New here. I'm looking for a decent, TOUGH, inexpensive mtn bike to start riding some trails and some rough stuff with a friend who's big into the sport. He has some high dollar Cannondale full-suspension bike I know nothing about. My problem is: I live in Central MS, and there is absolutely no bike shop anywhere around here that I can find. So I can't go to my LBS and try out different models, be fitted for a bike, etc. I've seen in previous threads that mail-order/internet sales are not the smartest thing for people like me who don't know what they're getting, but I don't know what else to do.

I want a decent bike that I can abuse some without worrying too much about it. All the different discussions about components are really lost on me b/c I don't know anything about any of them. I'm 5'9" and weigh around 200, but I'm athletic and LIVE in the gym, so it's not fat. I'd just like to add this sport to my cardio training and have some fun. Can anybody offer me any suggestions? Thanks in advance.