well i thought i'd update the thread. i ended up going with a green Vassago Jabberywocky with the matching Odis fork from Hucknroll for $645. i researched for about two month befor ei made the purchase. i knew i wanted a 29er and at first was going to get an Niner One 9, then found the jabberwocky and the Misfit diSSent and went back and forth between the two... the geometry looked GREAT on both, but i ultimately went with the Vassago. i do want both a niner and misfit in the future, but that will wait several more years until i have a job. i wanted a theme for the bike, but i also didn't want it to stand out overtly seeing as i'll be in rural alabama for the fall semester with this bike living in essentially a hut with electricity (no heat or A/C) and on my college campus. the bike is army-ish green and all my components are black. i got a red chain to make it "pop" a little bit and i'm pretty excited to see the color combo. greena nd red are my favorite colors.
it was a huge benefit that i couldn't access the money for the build until late july. i began my search in early june and was able to fine tune my list of components based on cost, reviews, preference, and budget concerns. we'll see how it all comes together!
here's my component list and pictures and a complete price list of them all.
RACE FACE RIDE DH X-TYPE SS CRANKS
Black, 170mm, 68/73mm, 36T
$74 (67% off. MSRP is $226)
WTB SPEED V COMP SADDLE
$23.99 (40% off. MSRP $40)
RACE FACE RIDE XC STEM '10
Black, 90X31.8mm, 6Deg
$21.99 (15% off from $25)
CANE CREEK S-3 HEADSET
Black, 1 1/8", Threadless
$35 (42% off from $60)
ERGON GC2 RACE GRIPS WITH ALLOY BAR ENDS
$29.95 (25% off from $40)
KALLOY RADIUSSED TOP SEATPOSTS
$20.39
KMC K710SL SUPERLITE KOOL CHAIN RED
$20.45
except for the frame and fork all of this stuff came from jenson usa. the rest of the components came from about 4 or 5 different websites. i cross checked and compared prices and specs and got everything i want for the amount of money they cost.