Editors Note: Yeah, yeah…..another year end review! Tis the season! So, here are my favorite things that have passed through the Twenty Nine Inches review process during the past year. I want to point out a few parameters that I used for what I chose here.

1. The product had to be in the review process during the time period of December 2008 through to the end of November 2009. Reviews that are currently in process I did not include and will be eligible for my 2010 Top Ten list.

2. They had to be products or bicycles that I personally used during this period. Nothing any of the other Twenty Nine Inches staff reviewed on their own could be considered for my list. This list doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone but me, Guitar Ted.

3. The reviewed products were provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for review. I was not paid or bribed for this review. I will give/gave my honest opinion or thoughts through out.

That said, let’s get on with this

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Number 7: Salsa Cycles Big Mama: Salsa Cycles introduced the Big Mama to the world back in June of 2008. Twenty Nine Inches took delivery of a Big Mama frameset back in March and we ran our test of the Big Mama for the next five months. That said, the Big Mama has been in continuous service since then as a test mule for other products. The Big Mama represents Salsa’s first attempt at a full suspension 29″er, (unless you count the Dos Niner soft tail as “full suspension”) Using the same Scandium tubing flex properties as they did with the Dos Niner, Salsa’s unique take on full suspension yields 4 inches of rear wheel travel.

Why It Made The List: Salsa Cycles Big Mama uses many forged parts and with tubing manipulation mated to maximized weld surface areas this frame turned out stiff. Quite stiff laterally and torsionally. Even without tapered head tubes or funky bottom bracket gymnastics. I was impressed with the nature of the suspension, which wasn’t a “disconnected feel”, but allowed me to get a feel for the trail. The bike had a noticeably good acceleration and didn’t react too badly in out of the saddle climbing or sprints. The Big Mama has big tire clearance, another plus for trail riders. Finally, the quality of travel was quite acceptable. While not “bottomless” and certainly not “linear” throughout the stroke, the Big Mama was predictable, comfortable, and got all of the travel on tap if you set it up correctly. All this without much fuss.

My Two Cents: The Big Mama is a “workingman’s trail bike”. It isn’t all high tech with the latest gadgets or frame features, (although the Scandium tubing manipulation on this frame is amazing.) It doesn’t cut a really unique profile at the trail head, and certainly the subtle dirty orange finish with the sublimated graphics doesn’t call out “Look at me!”. No, this bike just goes out and gets the job done, and it does it admirably well. If the design could rival the new rigs I’ve thrown a leg over in terms of climbing out of the saddle, the Big Mama would have climbed a bit higher on this list. I did see an issue with cable rub and a few times the chain got jammed in between the chain rings and the lower forging on the swing arm. Issues that may have been due to my personal set up choices. As it stands though, it doesn’t have any glaring faults, this bike will get you there and back again. You can set it up for all out XC/Endurance stuff or you can set it up as a great trail bike. The bottom line? It could be the perfect tool that you can have a ton of fun on. The Salsa Cycles Big Mama is a “big” Number 7 on 2009′s Top Ten List.

Coming up next, the #6 pick for the Top Ten 29?er Products of 2009.

Don’t forget to add your pick for the 2009 Reader’s Choice Award! See the post here to vote