Originally Posted by
Phil_gretz
Not knowing anything about you, but assuming that you're young and don't ride seriously challengine single track, you'll probably do fine on a 26" hardtail.
I agree with everything you've said except this. I've logged thousands of off-road miles on seriously challenging single track on a hard tail. Many of them with forks no more sophisticated than what you'll find on a Diamondback from Dick's Sporting Goods. I'd suspect that the Diamondback's fork is at least as good as a second generation Manitou.