Well, I test rode the Palomino two days in a row on local trails. Conclusion: the shifting just didn't work. The front derailleur bobs with the rear suspension, which meant that I couldn't shift at all with the rear shock set for my weight -- doubling its settings, I could shift maybe half the time.

The bike shop said this was purely a problem with the demo bike, but they didn't have other demo bikes to try and I'm not going to buy a bike after that kind of experience.

It's really too bad -- it was a great ride otherwise, and it would have been nice to have a bike again.

That's okay, though -- I may have found another bike that's on clearance because it's last year's model. We'll see.