Russ, haven't seen you around much here. A welcome addition to this thread of only for seeing a new high end bike every 2 months.

 

Ugh one of the uber bosses at work asked me to go mountain biking with him. Guess I might as well entertain the idea of a Santa Cruz.

 

Do you not have a Mtn bike? My only thought would be two things

If you do. Ride what you have See what kind of a rider he is in comparison.

Maybe he's real fast and then it gives you an excuse to buy a better bike.

Maybe he's real slow and you've shown up. Got bored and spent a few thousand and he thinks you have too much money

 

Not currently (nor have I ever). I had a BMX bike and a track bike that I sold, and I have another track bike (that means a lot to me, so even if I never ride it again it's going on the wall) and a road bike.

I have my eye on a Stumpjumper FSR Expert. Maybe, just maybe.

 

If you don't care what an expensive bike says to your boss go for it. If he might care. Tread softly. Maybe borrow a bike. You may not like it. You'd have to be dead to not like it but hey......I've seen worse.

 

I half-want the right bike to not come off as a douche to the boss, but at the same time this is one of those things that I see myself doing long term (so long as there are trails available to me anyway). So many of my friends think I'm crazy for never having gotten started with all the trails around here (Joplin!) so...I might just get the right XC bike to begin with.

Just emailed the owner, we'll see what's up.

 

You should be able to get a couple year old stumpy for $1200-$1500, thats not bad and if you don't like it reselling shouldn't be too much of a hit.

 

About to go on a ride for the first time in 2 weeks. I'll be buying cleats and pedals sometime next week. Can't wait.

 

Just rent one first, no reason to spend money on it

 

My contribution to the thread.