I checked out some Diamondbacks the other day and they were just beasts- just massive and heavy. The frames felt bigger than they were. Now, I actually like that in a city bike, but I prefer a mountain bike with less standover and a more compact cockpit because I ride in the woods. If I rode in the desert, might feel different.

I would like to hear more about the DB OD. Performance has the base model OD at 375 bucks.

I asked a friend about them. He answered "meh....department store bike".

Is this really the case? Looking at the specs, I would say it was either high end department store or entry level bike shop.

How does it compare to entry level bikes from "real bike shop companies" such as The trek wahoo?

I am a mtb noob. I don't plan on racing anytime soon. Extra weight, as far as I'm concerned is just a training aid. Being 6 ft, about 230 lbs, I have plenty of other places to loose weight. My primary desire is a reasonably bomb proof bike that I can wrench on myself.

DB isn't department store trash. The sell low end entry level stuff and high end stuff just like nearly everybody else. DB does mostly seem to be sold at the larger chain stores though and at least around here the only ones in stock are the low end entry level things. $375 doesn't buy you much from anybody but I'd bet it will go further with DB than say specialized. I'm a bit biased though since I just picked up a used DB sortie frame/fox fork/other bits for about the same price as a similar specialized frame alone would have gone for thanks to DB being looked down upon by the bike snobs. DB gets about the same amount of crap as say bikesdirect.com bikes get which you may also want to consider. If you don't mind used that would be a best way to go at that price point IMO. Get a couple year old mid-high end entry level bike somebody has outgrown or given up the sport.

Yeah, bike snobs are annoying. I suppose I could buy a DB and paint it! Tell everyone it is a custom frame. :)