maybe some of it is snobbish, but a lot depends on what you ride and how much you weigh.the suntour fork really is inadequate for serious singletrack use. I'm talking about roots, drops, large rocks. But then again, it wasn't meant for that-- trek would have you buy a 29er MTB instead.so I think the suntour fork is fine for the DS series. if you need more fork, you need more bike.