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Mountain Biking, that is? I am looking into getting my first bike, and there is a large range of pricing... Would it be worth spending extra money (within reason)? I was considering around 300-350, but it seems for 100-150 more I can get a lot "more" bike? Thx for any advice...

well i myself dont know squat about it. but depending how serious you are i know a guy on Yahoo that runs a bikeing tour service here in the eugene area. if you wish i could give you his screen name and you two could hook up maybe. he would know a hell of alot more about bikeing then i would hehe. and besides if you ever get time to tour or something you might hook up with him anyhow. some realy nice places to right up here

although im more incined to takea 4 wheeler myself MAHAHAHA

Dont know if this will help, but, a guy I used to work with was looking for a mtb a couple of yrs ago. In the process of purchasing he looked at alot of bikes. When I asked about what to buy this is what he said, The frame should be composite so its lite and easy to carry, the wheels should be aluminum with quick releases so they can easily be worked on, at the time he said that the shimano shifter was the better.(however that may have changed by now). At the time he bought the shifter that is made into the handle for easy shifting. I think he paid more for that option at the time. In the end he bought a Trekk made bike....paid like 500 for it I think. However keep in mind this was several years ago.

Guys, Thx... What I have found in my research...

Quick release wheels are pretty standard on just about every bike over $250 or so. Lower end bikes are now offered with aluminum frames...starting arounf $350 or so. Shimano has the rep for being the best in derailers and several other components, but they have several levels of quality as well. There are also manufacturers that have targeted specific components and are much better than Shimano (like cranksets, hubs, wheels, freewheels, bottom brackets, headsets, brakes, etc.). The shifters you mentioned are grip-shifters and come standard on a few medium range bikes, but I've also seen complaints about them. Some medium range bikes are also coming with disk brakes, which seem to be the bug new thing in bikes right now. Also some full suspension bikes are availabel in the medium range (some even cheaper but prolly not worth bothering with). I have also found out you can spend an awful lot of money on a bike - I have seen stock mdels at $3000 to $6000 dollars! Also some folks think that spending $1000 on a bike is a great deal... There are tens of manufacturers, quite a few are actually one company (Trek - the buy up the competition idea).

I am looking at used right now - considering a couple. Else I will prolly get a Kona or a Rocky Mountain between $500 and $900 or so. That is gonna hurt, but I don't want to get something that is going to let me down 20 miles from anywhere and won't turn me off to the sport.