Well...I finally pulled the trigger on a mountain bike. I ended up going with a Windsor Cliff 4500 instead of the Gary Fisher. I ordered it this morning for $300 - see the link below.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/windsor_cliff4500_x_sale.htm
I had actually explored lots of options before deciding on the Windsor, but was really impressed with the look of the new 4500, which has a new frame and components compared to the old 4500, but sells for $50 less. Some components were similar to Trek and Gary Fisher models at pricepoints of $550+ (Shimano Alivio rear deraillur, Tektro Novella brakes - ok, so that's only two but we will see how the other components hold up).
The Windsor has a shorter top tube (a difference of about 1.25 inches), but as Andrew pointed out, the Fisher might have been too long for me (I'm 5'7.5" tall on a good day).
Before making my purchase, I asked the guy in the Youtube video referenced above how his Windsor 4700 was holding up, and he is very happy with it after 500 miles on it. In a side by side comparison of the bikes, the only differences are the forks, rear deraillur, and perhaps the cassette, but everything else looks identical. I might have paid the $80 extra for the 4700 had it not come in a yellow color, but I also really liked the 4500 black. :thumbsup:
Anyway, we will see how this works out. I'm excited about it and think I got a good deal. I will mostly be riding singletrack and won't be doing any crazy jumps or drops (my 39 year old body couldn't handle it anyway LOL), so I'm sure it will be fine. I have created a thread over in the Motobecane section, and will share my experiences and pictures once the bike arrives. You can read the thread here:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=699026
