2012 Trek Cobia 29er Mountain Bike
Thanks to the advent of 29er wheels, the hardtail has received a resurgence in popularity as it bridges the gap between nervous 26" hardtails and short-travel dual suspension bikes in terms of comfort and ride quality. Due to the G2 geometry, Trek 29er hardtails are very much at the forefront of this movement by providing great value mountain bikes that are helping to get more people of varying skill levels out onto the trails. The Trek Cobia has seen a substantial price drop over the past couple of seasons and is bringing the excellent Superfly geometry and handling down to a more budget-friendly pricepoint. Sure you can drop grams by going up the price range, but for weekend warriors that are after sure-footed confidence off road, a 10 speed SRAM drivetrain and a RockShox Recon air fork - the Trek Cobia is hard to look past at this price.

The biggest news for 2012 is the introduction of the 10 speed X5 grouspet from SRAM, featuring trickel-down technology from the 2x10 X0 and XX groupsets. You still get the triple crankset up front to give you a nice wide gear ratio, while the close range 10 speed cassette out back gives slick shifting from the X5 rear derailleur.
29ers are nothing without good quality wheels, and this is where Trek shines as they ensure that every 29er bike features the stiffest and strongest wheelset for the pricepoint. With Shimano hubs on Bontrager 29er rims, the Cobia wheelset will take a beating off road, and the soft XR3 tyres dish out oodles of traction for grip in all sorts of nasty conditions you'll be getting yourself into. 
The finishing touch on the Cobia is the RockShox Recon fork that uses an adjustable air-spring that is lighter, smoother and easier to setup than its cheaper coil siblings. Flip the lockout on for rigidity and smashing along fireroads and bike paths, or flick it into the open position for off-road and let it rip!