Need advice in choosing a bike

[Avua]

Hello fellow cyclists! Haven't been here for a while.
So, me and my wife consider buying a new MTB.
It should have only mech disc brakes (BB5 and BB7 would do), men hardtail frame, fork suspension, mid-range equipment or higher. Price doesn't really concern us. The weight must not exceed 14 kilos though.
The problem is that there are not too many decent bikes to choose from.
I mean, many brands simply install some lousy hydraulics which I don't really like because I don't want to have some sort of quazi-motocycle (if you get what I mean).
I digged up some variants on the net:

Trek 3900 Dics
http://www.trekbikes.com/int/en/bikes/mountain/sport/3_series/3900_disc/#/int/en/model/details?url=int/en/bikes/mountain/sport/3_series/3900_disc

Hardrock Sport Disc
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCProduct.jsp?spid=61435&scid=1100&scname=Mountain

What do you think of these two? Any other suggestions?

[froze]

They're the same frame made in the same factory in China! The component mixture is a little bit different, but either would work about the same. Because I don't live in Russia my advice is very limited because different parts of the world have different offerings thus I do not know what is offered there where you live... sorry.

[JohnV]

Be careful when buying bikes on the Internet. If you haven't tried riding or sitting on either of the bikes, I would be very cautious about proper fit when buying sight-unseen. If you know your exact size, make sure that the frame dimensions are the same or almost the same on the bikes that you are comparing. In any case, good luck on your purchase. Either bike should give you years of riding.

[froze]

(11-26-2011, 09:05 AM)JohnV Wrote:  Be careful when buying bikes on the Internet. If you haven't tried riding or sitting on either of the bikes, I would be very cautious about proper fit when buying sight-unseen. If you know your exact size, make sure that the frame dimensions are the same or almost the same on the bikes that you are comparing. In any case, good luck on your purchase. Either bike should give you years of riding.

This isn't all that true. Most custom built bikes are ordered over the internet and/or phone and never ridden till the day the bike arrives by mail. Getting a bike over the internet is not a big deal, it's done all the time. Factory made bikes have stock sizes same as LBS has, so if you know your size the bike will fit; but just like LBS bikes you may have to dink with the stem and seat and seat post. I have bikes ranging from 55cm to 58cm and all of them fit and I got them to fit by knowing how to adjust stuff, and do it by trial and error. Usually within a week of riding I have a bike dialed in. And I've known people who went to LBS's and got the wrong size bike because the dealer wanted to get rid of the bike so lied about the fit of it.