#2, #3 and #12 were great replies.
Your ability to ride/handle a mountain bike has way more to do with how fast it will be than how many stars some reviewer (depending on advertising $$) gave it. Don't get hung up on the brand/model until your skills are pretty refined. Nice call on full suspension. FS is going to be faster for most people, but the cost and maintenance are way higher. Suspension is also tricky and can require quite a bit of tinkering to get right. Be prepared to do twice the tinkering and maintenance that you would for a CX bike.
Trying to find a lightly used FS 29" XC bike from the last few years is your best bet. Anything nice and recent should be 10 speed and you can easily drop down to a single ring in front for simplicity and weight savings. 10 speed Shimano SLX is like the 105 of the mt bike world where it works great without draining your wallet.
Mountain bikes are an area where I absolutely disagree with the idea of buying a nice frame and upgrading it as you go along. The "standards" seem to change every other year, especially for hubs/wheels. It's hard to find a high end wheel from 2-3 years ago that fits in the high end bikes being sold today.
Edit: +1 on the Pinkbike recommendations. They have a lot of good tech articles on maintenance, suspension setup and tire pressure.
Your ability to ride/handle a mountain bike has way more to do with how fast it will be than how many stars some reviewer (depending on advertising $$) gave it. Don't get hung up on the brand/model until your skills are pretty refined. Nice call on full suspension. FS is going to be faster for most people, but the cost and maintenance are way higher. Suspension is also tricky and can require quite a bit of tinkering to get right. Be prepared to do twice the tinkering and maintenance that you would for a CX bike.
Trying to find a lightly used FS 29" XC bike from the last few years is your best bet. Anything nice and recent should be 10 speed and you can easily drop down to a single ring in front for simplicity and weight savings. 10 speed Shimano SLX is like the 105 of the mt bike world where it works great without draining your wallet.
Mountain bikes are an area where I absolutely disagree with the idea of buying a nice frame and upgrading it as you go along. The "standards" seem to change every other year, especially for hubs/wheels. It's hard to find a high end wheel from 2-3 years ago that fits in the high end bikes being sold today.
Edit: +1 on the Pinkbike recommendations. They have a lot of good tech articles on maintenance, suspension setup and tire pressure.