I have a line on a hardrock pro disc 05 for just $540 down from $699. If anybody has any input on this I'd appreciate it.

My Input: BUY IT :)

if it feels comfortable, buy it bro!

I searched this thread hoping to find any impressions on the "mail order" bike companies (namely Woodstock and Ibex). Everything I have found on the two companies reveals rave reviews and very happy customers!

The Woodstock 505 is slightly more expensive (currently at $639, though with no tax nor shipping) than this thread might suggest, but just look at the components it's bundled with! I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing Avid brakes and levers, Manitou fork, SRAM rear/Deore front derailleurs, SRAM trigger shifters, and Truvative crankset. Scouring mtbr.com shows that most "big-name" bikes with a similar level of componentry are closer to the $1,000 mark! Does anyone have experience with the Woodstock brand, because the included parts really make it enticing (right down to seemingly small details such as the WTB Laser V Comp saddle)?

http://www.woodstockbikes.com

Similarly, Ibex bikes seem to be put together very well, with a great combination of cost-effectiveness and quality components. The Trophy 770 Disc can be had from their site for $699, though the Woodstock bike admittedly sounds more appealing to me personally. Can anyone help shed more light on these two brands please??

http://www.ibexbikes.com/Bikes/TR-770-Disc-Details.html

Many, many thanks in advance for any help you have to offer...

--rinse--

I have read most of this, I see hardrock sport discs are widely praised

I am tossing up between a giant yukon 06 and a hardrock sport disc 05

The yukon seems to have a few different components than the yukons listed in america from the 05 model (i'm in sydney)

heres the specs from my LBS, what do you reckon?

Hardrock
http://www.woolyswheels.com/listman/listings/l0176.html

yukon 06
http://www.woolyswheels.com/listman/listings/l0367.html

so the yukon is about 50 bucks cheaper... What do you reckon is a better option? Which has better discs etc

Thanks

i went back to the LBS today and ended up buying the tassajara. i basically have read through all of the great advice on this thread and have tried to listen to the one thing everyone seems to say, "get what fits you and feels good." so i did. thanks for all the posts and all the info. who knows, maybe one day i'll be back on here looking through a thread titled, "THE AROUND $2000 MOUNTAIN BIKES".......aloha, surferboy

they got the same brakes, but the yukon seems to have better components such as the deore stuff. 800 is awfully expensive for any of those bikes though

that's 800 aussie, and I'll try to find a cheaper price somewhere, just checking what I might want first

I'm not quite sure if my question should be in this thread, but since I'm dealing with two "around" $500 bikes I'll post here. Just for info, I'm female and about 5'3" tall.

I've been looking at an '04 Specialized Rockhopper Comp ($899 CDN marked down to $596:D) and a '05 Trek 4500 WSD ($559 CDN). I've been told the Rockhopper is a better bike (well, the price tells me that as well), but between doing test rides, the Rockhopper feels just a little 'off'. I think maybe the handlebars are a little wider, or it's the cockpit size. The guy at the LBS moved the seat up a bit and it felt better for cockpit size. They had a Rockhopper Women's there, but it was 17" and too big for me. Do lots of smaller females ride the unisex bikes, or should I keep trying for a women's build bike? The Trek felt nice, but it was a lot more upright than the Rockhopper. The more upright position is more comfortable to me, but since I'll be doing XC riding, should I get used to the more spread out feel?

After a long absence from mountain biking, I want to get back in it - but I have two problems.

First, I'm dirt poor. I'm talking macaroni-cheese eatin', paycheck-to-paycheck livin', so-broke-i-can't-pay-attention, PO'. PO', as in, I can't even afford the last the last two letters of the word "poor".

Second, I want to buy a decent mountain bike with a US-made frame in the 5-600 dollar range (I've managed to save 6 bills by eating mac and cheese for the last year).

I'll wait while y'all stop laughing.

Everyone done now? Ok, moving on. I guess I should say at the outset I'm not really interested in debate over Chinese bikes or outsourcing or anything like that - I've owned asian bikes before - some were ok, some sucked. I just decided I want my next bike to have a US-made frame. With that in mind, my research leads me to the conclusion that I have a very easy choice. After weeks of pouring over bike reviews and different websites, along with visits to my LBS, it appears that there is ONE and only one bike that fits my price range/frame requirements - the Cannondale F300, which is at my LBS for $549. Am I correct in this conclusion, or does anyone know of any other mountain bikes with US-made frames in the $5-600 range? I'd certainly like to have a wider choice than ONE bike, if possible.

I do like the F300....I looked at one this afternoon. Seems solid - easy to upgrade down the road if I choose. Will be riding the bike on local trails evenings and weekends - trails range from mild to moderate....nothing outrageous.

So is the F300 it? No other choices? Anyone own an F300? Comments? Any advice or suggestions would appreciated!

DJ

Sigh. I thought I mentioned I wasn't interested in a political debate. Some people can't read, I guess.

DJ

Ok, if you are looking for this thread please look for the link in the best of.

I guess the problem is the price point. I think Trek and and Gary Fisher ( outsources to Trek or owned by Trek ) both have frames constructed here but only on the higher end stuff. I'm not sure at what price the bike is "Made in America". It may be more that what you can spend. Specialized is a US company, but I don't know were ALL their frames are made.

NEWBIE HERE...I have been reading some of these pages, sorry if this might be a bit redundant, but I need help figuring out what bike to get in you guessed it, the $500 range.
What I am looking for is a hardtail with good components all around, I want to be able to ride it hard and do some jumps with it, and I would like for it to be able to take a beating, not a terrible one but a beating. Disc brakes are a must, and i think its important the fork is good quality and good to use on technical trails. I am 5'10 and weigh about 160-70. I also want the bike to be light as possible and have good derailers, preferably shimano deore. The bikes I have in mind are

05 Fuji outland pro....$500

05 Iron Horse Warrior Comp....$500 (i think its a bit heavy though)

05 Gary Fisher Mullet....around $500-$550 (Heard things about the manitou splice comp)

04 GT avalanche 1.0..... on closeout from last year for $450 (hayes brakes?)

So I am overwhelmed here and cant find good amounts of reviews on any of these bikes. Please help me, i think i described my riding style but if you need to ask me anything else to help me figure it out please feel free, I will frequently be on this forum, thanks ahead of time for your expert advise.

I'm not too familiar with your choice of bikes but did you have a chance to see if they are rated over at MTBR.com?

I am new to this forum but I did quite a bit of reading of it before I recently purchased my new Mountain Bike. Thanks for all of the great info :)

I used to ride my mountain bike quite a bit back about 15 years ago but most recently had been mostly a "roady". I've been kinda board riding my road bike lately so I decided that it was time to update my mountain bike equipment. I have kids that are 9 and 12 and they've been dying to do some trail riding so I needed to get something to keep up with them.

Since I really was pretty clueless on what to buy, I scoured every shop in the Denver Metro area looking, talking and riding everything in the $400-600 range. What I concluded was that everything in that range was soooo close that I had a hard time telling the difference. I really liked the Specialized Rockhopper base model for about $450 at the local dealer. On a whim, I decided to check out a Performance store not too far from me and they had a boat load of selection in the $500 area and were clearing out all of their 2005 inventory. I spotted an Ironhorse Maverick SE bike that caught my eye and after a couple test rides, it was equal to the Rockhopper in ride and fit -- because of the sale, it was roughly equal in price as well (about $20 more -- regular price was $649). My gut still said Rockhopper but my logic told me to buy the bike with the best component set -- clearly the Ironhorse.

Here's what is on it:

FRAME: 6061 aluminum
FORK: Manitou Splice Elite 100mm
HANDLEBAR: Alloy Low Rise /31.8 clamp
STEM: TruVativ® XR 5 degree
HEADSET: Zero Stack Threadless
BB: TruVativ® Powerspline
CRANK: TruVativ® ISO Flow
RINGS: 44/32/22T
PEDAL: Alloy Platform
CHAIN: Shimano® HG-73
SEAT: WTB® Rocket V Comp
SEATPOST: Alloy Micro Adjust
F. HUB: Alloy QR/32H
R. HUB: Shimano® ALLOY QR 32H
F. DER: Shimano® Deore
R. DER: SRAM® X.7
SHIFTER: SRAM® X.7 Trigger
CASSETTE: SRAM PG-950, 9spd 11-32t
BRAKES: Hayes® MX-2 mechanical w/ 6" rotor
BRAKE LEVER: Avid® FR-5
RIM: WTB® Speed Disc 32H
SPOKE: 14G stainless black
TIRES: IRC® Mythos 2.1

Essentially, it had better components for every major bike part. I rode it today on a trail with my kids and it was fantastic. I don't know all that much about Ironhorse so I'd appreciate anyone's comments.

Thanks again !! Happy trails :D

i did check and that website didnt have a good amount of ratings on these bikes, I have seen thay raiyn posts quite a bit and seems knowledgable, im anxious to see what his recommendation is in addition to everyone elses

If you want Raiyn's attention start typing in Aolese. *Just kidding* *Just kidding.* He is knowledgeable and a lot of the stuff on my bike and my choice in bike is based on his posts and recommendations. What he has posted several times is that for the money ($500), the base Rockhopper is a good bike. The geometry and frame are good and solid and it has a good series of components. The bike is a good one to build up as well. The final bit of recommendation is that you should ride the bikes and see which one feels the best.

If you look around page 18 of this thread you'll see a chart I put up. I highlighted components that I was recommended to avoid and others that were desirable. That's a good place to start. Taking your list of bikes post up what front shock, what rear derailleur and what brakes they have. Then post that up here and cross reference with the chart I mentioned.

jamietodd, looks like you got a good series of components for the price point. I know nothing of Iron Horse bikes but I like the list of components you have there.

Ok so I test rode the Ironhorse Warrior comp and I must say it felt heavy and sluggish. I am leaning towards the Specialized Hardrock Comp.

$467 with lifetime adjustments/tuneups
-Hayes HMX2 disc brakes
-Marzocchi MC Comp 100mm fork
-Alex DP-20 rims
-Front Acera derailer
-Rear Alivio

it would be either this or the Fuji outland I think, specs for the fuji are
-Tektro Aguila disc brakes
-sr suntour 75mm fork
-alex dp17 rims
-deore components
-$499 with lifetime tuneups/adjustments

out of these two i jsut cant decide, im gonna test ride em and let u know what i think after, whoe evr thought picking a bike would be so hard

or...should i try and find the hardrock pro disk which will run me no more than $150 difference in price but for that price i get

-shimano deore derailers
-avid bb5 brakes

is it worth it to just spend a little more now instead of upgrading to the avid brakes or deore derailer after or should i just stick with the comp disk, i have been reading that the avids are really nice and that to get them on your bike after the fact would add up to at least $250-300 for the brakes and wheels or whatever, gonna test ride it today or tomorrow