Which entry level hardtail? Trek or Specialized?
 

Both are in my price range:
The Trek 3500 @ $360
and the Specialized Hardrock @ $390

What's the best deal in your opinion? Or is there a better one out there?

For now, I plan to ride the streets on it to commute and would like to try some trails in the off seasons (I am a roadie and do about 150 miles per week between March and November).

Bumb. :innocent:

These are about as low as you can go on the mtb foodchain so there's not a lot of difference between them when it comes to components. That being said it looks like the fork on the specialized has 80 millimeters of travel compared to 63 on the Trek so if you think you're going to do any off road riding you should probably go for the specialized.

That being said a 400 dollar budget should get you a nice used bike that will be more than trail worthy. If you're patient and shop around (if you're a roadie and you know bikes it's not really that hard) you should be able to get a good deal.

I just got this yesterday........

http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/...ase_blue_l.jpg

an '09 hardrocks should be at least 10% off at your lbs.....go get yourself a 2009 hardrock disc....retail for $460....talk em down to $400 cash....?

I might try that -- if I sell my Trek SLR 1500 soon.

Thanks for the replies.

Actually I saw a little girl playing on one of these at the shop. They are designed to develop balance for very small children. Kind of cute. Sorry for the non-sequitar.