Scoobs

And as if by magic......the shopkeeper appears.

Echoing what Matt says really. Unless you are spending big bucks, stay away from suspension. It will be rubbish and heavy. I've done the full suspension thing and it was great and for downhill it is really a requirement. However, I now ride a hardtail (front suspension only).

V brakes are more than sufficient for stopping power and will be superior to low end cheapy discs. A good set of discs are awesome though. You get superior stopping power, don't have to squeeze the lever as hard, they don't get covered in gloop like rim brakes and they don't wear through the rim.

In the past I have gone for lightweight, bling, machined components. They look great, but ultimately don't work as well as Shimano components. I also have an issue with there strength. I have broken a lot of the billet stuff, but never broken any Shimano stuff. Plain and simple.....it works.