Is your brother looking for something new, used or something to build up? A friend of mine had a stumpjumper M4 comp and had some issues with the rear dropouts and the wheel falling out while she was riding. She ended up getting reimbursed and getting something else(however this was a pretty rare issue). If hes gonna build it up or get a used bike a schwinn homegrown built up nicely would be pretty damn sweet...or some sort of used bike with a ti frame like this;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=27947

would be excelent, the frame could last a good 10 years w/ hard riding.