Right, so I've narrowed it down to two bikes: the Focus Black Forest and the Felt Q720.

I've owned the Black Forest for the last 3 or 4 days, as per the 7 day test ride period I'm allowed before I can send it back. It's a lovley bike. The attention to detail and quality of craftsmanship are evident. The Fox fork alone is worth like half the price of the bike! It is VERY light (11.5kg/25lbs for medium size) and climbs very well. The Felt weighs almost 30lbs. However...

The geometry of the Felt frame suits me much better. It is a noticably heavier bike but the riding position isn't so high up off the ground (and therefore unstable) - it's lower, and I feel much more confident on it and aren't afraid to really go for it and bomb it. Because the riding position of the Focus is just so much higher and upright, the center of gravity is higher and I'm not as confident.

The bikes are pretty much the same apart from the fork - the Felt has a Dart 2 that is at the bottom of the range, the Focus a Fox that is at the top. I know that at some point I would have to replace the Dart on the Felt, and I know this would cost me at least £400 (for a Recon or something).

As corny as it sounds, my rational mind is telling me to go for the Focus as it's amazing value for money and the fork is great, but my heart tells me to go for the Felt, as it just makes me feel great and feels right.

Could someone give me a pointer as to which route to go down?

This is what I might well do. To be honest the Dart felt fine, I noticed almost no difference between it and the Fox (maybe due to my inexperience or the fact I was only riding on roads), I'm just worried it will break or something but the guy at the LBS said they are much stronger than people tend to assume.

I could also go for the Felt Q820 and get a Tora but it's £150 more and the Tora isn't that great either, might aswell save a bit of money and to what the above poster said.

Any advice would be awesome. I'm just confusing myself now...