thoughts on 2012 Trek mamba for entry level?

[countrygirl]

Hi Ladies, thanks for your input!

I'm just nutty when it comes to shopping for a big ticket item. We have my BF's new Mamba here, essentially the same one I ordered, and now I realize it's a nice bike. He is thinking to trade it in for a Cobia though, since he's as nutty/OCD as me in this area (we can still return it). At first we were a little freaked out by the gears clicking and not seeming to smooth, but we are also rusty so we were not shifting the bike as efficiently as it needed, also I think the bike needs an adjustment, that's what the shop said, it shouldn't have been quite that loose and skipping even with newbies on it. I guess we were thinking to get a slightly better model just because you might end up fixing parts less and having to upgrade parts less too.

I think the problem is I was too impulsive just jumping on the Mamba. I have not been on a bike a long time and at first they all felt weird to me compared to the old styles I remember, by the time I test-rode the Mamba I was getting my bike-legs back so it seemed 'better' than Specialized . Now I've been riding a Specialized Hardrock 26er rental out on the dirt trails as well as my BF's new Trek Mamba 29 and I can see they are both real nice bikes.

I think that best would be to have both a 26 and a 29 if you could afford it, lol, I'm really torn as they both have their charms! I think I am going to get the Specialized Jett Comp 29 though, and just keep my eyes out for a used quality 26er later on down the road. I like the WSD Specialized offers and the new WSD 29ers from that company have gotten good reviews on super handling etc, the woman specific design does seem to be especially well thought out and I did notice a difference for my build. I do live in a beautiful area with both well-maintained dirt roads and much rougher trails so it's been hard to decide 26 vs. 29, they tackle steep rough trails differently for sure.