I love the riding in Keswick. Whinlatter is amazing.

I love this region and have never ridden it when it's not wet.

Germany has had this same law in effect for a long time in certain states. As far as I could tell it hasn't stopped the local riders from shredding single track. Threats of fines and confiscation of your bike, but like the article said the Police have a lot of other things to take care of. Every once in a while a forestmeister would yell at us or an old man would shake his walking stick at us. But 98% of people were quite friendly as long as we were courteous on the trails. As an outsider to Germany I rode the trails for years before I even heard it. There were no signs marking the trails as illegal and I saw tons of other riders. It wasn't till one of the local shops said to be careful. It would be a shame and lets hope democracy and the people of CH vote and lobby to win the right to ride their trails.

I think its more complex than that. The axle path is not the only thing SC bought the patent for. I think there are probably other parts of the design the patented as well. I don't think they'd be putting up a lawsuit if they didn't believe there was some sort of infringement. That's not the kind of company SC is. They're not like Specialized just out to put everyone under their thumb. I think we'll see what the California court has to say before jumping to any conclusions. Its too bad I like SC and Yeti.

Your right at one level. The biggest difference between the VPP and the others is the counter rotating links. It's why the SB 66 is close to violating SC's patents. Most of the other bikes you mention have parallel links. But the idea is similar in that the pivot point is adjusted by the linkage for a optimum performance.

You're right they are expensive but there are some good cheaper alternatives if this doesn't fit your budget: Specialized, Commencal, Trek, Giant, and many other EU brands have good bikes in carbon as well for less. SC, Intense, Yeti, Pivot as high end boutique makers have a niche market and struggle to make it affordable with import taxes/duties and EU sales taxes. I lived in Germany and sales tax is a whopping 19% there. So a $2600 Nomad C just became around $3220 with the sales tax of 19%. They are expensive here in the US too. $2600 plus tax for a carbon Nomad is a lot of money no matter how you slice it. I have decided to wait till carbon becomes the new aluminum to buy when the prices come down.

I live in Colorado so we see our share of Yeti's, and I'll have to say your wrong. Pivot is every bit as good a bike maker. Yeti is a great bike but Pivot is totally on par with them.