This bike lasted over 7 years and took to me many cool places. Including Canaan, all over the GWNF and the Shenandoah mountains, brush mtn, wakefield/rosaryville/fountainhead/schaeffer/etc... I've done gone and cracked the seattube and the bottom bracket juncture, hairlines on either side. So that's what the creaking has been since a high-speed fall at... Rosaryville?!? :madman:
I currently bummed because this wasn't supposed to happen until after I graduated from JMU and could at least hope of making some real money... But I am nevertheless looking to exhaust the bank account of my newly earned cash and I am looking at ~5", do-it-all full suspension bikes for around $1500-$1800. I'll likely sell off the Homegrown's parts to finance this. The 08 Trek Fuel EX looks like tons of R&D went into the frame, but at $1900, the EX 7 seems pricey. (https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/mountain_full_suspension/fuel_ex/fuelex7). There is also an 07 closeout in town for a Jamis XAM 1.0 (https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/bikes/07_bikes/dakarxam1.html). The XAM is a better deal in terms of the build, excepting maybe the wheels. But the 07 closeout is the 17" frame, which of course feels much shorter in the cockpit than my Homegrown. I'm sure it would rip downhills, but I need this bike for EVERYTHING including commuting, 50+ mile road rides, drunken erands, dh sessions, etc. The lifetime warranty on the Trek frame is another apparent plus b/c I will likely hold onto this bike until it breaks. Any other advice for a replacement bike? I want to buy new because it seems like companies do warranty to the original owner only, right?