First of all, I wanted to say "Great Job" to fietser and LeftBlank for taking the time to organize some links and develop an Index for this board! As a lurker on this board, I appreciated it.

I came out of lurk mode to ask about the current crop and technology of mountain bikes. My Trek 820 Antelope just had it's 12th birthday this past Christmas and is finding itself more on trails these days than on the familiar asphalt it has been used to over the years. However, I fear the old gearing of 21 gears is not going to cut the mustard for the types of inclines I have been facing this past month riding through the Vienna woods adn the lack of a fork with some sort of shock absorption technology is rattling my insides too much. I will not be discarding the Trek 820, as it is in fine condition and will continue to serve me well on asphalt rides.

So I have entered the research and shop phase which usually consumes me for a short period of time. I have the product brochures, have been to the usual internet locations for reading reviews and visited the home pages of the basic companies. I have visited the bike shops and tested the Trek 6700, Trek 8000, Scott Expert/Comp/Team/Pro, the Gary Fisher Big Sur and a few no name bikes that are built with good frames and good components. It's overwhelming with all of the choices available. Plenty of advice has come in the way of comments such as "demo, demo, demo - try before you buy", "buy as much bike as you can afford", "buy what feels comfortable", "make sure you have such and such components" and on and on.

Any other Fools have experience in the Mountain Biking selection process?

BB