Originally Posted by
Duke of Kent
In which case a Pivot 429 or Tallboy are like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Horses for courses. If a person feels the need to wear a full face, a 100mm FS is not the bike I'd be riding.
I ride a carbon HT in Pisgah and Pisgah-like terrain in VA regularly; firmly in the XC realm. It's rough, and it will tear you apart if you mess up, but there is nothing "AM" about it.
Of course, if your WayBack machine is operating, you could go the early days of the 'freeride' trend (mid-late '90s) and people were doing chairlift assisted downhill runs all day long on their 75mm travel bikes.