Originally Posted by
RH Clark
I do enjoy the shock on this 820 though, and will likely spend around $700 or less and likely used when I know what to be looking for.
Check out the Giant Toughroad SLR. I think it ticks a lot of your boxes. Not carbon, but lightweight aluminum frame. Nice fat tires for those trails (easily swappable for something more appropriate if you need). I'm sure you can get one used for around $700. We have examples on this forum of pretty light builds around the Toughroad SLR 2.