We recently bought 20+ new mountain bikes for a new program we added at the YMCA Camps for the children who come to summer camp here.
We checked out the different manufacturers before deciding which to buy. What I learned is that there are 2 major players in the mountain bike game who offered bikes in our price range. Trek and Giant. We consulted with a few different retailers and learned that both are comparable in quality, peformance and price. The store we bought form sold both brands but suggested that we should go with Trek because of their customer service. I was told that if there was any problem, Trek is much easier to deal with in getting warranty work done if needed. The owner of the bike shop told me that Trek would quickly rectify any problems and relied heavily upon the vendors judgement in dealing with warranty issues. On the other hand he also told me that Giant always wants to have their people inspect parts before replacing them and often had "engineers" who seemed to always find some sort of loop hole for denying warranty work.
With that said, we decided to purchase the Trek bikes. So far we have been pretty happy and the kids really enjoyed the new additiona to our program.
The shop we worked with was Covina Valley Cyclery located on Citrus in Covina. Rich is the owner and is a very nice guy. He and his employees went out of their way to help us and offer many suggestions to help us develop a sucessful program.
I know of a couple others on this forum who may be able to offer their opinions as well. I am sure you will get some good suggestions on different areas and trails that are great for riding in this area.
Good luck!
