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Saw Kiran on alloy test mule in the winter. You cannot just make small geo changes to carbon production molds.

It's like comparison of digital cameras. Lens quality? Sensor size and DR? Shutter implementation? Who cares, it has 600Mpix!

Mullet trail bikes will often climb so well before the effective gear is smaller. Depending on where you are it can be a wee benefit. So far as push saying no to building shocks they don’t think would work well for the application? I don’t get how that’s unhelpful, it’s probably the opposite. Building something you don’t think will meet your own standards or performance goals seems like a recipe for poor experience and service.

@CascadeComponents right now...

We already know his name as he's been making waves for some time already (which is crazy to say given that he's only 11 at present), but Weston Lukens aka " Wes_sends" is set to take the next step now as he has signed on with Neko Mulally's Frameworks program. They've developed a custom 24/26 mullet for him to ride, and by the looks of this reel, Wes is feeling at home on the new rig already. The future is bright...in fact, the future is now!

For the VPP question, I feel like VPP doesn't really matter until you hit 140-150mm+ travel wise. Smaller than that and the benefits are less note-able and the system adds weight to platforms that need to shed it in the configuration SC currently had it in. When the OG Intense Spyder VPP and SC Blur came out they were simple layout frames that were pretty light and that carried on until the late 2010's when they went low shock mount for better center of gravity. Horst link with a vertical shock position helps keep the weight lower than the low...

99.5% of people looking for a GT or SC would have absolutely no fucking clue what Pon is lol. GT disappeared because all they had was their heritage, and that's not enough to carry a brand indefinitely as they pumped out mostly unappealing bikes year after year. I personally don't know anyone that considered buying one in recent memory. I had a GT bmx in 2006 and really liked it, so when I got properly into mountain biking I always looked at GT. Other options were always better. I stopped looking at them years ago. If GT was successful then...