"rides like a bike with less travel"

Maybe theyre refering to the climbing aspect of the bike riding like a bike with less travel? If not, i can agree with that statement that a bike can feel like it doesnt have said travel. First bike that comes to mind is the newer carbon nomad. They dont feel nearly as "plush" or "deep" as most 160mm travel bikes. As far as that being a compliment, i guess it could be put either way. It could be considered a snappy and stiff pedaling platform or maybe it will feel "too harsh" on the descents to others. Its hard to say

Jordan

 

Pedals ​like a bike with less travel. My mistake.

 

You might as well switch to Playboy.

 

For the most part...

Most full suspension designs now are pretty good. Over the last 10 years the manufacturers have worked out most suspension designs to be pretty good overall. Couple that with the better shock technology and you'd be hard pressed to find a bike that does not work well these days. Like most others have stated, you need to find out what kind of bike geometry suits your style of riding and choose your bike based on that.

 

You might want to upgrade to some 25c tires for an extra 1/32 of an inch of travel. Ultra-cush.

 

One thing we would joke about every year at Interbike was how much better everything is than last year. "Our doo-dad is now 10% stiffer and 15% lighter than our previous model." Wow, all this improvement every year is phenomenal. We must have been on tanks a few years ago (not too far off for some bikes). Although, if you plot out such improvements with real numbers you'd see actual results were pretty minuscule. Marketing is great. It's time I get some new components.

 

Actually there is a lot of truth to the claim but what they don't mention is proportional price increase that went along with the performance increase.

BUT if money is no object the old bikes were tanks! Old Lenz 29er with 5 of travel and weight in at over 30lbs just a few years ago compare to say carbon Stumpy FSR carbon 29er with same travel at around 25-26lb is a tank by all definitions. Most 5-6 inch travel bikes now have carbon version like the Mojo can be built to 25lbs or lower and just 5 years ago the same capability bike will be well over 30lbs.

 

I remember how stoked I was when I built up my Santa Cruz Heckler in 1998 at it weighed 24.6lbs. Of course it had only 8 speeds, V-brakes, square taper BB, and 4" of travel. I guess those limiting factors saved weight.

 

the most played out phrase in mt. biking is:

"this tire is so predictable after it breaks loose..."