Originally Posted by
Kapusta
It would help if you posted a link to the Bikes Direct bike and the Trek you are considering. Bikes Direct can be fine of you are don't mind doing some work yourself to make sure it is put together right. All three pairs of wheels I have looked at from them were cup & cone bearings (which is OK) that were over-tightened (which is not OK). If you catch something like that from the beginning it will be fine.
That said, $400 does not get you much, but it you are only going out a few times a year and have no plans to push yourself on the trails, it will get you by. At this price-point, the suspension forks are often bad enough that an argument could be made for going fully rigid with plus-sized tires.
At this price point, buying used made a lot of sense before the COVID Bike Boom, but the prices that used bikes under $1K are fetching now makes buying new look a lot more appealing. It is totally a sellers market.
This is the bike I'm mostly leaning to:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...tain-bikes.htm
Some of the full suspension ones look like a decent deal too, but not sure I want to go down that route.
Still no luck on the used market. The bikes I have found that I would like are all sold remarkably quick. Last one I found in like 40min of posting and it was gone already.