BrennanHuff

@mikekazimer: Thanks. Interesting - Its progressive, yet tied to an air shock with a large volume spacer which is seemingly wouldnt need. I didnt see the leverage ratio posted in the Norco Optic review, but its interesting that you noted that was also fairly progressive, but it was spec'd with a shock that should be more linear in nature. Its funny to me that so many bike companies are now producing progressive suspension setups but spec'ing air shocks, and many of them are very progressive air shocks at that. YT has been doing it for years, but others are now following suit. Santa Cruz's new bikes are super progressive, yet you cant fit a coil on one until you get to the MegaTower - makes no sense to me. Anyway, I digress - My point really is I'm surprised you liked the heavier Norco so much more than this, given its fairly similar geo, wheelbase, and this Orbea has nice AS/AR and LR numbers. Wonder how much comes down to that shock?

"Occam sees the leverage ratio changed at the start for improved sensitivity, while anti-squat was bumped up by 7-percent to play nice with wide-range cassettes. Anti-rise was changed, too, dropping to a lower percentage to minimize the rear brake's influence on the suspension. " Can you include the graphs so we can see them too?

@mikekazimer: Do you do this for every review? I never see it. I recall you planned on having a series diving into this a few months back, but nothing in a while. And yes, I meant it slightly tongue in cheek as I think providing the leverage, AS, AR, etc curves are extremely useful for each of us to make our own conclusions and would really add to the content provided... I really do enjoy both your and Levy's prose. I think you guys do a great job. It's hard not to be hyperbolic, bikes are so good these days. You have to go to the extreme to discriminate between them at times.

And I mean it sincerely when I say as much as I like how you guys write... why not just include the leverage curves? It's just as, if not more valuable, than the hyperbole and pedantic nitpicking included in the reviews and 100s of follow up comments.