I was looking at bikes last year and was kinda in the same predicament. Looked at the high "low end" and the low "high end". Definitely go with low high end stuff as pretty much all of the dept store stuff is the same junky componentry and you are just paying more for decal kits and "supposedly" better looking frames. My original budget was $500 , and I settled on a Trek 6000 for $829 and got the bike and an 80 dollar accesory credit. In essence you are getting the same frame as any of the 6000/6500 models which run as high as $2000 just with more consumer grade components, but still much higher end than a dept store bike. Mine has S-Ram X-7 compnenetry which is definitely not bottom of the barrel. Even though I went 330 over budget, I am glad I spent the extra since I now ride it at least 3 times a week 20 km's or more. I just find riding a higher end bike to be a superior experience and is thus much more enjoyable making me want to ride it a lot more.
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