buying a new bike

alright, i am going to buy a new mountain bike and i am wandering if anyone has any tips on how to go about starting a search for a bike. I am looking to spend anywhere from 400-750 bucks on a new bike and will most likely be riding cross country with average size jumps and downhills. i will be riding in northern arizona. if anybody has any suggestions on types of bikes/components to look for please let me know. also, if there are any good sources of bike/component reviews, that would be great.

 

Look at the iron horse bikes on there website http://www.ironhorsebikes.com/. They have some good cross country bikes for your price range. They arnt a real big huge yet company so your not paying as much for a brand name.