Go to several bike shops with your budget and an idea of how and where you want to ride and get their opinions. Once you’ve compiled the info, take a ride on the top 3 contenders and make your choice.

If someone tells you that one particular brand is better than another without specifics, or that certain brands are “seconds”, walk out of the store.

You should never go to a discount store to purchase a bike. This includes walmart, Target, Sams Club, and those other places.

When riding on the road, lock out the suspension when you don’t need it. When riding on trails (off-road), open up the suspension to enjoy the 4 inches of travel front and rear.

This bike will fit your bdget and riding requirements. It’s not insanely light but it is reliable for everyday riding. It’s not race-worthy but you can expect it to keep up when your riding skills improve.

Sorry if the site below offers the bike in US$, but I’m sure it fits your price range.

I hope this hits the mark!

I like Giant and Cannondale. Both have very decent lower end stuff as well as higher end stuff.

Cannondale makes most of their stuff in the states, so quality is excellent. I have a Perp1 which has (as do many other of their frames) heat treated welds. These welds allow the weld, and the two peices being welded to become one solid peice. That’s pretty special. If you look around, you can find pics of a frame with this that has been cut in half (marketing material I know, but wow).

Cannondale lower end stuff is made overseas in Taiwan, but I don’t think that stuff is available for sale outside of Asia.

Giant stuff is very good as well. Not as dedicated to quality, but decent stuff indeed.

I’m a big fan of the Iguana Disc series and the Trance series (which is out of your price range). Both are well designed, well thought out and good strong gear.

But the best might actually be to drop in to your local LBS shops and check out what they have second hand.

Usually you can find a bike that’s a couple years old for around half the price. Nothing at all wrong with it. And you get a very nice ride (occasionally with great components) for Wal-mart break-easy prices – or close to…

Spend some time thinking about what you want regarding parts as well:

Three areas to consider:
Shifter pods – are they integrated (Shimano calls this STI)? If they are, and you need/want to change a shifter or brake setup, it’s costly and a hassle.

Brakes – how important are disk brakes to you? You can get *excellent* stopping power from well tuned rim brakes, easily the equal of mid-range or low end disc brakes. I’ve seen plenty of cheaper bikes with XT or similar quality Avid rim brakes that will stop on a dime. The big difference between disc and rim is that disc is less affected by mud and rain. But if you get a bike with rim brakes, you may have hubs that do not allow disc brakes. Hence if you want to upgrade later, you have to replace the hub which means you are looking at a full wheel rebuild = $$$$

You could get a bike with cheap disk brakes though and save the money from the new wheels to upgrade to better brakes quite easily…

Suspension – Do you want full or front? You are probably best to start with a hardtail since this will get the best bang for the buck. You could consider a fork that has lockout if you do a lot of climbing. If you are over 150 lbs, you will probably find that the stock spring is too soft, so ask the shop about the possibility of switching the spring if you need to – and how long after purchase is this an option.

Hope it helps.

Test ride at least three before you buy!