Sorry for the confusion. By 9 speed I was talking about the cassette in the rear having 9 cogs. The models you were looking at had 8 cog cassettes.

The 8 cog cassettes are fairly old technology while the 9 cog cassettes are newer.

By entry level I meant that is the first model in their 9 cog models. It does have a bit better components compared to the other models you were looking at.

The 6500 is within the price range of the Cdale with the suspension you were looking at.