I'm late to the party again .

Here's a grand idea: Buy the Harddrock sport but budget on spending for the rockhopper. Use the extra budgeted money to buy a ridgid fork, helmet, seat bag, flat repair kit, frame pump, and if you have enough left over, have them build you up a new rear wheel. Some LBS's will let you trade parts out for credit but don't expect a whole lot. I would say 30-40 dollars might be a practical estimate.