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Can't hit the thumbs up button enough, Mike.

Wait, are those really NICA rules!?

Very well said Noah, and fully agree. I believe it was Graves who was once quoted at an enduro race saying something along the lines of. You get to choose the parts you put on your bike, parts you trust, you don't get to choose the wight of the bike using those parts. I can't speak for all the bikes in this test, but since I was personally responsible for picking the spec. on the Banshee Phantom, I feel relatively qualified to offer a little insight on that one. Is it all based on cost vs. weight? Not exactly. Especially...

My advice to people: do not weigh your bikes - unless you're trying to build up a hill-climb specific bike. There have been a lot of tests and studies about bike weight, and the consensus is, it doesn't matter nearly as much as people think it does. For some reason, we all still think trail bikes should be ~28lbs, it's been that number for as long as I can remember. It was that number when I worked at shops - before we had dropper posts and tire choices beyond: folding, wire bead, or DH. When forks had 30 or 32mm...

I have this conversation with a lot of customers. In the PNW, these are 2nd/3rd/etc bikes. If you want one rig for everything, most of these brands offer a 140mm 29er, which seems to be the sweet spot. Unfortunately, the 140mm completes typically come with a spec that is burlier/heavier, almost the same as their 160mm counterparts. What I've been doing lately is custom building the 140mm platform with a build kit that is closer to the 120mm builds. Pike, 27mm rims, 2.3 or 2.4 EXO tires, etc. Keep the weight under 30lbs but have enough travel to back up...

Jeff, slow people don't need heavy tires, strong wheels, or real brakes. This, in turn, makes their bikes much lighter.

I think the issue is that we want our short travel bikes to be able to endure the same kind of trail abuse as our Enduro bikes for the most part. Manufacturers have recognized this, and while they are using smaller forks and slightly narrowrr wheels on these bikes, the rest of the components are fairly similar in weight, as well as the frames weighing about an extra pound or two in recent years. The big thing I noticed going to a shorter travel 29er, was not the weight, but the agility while descending. These bikes are so flickable and...

assegais may roll better than you think - https://youtu.be/je1UyJRYhIg?t=508

Excellent content in my hometown. Saw a lot of Hawes there, but no SoMo? Good stuff and good riding. Loving my Titan but that Phantom is making my pants move.

Compound! Its everything!

I started riding BMX in '79, then racing in '84, and raced DH starting in '98, racing Pro from '02 to '12. I've obviously spent a large portion of my life riding flats. I definitely disagree with the DMR Vault, as there's no pins in the middle, where the ball of your foot and the most pressure rests. And I definitely don't agree with "concavity is king", I prefer a FLAT, flat pedal with pins in the middle, not just around the edges. The Vault isn't much different than the good BMX pedals from 25+ years ago, funny how you...

I'm also 5'10 and don't like 29ers. I could do a mullet set up for sure, but some of us like to get low and squash stuff without buzzing our ass.