need help - new hardtail, which one?

I've been lurking since last year, and have finally decided it's time that I buy a (relatively) decent bike. I've been looking at hardtails in the sub 1k price range, but I've had a hard time trying to find bikes to ride, and now I've gotten myself all confused! The bikes:

Specialized Myka Elite - I did manage to find this in my size to try, and I liked it. I wasn't blown away, but it was a nice bike, and I think it fit me alright. I didn't have the time to really play around with it though because the salesman was being pushy.

Jamis Durango 2 - I really liked this bike, and the LBS that sells it. Cons - it's not WSD, and it's quite a boyish looking bike (I'm not looking for pink and flowers, but this bike just seemed too masculine). The handlebars are(grips?) are wide, and I have small hands. I'm considering the Durango 1 Femme, but I think that actually has the same handlebars, and I can't find one to try out. Of course if I went with the femme I'm sacrificing the better components of the Durango 2 also, which I am more than willing to pay for, if they are actually better.

Cannondale Feminine - I tried the F9 and it fit me well. The handlebars and grips fit my hands well, and I liked the bike well enough. I think I would be interested in the F7 or F5, but I don't know if either are worth the price of the upgrade. I *think* the Jamis and Specialized have better components, but I'm not always quite sure what I'm looking at.

Any ideas? I also tried the Trek 6000 WSD, and just didn't like it much.... I tried it right before the Myka, and liked the Myka much better. The real problem is that none of my LBS have the bikes I'm actually interested in, so I can't just go and compare. TIA!

My mtb is a Trek wsd 4500. So, less $/price-range than yours. But, I'm happy with it. I'm primarily a road girl though. Last year I mixed it up more and my mtb is what I need for the $. If you don't get what you are looking for here, you might poke around on the mtb section of the forum. Did you try searching these specific bikes? An advanced search with the mtb section as part of it can help to weed things down too.

On finding what you want to test ride... I feel your pain. I am getting a new roadie girl soon. I had to travel 5hours round trip to test ride just the alum version of the carbon model I will be getting in that brand. I narrowed down the brand by the geo I knew I needed from a professional fit. So, my drive was already worth the trip before I left.

I went to the manufacturer's web site and did dealer search. From there I just started googling and calling the shops within so many miles radius to find close to what I wanted to ride. The higher $ the bike, the less likely you are to find it "stock" to test ride on a shop floor. Some of our local shops have really cut back to no high end bikes on the floor... just special order only.

You could always try calling the manufacturer directly, explain your situation, and see what they suggest.

Good Luck!:)

I just ordered my new Specialized Myka yesterday. It was down to the Specialized Myka or the Cannondale F7. I'm not too up on the technical stuff, but DH said the Specialized does have much nicer parts. The C comes in pink which was a bonus for me, but we ended up going with the other one due to the better parts, even though DH is a BIG C fan. The sales people also helped out alot. We're good friends with alot of them so they spent a bunch of time with us making sure I was getting the best bike (within our price range). I was able to try out (didn't test ride) the guys F7 in a comparable size and the womens S and the S did feel really nice! The shop did offer to order both bikes so I could try them both out, but we decided on the S due to the better parts and whatever else Dh decided made that one better for me.

I've had a Trek WSD 8000 for 10 years. Get a second set of wheels and use them with smoothies. It's like getting 2 bikes for 1! ;)