Quote:
Originally Posted by Tickdoc
You want to know which hiking boots are best? Go to Yellowstone or Yosemite and ask some of the backcountry guides. Those guys aren't paid to wear the gear they use (Usually) and they will tell you straight up what works.
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That's a bad counter-example, though...
As someone who leads backpacking trips as part of my job, I have access to pro deals on some brands of boots and not others. If I choose to buy through that pro deal (typically ~40% off list price), I'm explicitly told to try not to disclose my discount and instead offer whatever positive comments I can on the gear. And, like the aforementioned bike reviewers trying to get into the game, the starting pay for backcountry guides is so little that you basically have to go with the pro deals on gear.
I would guess that that type of game is played in every field.
So we're stuck trying to look for someone like @Clean39T or @Ryun who have the breadth of experience of a dedicated amateur and the means to dedicate himself to trying out a broad variety of bikes in order to be able to offer an unbiased opinion that's actually meaningful.