grompatrol

What possible reason could there be for capping the age at 22?

Two of the three testers had those Welgos prior to starting with the new pedals. They were better than the plastic, but didn't hold a candle to either the Chromags or Spanks. The Welgos are definitely better than the kids OEM pedals from virtually all bike companies though.

Reading through the comments and the DHR is dominating the thread. Not bad for a bike that hasn't been produced in years. ... Obviously there's interest, so if there's ever a 650b DHR produced, take my money! (Hell, I'd even go 29" if it meant a new DHR!)

Except that's a his Giant Glory, this year's simplified course was better suited to an Enduro bike so he ended up racing his Reign.

You can give them a crap bike like everybody else and they'll learn like everybody else. However, if you want to give them a leg up, a good bike really helps. Not to mention that the sweet bike is only 1/3rd about their performance. Another other 3rd is safety, they don't get bucked as much and are able to hold better lines. The final third is about how it'll make them faster for YOUR sake, it's a lot more fun to ride with a faster grom than one who's much slower for the sake of 'paying their dues'. Then again, I'm not even sure the old argument of hardtails making riders better holds any water. The groms I've ridden with ride FS bikes, but when they throw a leg over a hardtail they hardly skip a beat.