Originally Posted by cyrano138

Maybe a little off topic, but I always look twice at steel, rigid mtbs when I'm browsing.

I have a GT outpost that's been out to Alafia near Tampa (a pretty legit trail if you overlook the lack of mountains in Florida), and it kept up pretty well with the full suspension bikes. Honestly, I think these bikes get overlooked even as trail bikes because there are so many people out there telling new cyclists that if they don't spend 4k on a bike with full suspension they're going to die just riding through the parking lot on the way to the trail.

I also have a Trek 970 (89 I think) that I'm thinking of making into a single speed.
*Edit: nm on the single speed conversion. I just looked at it and saw it has vertical drops.