The specialized bighit is a good beginner bike, and if you had enough skill it could handle some big stuff. I sat on one and the rear is very soft....you'd need to get a stiffer spring if you weigh over 160lbs. The fork isnt too great, but I am sure with some kind of adjustment you could make it better. With ironhorse their lowest end FSR bike is $1400, and at that point you could start thinking about a specialized bighit comp for a hundred more or so.