Riding other peoples tires.

Blacked out label- I read an article a few years ago in which Jeff Steber of Intense bikes was quoted as saying that suspension technology has pretty much reached its peak and that the next designs will only be incrimental in gains of performance (Note:if I remember correctly the interview was around the time the VPP suspension design had been out for a couple of years). BUT, he did say that tires were to be the next true battle ground in terms of eking out better performance from mountain bikes- meaning not all tires are created equally. Blacking out tire labels has been going on for some time but it is not everyday you see the World Champ paying retail for tires.