Get a Kona Honzo frame and transfer stuff over from your Kahuna.

i want a full sus 5 inch bike. my kahuna is full sus.

the best trail bike is always the one costing a little more than what you have to spend.


you can get some great deals on used bikes. if you decide to change your style to a bigger, more aggressive or lighter, better climbing bike down the road you won't get hit with such a loss when you sell it.


....and you will.

_________________
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/bik/2753361020.html

_________________
Best riding advice I ever got... "make sure you have air in your tires"

Save your money a little longer. For a decent FS bike I would say $1500-2500 is the sweet spot. Anything less than that is usually either rode hard and put away wet, or a sacrifice of components.

_________________
Ride it until they CDFW it.

I'm with Mclovin on this one. Skip the trail bike and move to the all mountain category. They climb extremely well (even with a 1x9) and they deliver mighty nice on the way down. In all (just my opinion), an AM bike will allow a rider to grow more confident, stronger, and faster. My choice here would be the Giant Reign.

If a trail bike is a must, then the Giant Trance would be my selection.

danny, great advice, couldn't agree more.

my rap: i had a xc/trails bike and broke it. then got my dream bike, a trails/am bike- a sc heckler. loved it! then started hanging out with the wrong crowd and attempted a little more aggressive riding. guys with mad skills can kill dh on a tricycle. me, no skills, i need some confidence. i bought a am/fr bike. it's a ton to ride up the hill, but oh so sweeeet on the way down. i'd rather push up a hill and laugh all the way down than death grip the bars. however if long, group rides and big climbs are in your future, not so good.

just to say, you will evolve, or in my case devolve. the reign(-x) is a great choice, if you can find one. or a trance-x perfect if you're in for the longer hauls.

pre-owned bikes: some guys put up bikes here at ridiculous prices for other dt'ers. there's also craigslist (of course) for local, there's socaltrailsriders.com up in l.a., and pinkbike.com.

good luck!

_________________
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

We now know the bikes below are out of your budget comfort range, so I apologize for adding another unobtanium (for now) bike to the mix, but I've been torturing myself with the same question. I suspect many others that may read this thread are too. With that said, I've been hearing much goodness about the Ibis Mojo HD - another one to add to the exclusive list below.

BTW, I do agree with going as high-end as you can afford, if you are able to truly narrow down what you want, rather than making too many concessions. That's what I did - too many concessions. Not long after buying my bike, I doubled my original cost in component upgrades. It's a stupid societal sickness, but I'm afflicted.

Good luck!

_________________
_______________________________


"it can go full porno alley"

- Kimba - One love, many bikes - 2020

im simply gathering information as of now. i wasn't even thinking about another bike until some suggested that the way i ride warrants a bit more suspension travel and stronger frame. i like the chunkier trails. so far my bike has not let me down. i haven't started doing drops yet tho either so we'll c. LOL

Keep an eye on chainlove.com for some sweet deals too. Usually kona's, but marked down at least 50%. I've seen stuff on there I'd love to jump on if I had the cash. By the way, just bought a 2011 giant Reign 1 this summer and LOVE it. The reign killed it at ATT this weekend!

_________________
I want my Mtb!!!!