bulky, poor build quality (with photos to prove it), doesn't vent well... can't see how you can argue that. looks pretty good though.

fair enough, though i do think they need to do more testing if the bike seemingly can't handle a few high impact loads.

nice work vital crew. telling it like it is!

ibis might want to visit the santa cruz test lab down the street to see how it's really done... sounds like some hokey engineering going on in an effort to make the lightest bike. a 140mm trail bike should be able handle a few small drops. it'll be interesting to see if a new bolt really does solve the linkage contact issue.

if you polled long term users of any bike they dropped $6k on you'd likely get positive thoughts. just sayin.

ya'll are over thinking this one. it was a short term review and says so. take it for what it is? it climbs poorly in slack mode, weighs a bunch, and creaked. seems simple to me.

personally i think this is awesome. the payouts are higher than any other race. enduro is getting a boost. it's also another big **** you to the uci.

would be interesting to compare the spectator numbers for a pro mens race vs pro womens. live or on the net. hate to say it, but i kinda doubt that it'd even be half...

reality check for ya: the average rider isn't going to service a fork. maybe ever. and they're going to expect a fork to never leak regardless of the ride time. personally i like that he rode it til it bled and kept going. a dude's gotta ride.

manitou says it takes 20 hours just to break in. they also say to service it every 3 months under extreme use. in this case the wear does seem premature.