I might be thinking about buying a new set of wheels at some point but as a relative beginner the choice out there is bewildering.

So what would you go for given the choice?

And could anyone recommend a bike for Moi?? Roughly speaking I'm thinking about a nice light full sus frame with decent gear on it. I'm only 5'4" so it would have to come in 16" frame. Budget - not sure as at the moment its something to aspire to/save up for anyway!

Nice light full sus...the Scott Genius fits the bill nicely. Although it might stretch your budget. Scott have however, gone radical this year with a new design called the Spark which is based on a similar principle. It does mean that you could pick up a Genius quite cheap in the sales.

Check out their website at: http://www.scottusa.com/global/bike/offroad/

2 questions.....how much travel do you want and what is the upper limit on the budget?

If I was in the market for trading in my Yeti ASR (very nice bike indeedy) there are 2 bikes that I would look at....

Santa Cruz Blur XC - they do a XS frame now, 1300pounds for the frame.

and for real bling

Titus racer-x titanium/exogrid (drool) - but this one is probably silly money so i would settle for the blur.

I am also 5'4" and have a Kona hardtail from the Kula range -great geometry, short top tube and nice, light frames - about £400 I think - I just test rided the Kona 'The King' based on a Kikapu frame which felt very similar in terms of geometry. Look out for the 2007 Queen Kikapu with women's geometry - 1500 pounds for the complete bike but the finishing kit may be heavy.

The Santa Cruz Juliana has a good reputation but the 2007 model is slightly different and not available yet - its 850 pounds new.
I've just got a new frame - an XS sized Yeti AS-R - second hand - I've not built it up yet but road tested a fully built one which was great - although it had 80mm forks which were too low for me (Yeti recommend 100mm ones). They are 1200 pounds new, frame only.

The last MTB wheels I got were Shimao M575s I think, about 4 years ago. I don't recommend them - they look the business but have to be trued differently and have extra deep rims so you need long value inner tubes to pump them up properly, which is a pain.

CS - just out of interest how old is your asr frame and what did you pay for it secondhand? I want to get an idea of how much I could possibly sell mine for.
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This is CS, now posting as Lucky the Cat...the AS-R frame is from 2004 and I got it for under £500, so less than half price. I thought that was a good price given it's been sat in a cupboard for a year and has very little wear & tear. It's one with a 5th element shock. I already knew the person selling - I'd be reluctant to buy a full sus frame unseen from ebay.

Ooo, the Scott Genius is lovely. Budget is probably not more than £1500 - will keep an eye out for the bargain bins.

In terms of travel... hhm, what's an average amount for trail riding and enough to handle "wild" riding in Scottish Highlands....4 or 5" inches ???

I will probably concentrate on getting a good frame and forks if full bike too pricey; my current bike has some good bits on it.

If you are looking 2nd hand I have a SC Juliana 2006 sz medium for sale (will be avail late oct/nov). It's full sus with Fox RP3 shock (90mm), Fox Float RLC forks (100mm) and SRAM X9 build kit. Will have new grips, tyres and saddle and pos new chain and cassette too. We had it as a demo bike, but it didn't get taken out too much so is in good condition. Get in touch if you do fancy it. We're looking for £1600 (I know a little over, but you could sell your old bike!), retail on this was £2330. It really is a great little bike, fantastic going up and down and can handle a lot. I rode it for a week in Aviemore (including all 3 trails at Laggan wolftracks) and it was perfect. If you want something harder hitting though I also have a small SC Nomad (160mm rear travel) with 2007 Fox 36 forks and SRAM X0 kit ready to sell in about a week, but that will be around £2000 for full bike. Great fun to ride though!

if you hunt about or buy from the USA, think about the Titus moto loco light. An absolutely awesome bike, smallest full suss frame on the market and rides like a dream. great for climbing hills and small enough to throw about around bends and fr4eeride stuff.

I'm 5ft 4 and like LizT ride a Titus MotoLite and have absolutely no interest in buying another full-suss frame, if I broke it tomorrow I'll probably replace it with another one. I'm 5ft 4 and ride the XS but I like small frames and know I wouldn't be happy on the S. I also imported it from the USA about 2 years ago.

I still love the look of a Rocky Mountain Blizzard hardtail frame even though I don't need another bike.....