I've test riden all of the bikes on the list and they all felt very good with some subtle differences of course. It's hard to get a true feel for how a bike is going to perform on the measly little test rides the bike shops in my area allow for mountain bikes. I did look at the SJ's of course and they seemed very nice. In my area they seem to be a fair bit higher priced for similar builds than many other bikes though. The 09 Elites are $2599 with a an SLR/XT w/ a mix w/ a Talas fork which is a step down for about the same price. I don't enough about the different designs to tell which system is going to be better, FSR vs. Maestro vs. Full Floater vs. G2. I know they all do pretty much the same stuff but am still looking for some advice. Thanks!!!