I bought a new bike last year, and I LOVE it!
You may have heard that there are bikes that have these new “29′ers”. This means 29″ tires instead of the standard 26″. For taller guys like me, this is huge. The first time I rode it, I was amazed. Felt like a custom bike made just for me. The handling is better and it rides faster, but seems more stable. The bike I bought is a hardtail, so only a front shock. My other bike was a dual suspension GT. Let me explain my theory on why I went with a 29′er hardtail.
Having larger tires, it runs over things a bit more smoothly and you get less “mush”. Also, by not getting a rear suspension, you can put more money into higher quality components. The name of the bike is Access XCL 9.7 29″ Mountain Bike, and comes with some great components for under $1000.00. It is really around $1400.00, but they always have it on sale. It has disk brakes and a 27-speed drivetrain. I actually had to build up to the largest gear, and when you hit it, you are flying.
Only thing is I broke the seat. I’m close to 200lbs and ride kinda hard. I replaced it with a seat that has titanium rails and it is perfect now. The bike shop even gave me 20% off of it (only cost me $40).
Here’s the link to my bike.
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1072877_-1_1501500_20000_1502002#ReviewHeader
Lastly, when I bought the bike from PerformanceBike, they gave me a membership that paid me around a $100.00, and I got a free subscription to Bicycling magazine that I still receive. So I really paid less than $900.00 for this bike!