hammer makes some good points, but even as a newb i stand by my advice. better to buy a bike from somewhere that you can take it and get it fixed for free if it takes a crap. especially if you don't know what you are doing-unless you can find a used bike at a bike shop where they offer a waranty and/or free tuneups on it. you can probably find an '06 trek 3900 or specialized hardrock for under $300 at an end of the year type sale.

heck i don't know-do what you want, just stay away from wal-mart or you'll be flushing $ down the toilet. trust me-i bought three of the things before i realized i was being ******** buying and then breaking these peices of crap that weren't worth the money to repair them. that is all.