Is this a good deal?

[Cataboo]

again, just my .02, but I think you could do better. My husband and housemate both avid mtn bikers and think it's not worth it- at all. As my hubby said "there is prolly a good reason it's still there.."

I do think the bike is beautiful, but I just hate to see you spend so much money when there are so many other bikes out there.
OTH- it's your cash, so spend as you please. I just warn because I've gotten caught in the bike lust trap before- and had my judgement clouded.

As for the rockshox warranty thing... It was the Tora that we had a lot of trouble with, not the Reba, so should be good there.

What alternate bike at what price point would you recommend?

[fidlfreek]

I know nothing about MTB, just road, but I know for SURE that weird sizes are often leftover.

Imagine, they're looking to sell a $1800 bike to a man thats 5'1-5'4? Really? So, a kid basically. How many kids have rents that drop that much on a hardtail? Maybe it was a special order that went bad or something.

So that explains it. Well, except when you look at the Titus XS that was offered in the For Sale section of TE a while back. That was a spendy bike for a kid as explained and examined at length by our awesome community.

[Irulan]

It's not unusual at all for women to purchase small men's mountain bikes. I myself own three men's small mountain bikes. I routinely see small and XL frames at the end of the season. It's just like buying shoes - the mid sizes go first and then the 5's and 11's are the ones that are left over.

[MRS HORSEPOWER]

Again Thanks for all the input!! This is great
The guys at the store said that Because it is small and it is MEN's thats why its still there. I will def. ride a few bikes to get a feel for them and see how that goes. If this bike is still there it was meant to be. I had my Epidural injection in my L4-L5 Monday and I fainted in the shower yesterday and was in the ER all day, Everything checked out just said I was Dehydrated (couldn't drink for 4 hours prior to shot) stressed, to hot in the shower bent down and stood up bad combo, I never fainted ever in my life so this was freaky cut my leg , scratched up my back, bruised mt hip (again) and got a good egg on my head..but said Im ok..they are Having me get another MRI on my back again to make sure this fall didnt do more damage than my previous ones..Man I just want to freaking ride a BIKE! UG!
sorry for the rant, again thanks for the replies!

[Pedalhead]

My husband made the transition from BMX to mountain biking 5 years ago (also because of injuries) and has never regretted it. Although he misses some of the people, we have made some great friends through the Wisconsin race series.

I raced my first races last year, and am looking forward to this season. First race is in 2 weeks - Iola here we come!

Wishing you a speedy recovery, and hope to see you at the races!

[Miranda]

Gheez... hope you are OK after your shower mishap!

OK, first of all... go to WallyWorld GF and get yourself a cheap folding chair and rubber mat for that shower. In case you are every loopy again, don't want to bend your back to lean over to shave legs, etc. I have one in my bathroom I use time to time. I just put a towel over the chair and let it get wet. The terry material actually aids like a gripper and keeps me seated on the chair (read less distance to fall over seated vs standing).

On the the back... and your avatar... I SO heard ya sista. I'm 40yo... my bod decided to fall out about age 30 after I had kids. Bleah. I have multi-level degerative disk disease for one thing. Yea... isn't all that back doc, MRI stuff a real trip? Gheez. With that in mind...

I know you don't *want* to hear this, but take heed to the comment on bikes/activity easy on the back. I have forced myself to adjust my stuff due to this. One crash, use of back-unfriendly gear, etc. results in a long time of PT and not being able to "play" at ALL. Which is even worse than adjusting.

The bike in question TT length... is the mens version going to make you too stretched out and stress your back more? I own a hardtrail Trek WSD 4500 for my mtb. It's a 15/16" and effective TT of 53cm I think. I know 2cm doesn't sound like much... but it can become noticeable after riding a while. I am in the process of getting a new road ride due to my frame being too big. Yes, you can "tweek" stuff on bikes... but cutting length out of the TT is not a tweek. Personally financially painfully aware of this reality.

Just some more thoughts if you have not already bought your bike. Either way, good luck on the riding, back health, and shopping!

EDIT ADD: Another thought... is there any cheaper version of hard trail you could borrow from someone, or buy used, to try it out and see how the back likes it? Before spending over $1K. Then you would have a better idea if in general hardtrail would work for you or not... without dropping that much cash.

[MRS HORSEPOWER]

Thanks again for all the input, man I love this site! OK So After my Shower "wipe-out" I got another MRI turns out my l4-l5 actually looks better but my L5-S1 Is bulging so Last Friday I got another epidural steriod shot and so far so good...seems to be working :-) I can have 1 more shot but I'm gonna wait till after my first race back to see if my back acts up.
I still havent purchased a MTB but I like the whole top tube theory as I went through that with my BMX bike, I need shorter ones, for sure.
Thanks again, Tina