UPGRADE MOUNTAIN BIKE- any suggestions!

Quote: Originally Posted by oaks [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am looking to upgrade my mountain bike (hard tail)
I don't want a toy as I give my current bike a hammering as I
do actually ride it in the mountains.
Am in Oz and have approx $3000 + to spend.
Any suggestions?

Have you considered simply buying a BETTER front fork ... at least, initially ... for your current Hardtail frame?
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• The odds are that any off-the-peg bike won't have as good a fork as whatever you might buy separately ... so, if-and-when you decide you want a different frame you can always migrate the fork onto the newer (presumably, suspension) frame. I recommend a Marzocchi -- a little heavier than some of the other brands, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing -- the last fork I put on my now dust covered Hardtail was a Marzocchi Bomber
  

As far as rear suspensions, I'm still not sure which design is best particularly since the (FOX) rear shocks are so much better than in the past AND the claimed-or-perceived benefits of some linkage designs is not as great as in the past ...

So, if I were buying only a frame with a rear suspension, I would probably just get a SANTA CRUZ (there are several models) ... a tried and true design that is updated as someone in their "engineering department" feels is necessary.

I would choose either Shimano XT or SLX components even though I know that a lot of people like SRAM.

My dust covered MTB wheels were built with either Shimano or DT 340 hubs; and, that's what I would recommend.

If I were considering ready-to-ride bikes I would probably get a GT with the i-Drive suspension linkage because that was what I was leaning toward about 10 (!?!) years ago ... in the days when rear shocks were more primitive, they solved the bobbing problem pretty well ... so, I figure it could only be better with a FOX rear shock AND more-than-adequate with almost any lesser (?) shock ...

• I couldn't justify buying a full suspension bike at the time ... several years later, as one would expect, the i-Drive frame was "improved" with little things that seemed like good ideas ... for example, a standard Hollowtech BB tool is used on the linkage's interface (for want of the right term) ...
  
• I am presuming that GT still makes a full suspension bike, BTW!?!
  
• I would probably choose one of the LESS expensive GT MTBs because I would really be buying the frame and I would plan to put my own (i.e., Shimano) components on.