Maybe my post was not written as clear as I might have, I have purchased and owned and ridden maybe a dozen bicycles, half of those hardtail mountain bikes, I have ridden mountain bikes on trails, even flipped head over heels and crashed a few times (my city of Duluth MN was listed as the #1 outdoor city in the USA by Outdoor magazine; incredible outdoor trails here; that said I am looking to relocate to a milder climate like perhaps NC, the winters are just too cold and long here--- on that note, one reason to build a bike for me is that I have five more months of winter, cabin fever is a definite risk of going insane here, lol.