts either, even frames, which should help reduce the cost. I have a HT Stumpjumper that I got off craigslist last year that has worked out really well but I rode a friends FS 29er by Niner and it was a very smooth, comfortable ride. The other day I did a preview of a local off road triathlon in my area and basically the faster guys were all on FS 29ers. Not that getting a 29er will make me any more faster but I think it will help roll over some of the obstacles that made fall off my bike during that ride.
I came across the 29eronline.com website where they said they'd help piece together a specific bike for your specific needs and get back to you on it. They even made the case for a 5' girl who switched to a 29er even though, as many have stated, she'd be to small of height for 29er's. Here's the link of the 5' girl.
http://www.29eronline.com/category/why-29ers/
I saw a post here talking about on-one frames and its hard to buy something like that without ever seeing one and riding one so I was hoping to get some good ideas here. I mean $200 or so for a HT 29er frame isn't bad. I wouldn't even mind starting out with a HT then after a few years buy a FS frame and swap out the components. Speaking of this can 26er components be swapped to a 29er and vica versa? Because I wouldn't mind parting out my 98' Stumpy for such a cause. I know a lot of the parts would just be better to buy new because I really don't want the v-brakes that are on my stumpy and the forks wouldn't work so all that is really left is the drive train which is a 8 speed, which might not work either, but just a thought.
Anyways so maybe to start out with I would like a semi light HT 29er then after a few years buy a FS 29er. What type of frames would you recommend I start looking at. There are many many manufacturers but it is hard to test drive frames like the on-one frames I talked about earlier. Its hard to tell if the frame is a good deal or not. Sometimes on ebay I see carbon frames that strike my interest but they are made in china and shipped from there which makes me think twice about buying something like that. Although I do like the lightness of carbon and the price.
Trekathlete