i was thinking of that, but all the bikes that would be within my range have cruddy wheels, (actually it seems that even the nicer bikes have cruddy wheels), carbon forks (ich. i'm 211lbs), and most other than trek have no rack eyelets. thje trek portland is interesting but out of my price range and it has really crappy wheels. i figure the most i would spend on my mtb is

$319 for a soma groove frame
$82 for some schwalbe kojack tires (would lighten the bike by over 2lbs)
$180 for some sidi shoes and time attack pedals at pricepoint (probably knock off at least a lb. i'm using bmx pedals)
$50 for headset
$20 for torque wrench
i'm guessing $20 for bearing tools
$10 for phil bearings
$180 to $230 for new cranks....

that's comes to $861 to $911.. i may have to cut that down a bit. it's more than i'd like to spend by quite a bit. i guess i'll knock off the frame as i couldn't afford a rack and panniers at that point anyway (rack mounts being the point in the soma groove frame)


i doubt i could get a reliable road bike for $900.

without the frame it come to $542 which may be manageable if i'm lucky.