Hardtail to Full Susser

"Calz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've had a hardtail for nearly 2 years now and loved every minute of it but I'm hankering for a
full suspension bike now.

I mainly ride hard and fast cross country single track here in the UK with quite a lot of fast
downhill but not crazy down hill stuff which obviously means I have to go uphill aswell, been to
Wales Coed Y Brenin a few times, lapped it up and ride at least once a week.

My budget is about £2k as I want to make a proper jump from my hardtail, I've been looking at the
Marin Mount Vison '03 with Hopes, any good? what are the alternatives?

Any idea what my current bikes worth to sell privately?

Trek 6500 (yellow) All standard except.. Thudbuster seat post Magura HS33s Panaracer XC Pros FSA
Headset LX crank, front/rear gears & both Derailiers XT Bottom bracket Stiffy stem Azonic double
wall bar Club Roost dual compound grips

Any help greatly appreciated as it's a lot of cash to splash...

cheers, Steve

Marin dealers usually let you have a test bike for a day - and you don't have to clean it! Trouble
is, it will feel so good that you will want one instantly! Perhaps ride a friend's fancy full sus
for a bit first to get a comparison? I recently swapped the manitou mars fork on mine (2000) for
cheap coil 100mm marzocchis and it's much, much better (especially on rough downhill!) The snag with
swing arms and no chain stays is that any chain jam/suck and the chain hits the front mech which is
the flimsy top swing type. I get through a lot. I had to wait months for mine after ordering so be
aware of this if they don't have one in stock. The rear shock bush wears out in about 6 months but
is reasonably easy and cheap to replace. The main pivot bearing lasted 3 years. Guarantee work was
honoured without quibbling. The low standover height is great for stuff like scooting through
snow-drifts! The handlebars were incredibly thin - about 150g! My Hopes are great and easy to
service but are today's XT's better? Pat.