People may laugh at that Girvin now but it was great in it's day. A day out on my original Rockhopper and I'd be having to use my whole hand to operate the friction shifters by the end of a ride my hands and thumbs were hurting so much. That Girvin made it a lot more pleasant.
Didn't I say the Flexstem was the zenith of suspension designs 😉
I progressed to Manitou 2s with lovely elastomers and that stopped my fingers suffering from early onset of arthritis!
I had a flexstem in yellow and it was awesome It was more about showing it off to my mates really 🙂
Surely it's personal preference. I have 140mm travel on my orange 5 which is ideal for me. Compromised slightly on the ups but I like to remove any sence of fear on the downhills and hit them as hard as I can. Still more than capable on the climbs.
I think geometry and bb height is probably more important..