[Melas]

You can get an OK beginner bike for $300 or so, decent bikes starting at about $600, and "good" bikes at $950 and up. Anything over $1500 is for the more serious cyclists. Cheers!

I can't say that I agree with your numbers. Using Cannondale (my new love) for example, the lowest end mountain bike they sell is $550. Like cellphones, computers, motorcycles, watches, etc, you don't want the lowest end. The bikes a beginning mountain biker should consider start at $1389.

The serious mountain bike line starts at $4k and goes to $10k.

[grey_whiskers]

Sorry, I'm a roadie. :-)

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

I love Cannondale, myself, but the family has a several Specialized bikes too.

I'll have to tell you sometime of how I got my Cannondale "hybrid" and how my son literally ripped the cranks off of his mountain bike.

Cheers!