#!markdown
Hi Jerryek,
I'll speak to my experience personally but really Cam/Pete would be best
equipped to answer your question on behalf of NSMB.com testers in general.
It would be very rare that a review would be done after a few days (a couple
of rides) and most of the bikes I have had have been around for at least a few
months. Sometimes I'll get a chance to grab a ride on someone else's test bike
and I may have something to contribute to their review (that they may/may not
use) but generally you are reading one person's experience.
There are some specific products, like the Di2 ThunderVolt (<http://nsmb.com
/rocky-mountain-thunderbolt-first-impressions/> ) where reviews take longer
specifically because more than one person is trying to build a full experience
on the bike (an experience worth writing about), and then compare notes, and
then figure out what changes would dial in the ride etc…
I've never reviewed anything I own with the exception of my top-5-for-15
(<http://nsmb.com/best-2015-andrews-picks/> ) which are all things I own and
personally recommend. I'm not sure if it's un-smurf-y or not to review your
own stuff. I do have my own personal bike that I test a lot of components on.
Just as an example, the Mavic wheels I tested spent the winter on my bike
(<http://nsmb.com/mavic-crossmax-xl-long-term-review/>) and I'd even hazard to
guess that the preamble to that review may answer some of your question.
I'm currently testing a Renthal chain ring (M8000 compatible). The 1x chain
retention of the ring is absolutely awesome and very well documented so rather
than do "just another narrow/wide chainring review" talking about how great it
is, I put it on my personal torture machine and I'm going to ride it into the
ground and compare it to other chainrings I've used in terms of longevity.
Sneak peak: so far I haven't managed to wear through the anodizing on the
teeth (which is surprising as that's usually a couple-of-weeks affair) and the
teeth all still have their profile so when it comes to four-bolt N/W rings it
would be pretty hard to go wrong.
Other times, like these pedals: <http://nsmb.com/maglock-pedals-reviewed/>,
it's pretty easy to know what you're going to say within a couple of good
rides.
On an entirely personal note, I'm very -- maybe overly -- self aware that I'm
a very critical/cynical/skeptical person so I always try to engage some kind
of feedback loop with any product I've tested whether other NSMB.com reviewers
have experience with it or not. For example, even before I mounted up
Schwable's ProCore system I engaged a few mechanics -- more
skilled/experienced than myself -- and a few riders -- more
skilled/experienced/brave than myself -- and checked out/participated in any
threads on bb.nsmb.com to try and build an expectation for what the product
would/could do so I had some check/measure against my own experiences.
I hope that is helpful!
May 13, 2016, 8:22 p.m. - DrewM
#!markdown Hi Jerryek, I'll speak to my experience personally but really Cam/Pete would be best equipped to answer your question on behalf of NSMB.com testers in general. It would be very rare that a review would be done after a few days (a couple of rides) and most of the bikes I have had have been around for at least a few months. Sometimes I'll get a chance to grab a ride on someone else's test bike and I may have something to contribute to their review (that they may/may not use) but generally you are reading one person's experience. There are some specific products, like the Di2 ThunderVolt (<http://nsmb.com /rocky-mountain-thunderbolt-first-impressions/> ) where reviews take longer specifically because more than one person is trying to build a full experience on the bike (an experience worth writing about), and then compare notes, and then figure out what changes would dial in the ride etc… I've never reviewed anything I own with the exception of my top-5-for-15 (<http://nsmb.com/best-2015-andrews-picks/> ) which are all things I own and personally recommend. I'm not sure if it's un-smurf-y or not to review your own stuff. I do have my own personal bike that I test a lot of components on. Just as an example, the Mavic wheels I tested spent the winter on my bike (<http://nsmb.com/mavic-crossmax-xl-long-term-review/>) and I'd even hazard to guess that the preamble to that review may answer some of your question. I'm currently testing a Renthal chain ring (M8000 compatible). The 1x chain retention of the ring is absolutely awesome and very well documented so rather than do "just another narrow/wide chainring review" talking about how great it is, I put it on my personal torture machine and I'm going to ride it into the ground and compare it to other chainrings I've used in terms of longevity. Sneak peak: so far I haven't managed to wear through the anodizing on the teeth (which is surprising as that's usually a couple-of-weeks affair) and the teeth all still have their profile so when it comes to four-bolt N/W rings it would be pretty hard to go wrong. Other times, like these pedals: <http://nsmb.com/maglock-pedals-reviewed/>, it's pretty easy to know what you're going to say within a couple of good rides. On an entirely personal note, I'm very -- maybe overly -- self aware that I'm a very critical/cynical/skeptical person so I always try to engage some kind of feedback loop with any product I've tested whether other NSMB.com reviewers have experience with it or not. For example, even before I mounted up Schwable's ProCore system I engaged a few mechanics -- more skilled/experienced than myself -- and a few riders -- more skilled/experienced/brave than myself -- and checked out/participated in any threads on bb.nsmb.com to try and build an expectation for what the product would/could do so I had some check/measure against my own experiences. I hope that is helpful!