jonicarter

I went to my LBS and bought a Gary Fisher Advance last week, 18", but due to it's large size and uncomfortable feel, I took it back to the shop and exchanged it for a 16" Trek 4300. The geometry seemed to feel a little better to me as well as the 16" size, which I checked out in the Gary Fisher also.

Now I notice that they have an '06 Trek 4500 on sale for $415, which seems like a great deal, but right over the edge of what I wanted to spend. I've been thinking about swapping out the 4300 for it. I've also noticed a lot of recommendations for the Specialized Hardrock Sport though. Given my obvious price point, under $400, would best suited staying with the 4300, getting the 4500, or checking out the Hardrock Sport. The Hardrock Sport seems like it is a component step down from the Trek 4300 is my concern.

I am 5'8", about 175 lbs, and live in Chicago, so the bulk of the riding will be lake shore paths and communting, with the occasional foray out of town for some single track riding. I have fairly short legs and arms for my size which is why I had to step down from the 18" to the 16" in these frames. I had negative clearance with the 18" and felt a little unstable.

Any advice would be great. I've searched the forums, but can't seem to find a definitive answer, especially to the component quality question about the Hardrock vs 4300. I was a farily advanced rider 10 years ago, but got out of the sport, and now that I am getting into it again, it seems like a lot of things have changed.

patbollin

I would go for the 4500, but I myself got a Fisher Wahoo. In fact, Trek bought fisher a few years ago and if you look at the components, the Wahoo is basically a mix of the 4300 and 4500, a 4400 if you will. At my LBS it was $400, which is exactly your price range. Try out a Wahoo, but that 4500 for $420 is a great deal. Nonetheless, avoid the Hardrock, the Wahoo and 4500 have much better components. If you could find a Rockhopper at a discount, I would buy that ahead of the 4500 or Wahoo in a heartbeat.

jonicarter

Well, I actually ended up picking up an '06 GF Marlin at my LBS. It was on sale for $439, so I couldn't pass it up. The only downside is that it is the purple model. Still looking foward to riding it though. Felt better than the 4300 just on the ride back from the shop.

jasclermont

what size is the marlin you got? I had my heart set on one of those for a while after taking one for a test ride a while back. However, when it came time to buy (3 years later) I felt too stretched out on the one I tried (16" i think) 'cause of that funky geometry. I'm the same size as you with the whole short leg thing and all. I ended up getting a Trek 4300 - it's been cool so far. Havent really put it to the test yet though (it held up well while I went over her handlebars a couple times today). Still figuring out the ideal setup (seat position, etc). Can't say I'm psyched about the orange and grey of my Trek, but that's small potatos - at least someone will see me if I careen off into the woods. Give us reports on how you like the Marlin - I'd be curious to hear how it works out for ya'.

jonicarter

I ended up getting the 15.5". The 17.5 was still to big. I had negative clearance. Like I said though, I'm 5"8, but with shorter legs.

See you live in Greenville. I lived in Raleigh up until 2 years ago when we moved to chicago. I miss having miles of singletrack to ride. Not much other than paved bike paths here in the city.

jasclermont

15.5" huh? - I wonder what the one I tried out was. Musta' been bigger than 16". Purple marlin, huh?...must be a closet ECU fan. I was out at the Bicycle Post trails here in town today - first time out on the trails in a while. I haven't made it out to the triangle to try any trails out there. Heard there's some good ones out that way. The Post trail is pretty decent - they've got it up to about 10 miles now or so. It sure worked me pretty good today.

jonicarter

Well, I'm an NCSU fan (went to school there), but our football team has been doing it's best to beat that out of me over the last few seasons. Sadly, the purple Marlin is the only one they had left in my size, so I had to either get the 4500 or Wahoo for about the same price, or step up to the Marlin and suck it up on the color scheme. I decided I'd rather have a nice bike for the price.

jasclermont

Good choice - nobody will notice the colors as you're blowin' by them on the trail! Happy ridin'!!