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Used giant bike, looks to have good frame, brakes and fork... need help!?

Hello everyone, I've been asking questions here rather frequently, but I am still in need of help. I almost had my hands on a specialized stumpjumper comp m-3 for $250.00 but the buyer reluctantly pulled out after she decided that she'd like to ride the bike for another summer... shucks! And I was so close to having what I wanted. Looks like I'm going the alternative route, to buy bikes for their parts and assemble my own (for now, not including the future, when I'll be possibly buying a new bike). Which brings me to my question, what does the MSRP of this bike look to be? It's used, on its last legs, but a few parts of the bike look savalgeable; the frame, fork and brakes (although they are v-brake... those aren't high quality, right?) Anyway, take a look here at the bike: http://houston.craigslist.org/bik/286502596.html (higher resolution of the bike shows it to be a 2405 MXT Giant). Thanks very much, Av

Public Comments

1. OK. They saw him comming at $900. This would have been a while back. Anyway, the Shimano pods indicate that this is not a top spec machine. Pods come in 7,8 or 9 rear sprocket, but by the looks of it, you will have a 7 (21 gears). The sprockets are probably worn, as are the chain, so I would not look at salvaging these. The pods are cheep. The forks look like 80 mm RSTs. Not great. The handle bars and stem are cheep, as are the tyres. The saddle is not great either. Overall, the kit is old and cheep. Frame is probably OK. Looks, by the thickness of the pipes, like it might be ali, although steel is more probable. So now the question. What sort of mountain biking do you want to do? If you want to do a bit of trail work around your local jogging routes, or leisure lake track. This will be OK. You will also be able to manage some cross country, but it will be a struggle on some of the climbs. If you want to do any form of club or competition work, NO. In short, it is old and you will struggle. If you just want cheep components - e-bay. Luck
2. If you want this bike just to ride to school/work/the store, etc. it might get you there and back. If you are looking to use it on any kind of trail, no good. By the time you upgrade any worn parts, you will be spending enough to buy a new bike. You can get a good entry level MTB for 200-250 dollars, and it will come with factory warranties, and support from the shop you bought it at. Building your bike up from scratch is almost always more expensive than purchasing a bike outright.
3. You're going to buy a good bike in the future, but you don't know when that'll be, right? This bike could be good for you. You'll learn about maintenence (for sure), and you'll have something to ride and keep in shape until you can get something better. Also, you'll probably still be able to get $60 for it after you're finished with it!
4. no offense but that bike is a pice of crap for 900.00$ you could have made a custom bike a danscomp or bought like 3 bikes