[G-Cracker]

Okay, some of you may know that I had my old mountain bike stolen about two weeks ago. My insurance co. is going to reimburse me for the value of it, minus my deductible, which leaves me with roughly $350. I can put another $250 into it, but that is the max I can spend. Saving more is not an option... this is what I can spend.

So here is my dilemma. I really would like to support my LBS. They are so cool and helpful and have a couple nice bikes I'm looking at right now: Marin Bear Valley (steel), Marin Hawk Hill, Kona Blast, KHS Alite 1000. I'm not asking for you to pick your favorite bike, but rather have an idea of what I can afford.

On the other hand, I can find a bunch of nice used bikes on ebay that, when new, were a bit more expensive. i.e. Trek 6700, GT Avalanche 1.0, KHS Comp ST, etc.

Opinions? What would you do? Go for the better deal or support your LBS?

Talk amongst yourselves...

 

[blue]

with as small of a budget as you've got, I'd go the used route, you will get a lot more bang for your buck. The LBS might be tugging your heart strings, but you aren't a big spender in the first place...Go used off of eBay or something.

If you do end up going the LBS route, get an Alite 1000, my first frame, kicked ass

 

[Skookum]

If you've got enough dough to pay for an lbs go for it. If your on a budget go the cheapest you can. You can still support em by buying tubes, parts, clothes, and crap when you need em. It was about 4 years before i bought a mt. bike from my lbs and all that time they gave me no flak, the've earned my business in my eyes.