One of the FUNNEST thing in the world was rebuilding a beat up old Klein Attitude which I bought for $400 from my buddy (who bought an orange Mantra) a few years ago. I basically bought a frame because everything was so trashed on it. I bought some gourmet ass stuff for that Attitude (and was going to transfer all of it to my Mantra Race which I bought less than 1 year later).

I borrowed tools from my buddies and bought Leonard Zinn's book on Mtn Bike Maintenance. Great fun stuff. And to be able to tweak your own bike to the max because you put it together yourself is a great asset if you've busted something on Mt Tam.

From now on, I will only buy frames and put the puppy together myself.

$750 is pretty good for a frame. I think Klein frames run at least twice that. Or you can find someone selling a absolutely mint bike (hint hint, like me) and buy theirs.