wrote:

I am currently riding a hard tail mountain bike and I am interestd in
upgrading to a full suspension. I have heard that the Santa Cruz blur
is quite an awesome bike, but the price is a bit out of my range.

I am willing to spend up to 2k for one, but I definitely want the best
bike for my buck. Any suggestions?

So get a used Blur. Barring that, the Specialized bikes are very efficient XC
designs. They've been selling a decent package for around $1500 for the last
few years. Actually all the big brands are selling decent FS bikes in that
price range these days. You don't have to go boutique anymore, to get a good
performer that won't fall apart.

However, the SC bikes are definately a cut above, so it may be worth scraping
one together. IME, even the cheap Shimano components work really well, but it's
worth spending money on a good chassis and suspension. If it really offends you
to put Alivio components on a boutique frame, buy some used XT/LX stuff off
eBay, or strip it off a used bike. Another great way to save money (and weight)
is to forget about disk brakes. They're indispensible in mud but otherwise
overrated.

Matt O.