definately a good starter bike me and my mate both got em. he's snapped his but it was used (2004 version, alot weaker than 05) when he got it and he got insanely good really fast. im at about average learning rate but mines new 05, and is doing me fine. by the way id get the 05 its very slightly heavier than 04 but is still a very light bike, the extra weight comes from reinforcements exactly where my mate snapped his. plus if it wasnt any good why would chris akrigg ride one for ages before his dumb move to mongoose