Hmmm, thx for the opinions so far. A few notes:

What does "trail" mean relative to "XC" and "All mountain"? I've seen different mfg's refer to their product lines as such, and [MENTION=38542]Canker[/MENTION] above referred to the Jamis Dragon as "Trail". Does that mean, like, more travel on the fork and relaxed geo relative to XC? I'd OK with that, up to a certain point... Also, thanks for posting that discounted Dragon Pro 2014 [MENTION=38542]Canker[/MENTION]. It looks like a great buy, and I'd love to own a steel framed MTB.

Can anyone comment on the Norco that I had mentioned above? The model is this one: Archives - Norco Bicycles The shop owner said he'd knock it down to 2k, plus tax.

At that price point, the Jamis seems more enticing every way except it's "trail" description.

Finally, building up a 26" Ritchey P-team frame seems ideal to me, but I'm not sure that I can get the frame, decent wheels and a decent groupset and keep it to $2k.