hey, jamis usually has good bang for the buck from what i have seen. and if you think you could use a little more travel then check out transition's new bike. 5.5" front and rear. it is called the covert. http://www.transitionbikes.com/2007/Covert.cfm you could get that bike for around 2400-2500. not bad at all! otherwise, for less travel, you could also check out commencal. their 2006 meta 4 can be had for 2500 odd at some online stores i think. google them. their website is http://www.commencal.com/news/index_en.htm

also, check for iron horse azure. or even the mkIII. there are good deals happening for their 2006 models. good stuff! anyway. if you sort of "up" your budget by 500 dollars, you could get a pretty decent bike. happy hunting!