Quote Originally Posted by SalsaMTB View Post
You could build up a frame for about that much. Might not be as nice of a build as a stock bike, but it would get you away from the Sram shifters. Some frames to consider that you could do for about 2K...

Salsa El Santo
Voodoo Canzo

How much travel are you looking for?
Yep, I'm giving serious thought to building a bike. It's a long story, but this whole bike-buying thing has gone from being a very simple decision to a "back to square one" decision. I'm thinking ~4" travel, give or take. Around here (Mid-Atlantic), I really don't need much more than than.

That El Santo looks really nice. Slap a Reba fork on it, and it would be just about perfect for me. I might have to swing by my LBS tonight and get them to price out parts. QBP distributes Salsa, so my shop should be able to locate one pretty readily. Thanks for the tip