January 2nd, 2008 by 
fcebedo
How it happened:
At Interbike 2006 there was genuine enthusiasm for these new big-wheeled machines. During the past few years 29 inch wheeled bikes have established their place, largely in the form of hardtail and singlespeed bikes. Fairly quickly, the idea of full-suspension 29er bikes began to gather steam; the premier bike builders in the country poured their creativity and engineering into this new platform.
With just a few phone calls, the test was set in motion. Every manufacturer was excited that MTBR was going to do a bike shootout. This was going to be a fun challenge for MTBR. We are ‘User Reviews’ and we’re only getting started with ‘Editorial Reviews.’ But why not? It will be fun regardless! To mix things up, we invited 6 local riders to come test with us. There were only a few requirements. One requirement was that they fit the medium-size bikes we had. Also, the riders needed to ride and write fairly well. The most important condition was that they needed to smile a lot! None of the test crew were paid or given instructions on what to say or what not to say. To give the reader context, we’ve included a short biography on each rider to better understand their riding style and preferences. Read the rest of this entry »
