I would have thought the idea would be to take an off the shelf model and use it in all conditions / situations in it's stock form for readers to make an informed decision whether to buy .The Spicy review on here and one of the longtermers in MBUK have used the bikes to hang different stuff on to test .I think in the case of MBUK about the only thing left original was the frame !What is the point if the end result bears no resemblance to what joe public can buy ?Surely we need to know that the whole package works well together ?
I would have thought the idea would be to take an off the shelf model and use it in all conditions / situations in it's stock form for readers to make an informed decision whether to buy
Isn't that what the normal bike tests do?
I think the value in the long-termers is that the set-ups do change. If you know which of the testers does riding that's closest to you, how they change the bikes is very interesting.
to be honest i feel most tests are a waste of time. To many details of interest are missed out.