Problem with any review is that they're based on a certain rider's skills, abilities and experience: That of the reviewer. As well as the testing medium (location). I'm not saying that single pivot bikes are better than multipivots or virtual pivots, etc... but they can aide some riders. It's no secret that the DW Link helped out Sam Hill who is not a strong pedaller on courses that required a bit more pedalling, [I]than say Schladming[/I]. To state that many single pivots are better than linkage bikes and vice-versa is just opinion and personal preference.

Iron Horse was not taken over by Specialized, [I]although Sam Hill was[/I]. Dorel Industries purchased the brand off the auction block earlier this year and IH stopped making bikes in January after CIT Group dropped their funding. Dorel owns Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, Schwinn, Sugoi, Pacific Cycle and PTI. Don't expect any Sunday's or DW Link bikes other than those you can find left over from 2008/2009 on close out. Iron Horse has been slotted to be sold in department stores from here on out. Too bad. The Sunday was one of the best bikes I've owned.

Reminds me of when the North Face did the same thing here in the States and started selling their 'low-end' product and select skews to big box retailers. Even though it was the cheap stuff that didn't show up in most 'core climbing shops, initially it pissed off a lot of loyal customers and shops-which included being dropped from the first retailer in the country to pick up the brand and stuck with them up until that point. That was actually a pretty big slap in the face and sent a message throughout that tightnit community. I worked for a small climbing/outdoor store at the time and know that the entire staff boycotted TNF and stopped pushing their wares. I can't say if it hurt the North Face financially in the long run, but they lost a lot of face (no pun intended) and in my opinion lost a lot of their street cred, so to speak. On a positive note it made room for the likes of Arcteryx, Mountain Hardware, Marmot, etc... to gain more of that market share and fill the void as the core customer and dealer base shook out. As a mountain biker I feel a lot us share some of the same loyalties towards IBD's and brands as does the tightnit climbing community. My guess is that it will have a similar effect to Race Face and 'dumb down' the brand a bit for a lot of people. I like some of Race Face's products, but there's a lot of competition out there. But only time will tell how this all shakes out.

I have a pair of standard black lowtop 5.10's from last year and recently bought a pair of the new Freeride model (gray/black without all the design mess). The Freeride model looks great, but no where near as comfortable as the other models like the Sam Hill, etc. I get the impression that they may have used a completely different last for the Freeride model as it fits quite a bit differently, especially in the toe box. The sizing is the same, just the fit and feel/comfort of the shoe is a bit off.