Ok...so I'm sold on the Gary Fisher Genesis 2 geometry, and I want my next mountain bike to be a Gary Fisher. Yesterday, I test rode a Gary Fisher Advance and I really liked it - even better than the Trek 4300. Technically I CAN afford the $570 pricetag, but honestly, I really don't know if I want to spend that much on a bike...and I'm not a huge fan of the orange color.
So...there is the Tarpon for $100 less, minus the disc brakes and Alivio derailur (although I have a $25 eBay gift card I got from work so I could purchase an Alivio derailure on eBay basically for free). The Advance has 8 speeds, compared to the Tarpon's 7 speed, and the Advance has a better fork.
Honestly, how much difference would I notice between the two models? I'm pretty much a novice mountain biker and I live in Nebraska, so there's nothing too technical here, and so far, even though disc brakes "look" really cool, I like V brakes better, at least on the low end, because they don't rub against the hub, and because they are easier to pull the lever.
That said, would I be an utter moron for buying the Tarpon instead of the Advance?
So...there is the Tarpon for $100 less, minus the disc brakes and Alivio derailur (although I have a $25 eBay gift card I got from work so I could purchase an Alivio derailure on eBay basically for free). The Advance has 8 speeds, compared to the Tarpon's 7 speed, and the Advance has a better fork.
Honestly, how much difference would I notice between the two models? I'm pretty much a novice mountain biker and I live in Nebraska, so there's nothing too technical here, and so far, even though disc brakes "look" really cool, I like V brakes better, at least on the low end, because they don't rub against the hub, and because they are easier to pull the lever.
That said, would I be an utter moron for buying the Tarpon instead of the Advance?