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JARED M JOHNSON, Founder / Main WriterDown Shift Cycles is serious about MTB , but perhaps not in the same way that other riders or sites are. I am a bizarre mixture of obsessively passionate strangely balanced by a very grounded personality. I rarely buy into all of the hype that circulates around and within the mountain biking community , and have been largely disenchanted when I have. Magazines? With DirtRag as a rare excpetion, they are whores that sell themselves out to their higher paying sponsors. MTBR? An absolute circus of a sell out! I get a headache just going to that site now with all of that disturbing flashing advertising going on (think "Joes Versus the Volcano" movie). I'll get hate mail for this, but stay away from Turner, Ellsworth, and Nemesis Project bloggers -- these tend to be arrogant "know-it-all" self-proclaimed engineers. Although counterproductive for the most part, neither magazines nor MTBR are without their value. Whose voices do I listen to and which sites to I lend credence to? Sherwood Gibson at Ventana (an engineering god), SickLines.com , PinkBike.com and a few select more I'll list later. I am a former bike shop owner who has been operating Down Shift Cycles since 2003 as an informative alternative to those traditional and standard sources. Down Shift Cycles as an online store has been in flux, however I choose to promote manufacturers of frames, forks, wheelsets and more whether I have had the opportunity or initiative to sell that equipment or not. What I have owned: GT Avalanche (USA-made), Santa Cruz Superlight , Leader 516H, Jamis Dakar XLT, Leader 626S, Ventana El Saltamontes , Ventana X-5 , Brodie Gigolo , Brodie Nemesis (Dissident) , Cove Handjob (steel hardtail) & Chumba XCL . What I have ridden: Giant VT 2, Ventana El Ciclon , Chumba EVO , Turner Five Spot, Brodie Awl , Yeti 575 Brodie Devo, Rocky Mountain Slayer, Rocky Mountain RMX, Trek 8500, Trek 650, Scwhinn ???, Specialized Rock Hopper, Specialized Enduro, Maverick ML7, Ellsworth Epiphany, Ellsworth Moment, Turner RFX, GT I-Drive XC, & more I'll list later. |
