who makes the top mountain bikes nowadays

[Ironsheikh]

havent had a bicycle since mytrek 830 about 15yrs ago --

who makes a quality, cool looking bike now?

did a quick search on ebay but there are so many

[Lordhelmet]

Rocky Mountains bikes i heard are nice! Cannondale always make good bikes.

[surfy]

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/
It really depends on what your riding style is.

[Sloth]

The only problem I have with Cannondale is that their bikes develop an annoying creak after a couple years of use. I've had 2 Cannondales do this.

I also had a Specialized and that thing was put together really well. I don't think you can go wrong with them.

[ENGINEERgoby]

Shocks or no? what will you use it for primarily and how much? Thats the big question.

I don't know how others feel but I would say Trek. I have a trek 6700 WSD MTB and it's light and put together great. My husband has a road bike and 4900 MTB from Trek also great for the price. We've been very happy with our purchases. Cannondale is overpriced. Rocky mountain is hard core stuff and $$$. I'd say stick with Trek or Specialized. Both companies have many many models to choose from.

[Wolverine]

My current mountainbike is a Specialized. When I got it, most people felt it was between them and Cannondale for the best, and I had more experience with Specialized, and I had also heard of the creaking problem with Cannondales. Of course, I'm only talking about the mainstream brands; if you want to sell your car, you can get something REALLY top of the line.
When I got it, shox were just coming out, and it wasn't until several years later that they were standard. That should tell you how well it's held up, since I can still use it; it's also survived 4 trips through Slick Rock and several of the other Moab sites.

A few years later, I think Trek surpassed the other two.

If I were to get a new one (which I've been considering), I would probably choose between Specialized and Trek.

Dave

[surfy]

Forgot to mention that I ride a '05 Marin Rift Zone. I really like the bike, however I have no other other on hand experience with any other Mt. bikes. So if you have a Marin dealer near you, I highly recommend them.
I was looking at Specialized, but Marin really suited my tastes.

What price range are you looking at? What type of riding do you plan on doing?

[surfnvb7]

Specialized bikes are awesome. I have a 2000 FSR Competition with dual shocks, disk brakes, all the good stuff. :)

I've heard alot of issues with Cannondale bikes. Alot of problems with frames breaking at the welds (on mtn bikes and road racing bikes), and shock problems b/c cannondale always uses their own shocks. And they are expensive to fix it seems, always gota take it to a special dealer that is used to working on cannondale shocks.

Although I have never used one, I've heard you cant go wrong with one of the high end Gary Fisher bikes.

Does LightSpeed make a mtn bike? I know their road racing bikes are titanium and always awesome.

I've heard Santa Cruz is also an awesome bike, but they are primarily sold on the west coast so I've never seen on in person over here.

For me, the biggest factor that decided what brand of bike was the sizes they make. Being 6'4", 220lbs, I had to get a big beefy bike that would take some serious abuse.

If you plan on doing alot of downhill stuff on big mountains, go with dual shocks. If you are doing mainly climbing or cross country, definitely go with a hard tail, no need to carry around that extra weight if you dont need it.

www.mtbr.com is a GREAT review site!

[Minuteman]

Trek still makes a good bike. I ride a trek 4500 and it works great.

[JmLee]

i ride specialized hard tail with front shocks and soon disc brakes for those 58mph down hill rides =) oh i also have Road tires on mine.

[Jeffie]

Check out Gary Fisher and Surly bikes. You won't be dissapointed.

[surfnvb7]

this is what i have:
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Bike_full/product_25429.shtml

awesome bike, its gone through some different parts i've changed over the years, like the handle bars, stem, crank set etc, but for the most part its still a stock set up.

back in that day, mechanical disc brakes were terrible, that particular year specialized was the first to put hydroulic disc brakes on all of their bikes. those brakes to this day, are still some of the best on the market.

keep in mind these bikes dont come with any real pedals. if you are going to do some serious mtn biking, you should invest in some TIME clipless pedals.

also, i'm not sure if specialized bikes still come with those mud flaps. i used to think they were cool, but then they got kinda annoying and in the way. and they deflect mud and stuff into the gears which caused a headache of a cleanup.
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/ayoung/Pictures/other%20cool%20pics/bike1.jpg