Ditto on all of the above. I have been riding, walking, some pedaling on a downhill bike for the past 11 years. For the longest time I have said, " weight = strength = stability and control. " I have been suprised as of lately how much better the all mountain and some cross country bikes see to handle. My problem is that I like to utilize the benefits of a downhill bike, therefore I prefer challeging rugged obstacle type trails. If I were to scale back a little and get an all mountain bike, I would have to become a better rider instead of being lazy and just hanging onto the bars.