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Purely hypothetical, but what would you pick and why

None of them because I don't like any of those brands. If I had to it would be the Gary Fisher as the less of the evils.

i voted for the Trek Fuel solely b/c of a Trek shop in Pitt I stopped at once. The place and people are first class. I liked riding the Fuel (Fox Shock is sweet!) but it was out of my price range at that time...

You forgot the Heckler

Since no heckler or Turner RFX are in the listing, the Pitch Pro.

Probably Pitch. Have a Tass, and don't think I'd buy another G2 bike, so the Roscoe is out. Never liked the way the Moto looked, which is a bad reason to eliminate it, but I just can't get past it's ugliness. So I'd try the Spec and Trek, but I have yet to ride a Trek that feels good. If the Heckler was a choice, it would be a serious contender.

The Fuel EX 8 really doesn't belong on the list given how little suspension travel it has. The Trek Remedy is a better match for the other bikes. That said, I'd pick the Pitch Pro. Don't like Cannondale, not a fan of the crazy G2 geometry on the Roscoe. The Pitch Pro seems like a better value than the Remedy 7. I've also had a chance to test-ride it on local trails and it seems to work pretty well...

Interesting.

As to the Fuel EX 8 rather than the remedy, these bike are the closest in price and then spec.

These are brands that the shop I used to work for (might again) carries or can get.

I don't see Next on the list. Therefore, I cannot vote.

Junkard's back. The earth is turning properly on its axis again.

All is now good with the world.

He certainly adds a component of balance with his well-placed sparks of sarcasm.

Besides, we've been running low on the jerk factor here.

Specialized Pitch Pro sub $800 (Am I the only one that saw this typo in Bicycling Mag a few months back? I started to empty the kids piggy bank and then did the research.)

Trek for me... didn't like the paint job and color though. The straight forward frame and suspension design looks sensible to me.

I thought it was interesting that there's a pivot on the chainstay just ahead of the dropout, so in effect that would function as a 4-bar linkage FSR? I thought Specialized owns the IP to that...

.

I thought the Trek pivoted around the axle.

that cannondale is butt-ugly ... where does the cannondale rize fit in?

trail/xc.

Caveat: take it all with a grain of salt. Test/ride any of them you can, and get what feels the best, or what matches what you want out of the bike most if you can't test ride them.

Get the Pitch. Slacker, longer, lankier feeling. Can accept a 160mm fork later without screwing your warranty, if you like. ISCG mounts if you want to run a HAmmerschmidt later, or a mounted chainguide. As well: 20mm axle fork FTW.

The Trek is a bit less beefy, IMO from what I have seen, and I've not been impressed with the Fuel build quality. Nice looking frame, fugly paint. Not a deal breaker, but still... Now, the Remedy line OTOH...hand looks tits!

The Moto? Beefy, but despite that, the one I got to spin around on had one hell of a fleeeeeeexy rear end, more so than the two cheapy "Bullit" clone frames I've had in the past even. Fugly. Cannodale moving things overseas? Not good or bad, but in light of their past financial troubles, that could be something problematic in the future. Or not.

Fisher has had many issues over the years every time they've come out with something they tout as the latest and greatest dual suspension trail slayer. Not the company I'd go to with that, even with it being a part of Trek. However, much like Crank Bros. - I hear they have a great warranty program. Fugly.

None of the above.

Rocky Mountain.

I got screwed over by the Fisher warranty program, $100 off anything they had in stock. Their frames they had didn't interest me, wanted a set of rhythm wheels, none in stock, they didn't have the rhythm bars either only some big earls in green annodized. Wound up with a set of King Earl Cranks which were of the weaksauce. All I wanted was a front triangle.

Scrub I was hoping you would chime in, aren't you running a Totem on yours? Can I get a specs run down?

I am thinking the the bike fund jar might just be come the Pitch fund jar. Even the Comp model looks really good if I can't get the shop job I want. I looked at the Comp in a shop and the only things I can think of that I really don't like are the Juicy 3s and the cranks. Easily fixed though and not for a lot of scrill. Oh and the sissy narrow bars but that is an easy fix also.

Didn't the Totem go to the "big bike"?

If my quick search was right I think there is now a Lyrik.

Yep. Lyric, with a little bit over 66* HTA. Still sits low. The bike rocks. I bought the Comp and swapped on all my existing parts. The spec isn't too horrible on the Comp, but the Pro is better if you can swing it.

Other than the shock differences for 09 are minimal.