[pscook]

I am in the middle of cleaning/rebuilding my 2002 XC300. I really want a new bike, but I don't want a new bike. I know that my '02 is a great bike, but I just don't know how much better the modern bikes are. So, I am asking for help. As an aside, I have a coworker who may be interested in my bike, so I might be selling and looking for a replacement. If I were to replace/upgrade, what model/year should I look at? My price range is ~$4000, so a new bike is pretty much out of the question. I am kicking myself for not picking up Brent's roller and fixing it up. Kick kick kick!

Anyway, what differences would I see moving from a 2002 to a 2007/2009 or a 2010/2011? Which year/model should I avoid (have read a particular fork is to be avoided)? I am a mid C/B rider (depending on the size of the group) and I have ZERO idea of how to pay attention to suspension, so good suspension is pretty important (I don't want to buy a bike for $4k and then have to drop $1k on tuning).

The correlated question would be, "How hard/worth it to bring the 2002 300 up to modern spec?" Is it a simple (ha) question of doing a SSS front end conversion? Assume my bike is worth $2k, if I spend another $2K on upgrades will it be "as good as" a newer bike?

Any ideas, suggestions, or thoughts?