Snap decision
 

Okay, I finally have an opportunity to get back into MTB. Here are the two bikes on CL I'm considering. They're both $200. Which would you choose?

- 2003-ish 21" giant aluminum converted to singlespeed with Avid Mech Disc Brakes, surly rigid fork, Mavic/Deore wheels, eggebeaters, Surly singulator, slicks
- 1999-ish 19" Gary Fisher chromoly, 3x8 geared with STX/XT drivetrain, Avid V-brakes, Mavic/XT wheels, platform pedals, Rock Shox long-travel fork (not sure which model yet), knobbies

What would you choose? I think I'd like to do mostly tooling around the park/cross-country type stuff, so discs vs. V-brakes is no big deal. And I think I'd rather have a geared bike, though SS sounds fun too (love my fixie). The giant is a better size for me at 6'1" I think, but on the other hand my last bike was a 17" and I made do with that. I've heard GF have long top tubes. Give me some advice here :)

*bump*

Personally, I would go with the Gary Fisher, it seems better set up for mountain bike use. Go over there, and if the equipment looks good and it rides decent, buy it.

i charge for my advice.

does a 21 inch fit you?

Yep, I got the GF! It's somewhere between a tune-upper and a fix-upper. Needs cables, rear wheel tensioning, and a new star nut (it was totally stripped). Other than that, seems like a great bike! XT hubs and V-brakes are really nice, Rock Shox Indy fork, cranks, BB, cassette, derailers, tires are in good shape.