so the new bike designs are now off the paper and on the trails! just got my first ride in on the new frame design yesterday and all I can say is 'nice!' . I am biased, but frankly put, no one has more mud clearance than us. Lose those gay ass shaped stays and go with something that works! All this talk about strength increase from bent stays is crap, total crap. The reality is, like the shaved leg argument...someone likes the look of it and then generates a campaign to support it so they don't look vein.  The bikes are spec'd with 20mm bottom bracket drop, allowing extra clearance for cranks, yet not too high that the bike feels skittish on baby head infested descents. The ultimate test, the no-hands descent on dirt, was administered flawlessly..a good sign of a good wheelbase. Okay, nuff blabber and bragging.