cycle craft will be hosting dirt demo on saturday, july 24th. (check out the new jersey forum for more info) and will have most of the bikes you mentioned with the exception of the 5 spot. they will have ellsworth though which is also a four bar. i have been on my 5.5 since april and i love it. i didn't like the blur. i had an ellsworth before i bought my 5.5 and i liked it alot but the 5.5 is pretty much nirvana. mine is dialed to be very plush over everthing even when climbing although pedal induced bobbing is completely eliminated. that being said, try them all out and decide for yourself. good luck.cocoloco said:
i have ridden four bar bikes for years. i have had a vpp (5.5) since april. the vpp is active under power is just doesn't react to pedal induced bobbing but it does react to bumps biga and small. big difference. brake jack is minimal in fact it's actually less than on some four bar linkage bikes that i have ridden (giant nrs)jrm said:
just because two frames are built around the same design princple doesn't mean that they are going to behave exactly the same when ridden as complete bikes. there are way to many variables (i'm only referring to the frame) that can make two are more bikes with the same inherent design behave completely different. for arguments sake let's say that all four bar/horst linkage bikes behave the same based on the fact that they have the same design principle. i assure you that turner, ellsworth and ventana owners would bombard this thread saying that their bike's suspension reacts differently than others mentioned. see what i mean? all i am saying is that don't just knock vpp just because you rode one that didn't meet your expectations. hey, i love 4 bar as my most recent bike was an ellsworth truth that i had for almost 4 years. additionally, i had one the first turner burners available in 1996! back then that was considered almost a downhill bike and it had only about 3 inches of travel! the burner and truth i had rode completely different from each other yet they are based on the same design. i have also ridden 4 bar bikes that i didn't like. so that's it. i hope this helps shed some light on this 4 bar vs. vpp nonsense. what one person sees as a negative another may find attractive. i'm only trying to be objective here.jrm said:
hey jrm. listen, i completely respect your opinion. in fact, i also rode a blur before i bought my 5.5 and i didn't care for the blur at all but i did see the potential in a longer travel version of the vpp design. as for 4 bar bikes, i also really enjoy riding them as well. in a perfect world i would probably have a vpp 5 inch travel bike AND a 4 bar 5 inch travel bike each bike set up slightly different. so unless i win the lottery or get a big raise i will have to limit the amount of bikes i have in the garage to one mountain and one road bike. happy trails man.jrm said:
I also test rode a blur before I decided on a 5.5 . I think it's a completely differant bike.phatbiker said:
