my brother lives in seattle and wants to buy his first mtb. can anyone recommend some good shops? i don't want to send him to a place that will try and sell him a $1500 freeride bike when all he needs is a $800 hardtail for xc.

thanks.

Hmmm to be honest there aren't a whole lot of pnw riders here...www.ridemonkey.com has a tonne and a huge following of pnw riders (pacific north west) you may have more luck there as they have a whole section dedicated to us.

In seattle there is Gregg's Cycle which has a location in greenlake and in Bellevue. There is Bicycles West in Tukwilla. Up north theres are two locations of Bicycle Centres, one in Silver Lake (Mill creek area) and the other in Everett. All these are good shops. I bought my bike from Bicycle Centers most recently and my first bike from Greggs. Greggs is the most professiional shop, so I would recomend going there first.

Over on the eastside there is Performance bike shop, and another one in Tacoma that I go to, all the others listed are good but I think he will find the best prices at performance, along with lifetime service tuneups, just in case he needs that. I just went all over Puget Sound with a friend and can honestly say we found the best prices at performance.
15230 NE 24th
Redmond Wa
425-643-8122

I like Gregg's much better than any of the Bicycle Centres. The shop in Green Lake is nice. Alot of bikes to choose from.

check out Gregg's. they are awesome. go there first.
Montlake Bike is okay, I live right near it so I stop in once in a while for maintanence repairs. I think they tend to be a bit on the pricey side though.
Bicycles West (several locations) usually has a closeout sale around May with a TON of bikes at reasonable to good prices. That's where I bought mine last year.