Originally Posted by
hybridbkrdr
I wasn't trying to be a dumbass. If he doesn't have $1400, obviously one of his only choices would be to go with something different unless he can tolerate buying used. (For whatever reason, I don't have much "joy or satisfaction" from buying used.
Unfortunately, you'd have even less joy or satisfaction with a bike that's not appropriate for the job.
Somehow I missed in the first post that you want to
try downhill, but you want something that works on flat land too. You
can just pedal around a downhill bike if you really wanted to, but it's not that efficient. Before you drop a ton of money on a downhill bike, you may want to rent a bike at a resort and see if it's worth the investment for you. Otherwise, you may be better served with an all-mountain bike (or a burly hardtail, which you may be able to find in your original price range), both of which can take a beating and still pedal well, though obviously neither will be as well-equipped for actual downhill as a real downhill bike.