Nanci: You're a lucky girl... And I would seriously consider that Ventana if I could actually ride one. But I don't think those are very common here...

bcipam: So, you have a Moto Lite, right? Any info you want to share on that would be appreciated.

You probably have the best of both worlds, and if I had a better hardtail, I might go the same route. I'd *love* to have a nice HT, and if I did, I might consider looking at 5" travel frames as well. But since I already have my Tassajara, I feel like my next bike should be a dualie. Oh and regarding my comment on downhill bikes... I've seen some of them and they look like dirtbikes! I guess since only a year and a half ago my mtb was an old-school Trek with a rigid fork, and I've never had a full suspension bike, to me, anything with 6" of travel looks like it's fit for the Grand Canyon.

Kathi: Thanks for the link for info on seat tube angles. I have the specs for my road bike around here somewhere, so I'll check and see what was prescribed for me. Assuming equal rider measurements, is there a difference in seat tube angle between road bikes and mountain bikes?

Tattiefritter: I've looked up stuff on mtbr.com before but I didn't know they published frame weights. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out the Titus forum!

And finally...

I test rode an 2005 XS (14") Ellsworth Truth on Thursday and loved it. The bike shop owners were super nice -- one of them brought me his wife's bike to test. I never thought I could fit properly on such a small bike, and to be honest, I still feel weird about it. But other than needing to raise the seat and push the saddle back a bit, the fit feels good. The Truth's virtual top tube measurement is 21.3" -- almost the same as my GF Tass, which is 22". My Tass has a 70mm stem, so I could make up the difference by putting a 90 on the Ellsworth. I'm also concerned about bobbing, but the bike I rode is set up for a 130lb. rider, and I'm... not 130 lbs. I want to read more about the rear shock system on the Ellsworth site, but my mechanic says that it's just a matter of setting it for my weight.

I originally thought that even the 14" Truth wouldn't work, because the standover heights published by Ellsworth are the same for all frames -- 28". But the LBS owner said that in 2005 (but not in 2006), they made the top tube differently just on the XS in order to give it a lower standover height. The frame they offered is a 2005, so they're willing to knock a few hundred dollars off the price.

It's still a big purchase, so I'm thinking about it... But I think that if I manage to test ride an XS Titus Racer-X and a Trek Fuel EX 9 WSD in order to rule them out as possibilities, I might just convince myself to buy the Truth.

Now I'm off to bed to dream of groups & kits...

~Cari