buying gear online

This isn't an ad, but it might sound kinda like one... My hubby and I are kinda low on cash, so it behooves us to seek out the best deal on pricey bikestuff we can. We support our local LBS as much as we can, but some things are just too pricey to try to buy there on our budget... the best technique we've come up with is researching www.mtbr.com for the best gear, then looking for it on pricepoint.com to see if we can get a good deal... it looks like next paycheck we might both be able to outfit our bikes with disc brakes for $326 odd dollars... (avid ball bearing)
Thought I'd just share the knowledge.

you really have to take those mtbr reviews with a grain of salt. You can get themese of what's good and back, but there's an awful lot of "these rule" and "these suck" without concrete info. Also, pay attention to how long people have had the things they are reviewing and what kind of (ab)use they are giving it.

Irulan

Yeah, that is important. Some of the reviewed products, almost all of the reviews made after a month or 3 months say "THESE RULE" etc, while you see a marked difference after about a year... I usually go through all of them, see how many reviews there are, then keep in mind exactly what broke and what they're doing. I'm no downhiller, but my lack of real skill means I'm a little hard on my equipment yet, so I tend to look out for stuff that can take a beating.