Posted by: Heinous
This. Total hypebeast in the worst sense of the word. There's an old, allegedly African saying that applies "you can trust a man who is looking for the truth, but never trust a man who tells you he has found it".
The folks writing for NSMB/PB/Vital/etc... all pontificate on what's good and what's not in the MTB world based on their opinions. I don't see HTP doing anything differently than them. When I watch a HTP video or read an article here that say Andrew writes I appreciate the perspective of somebody who actually cares about hardtails [a rare commodity in MTB media], knows enough about them from riding a long time and riding a variety of hardtails and creates content. HTP/Andrew/[fill in the black] all have areas were they know more and where they know less. They also have preferences I agree with and ones I don't. I'm not going to run out any buy a bike just because NSMB or PB or HTP liked it, but I will filter the salient parts of their reviews into by decision making process because they actually got to ride the bike in question.
There are elements of the HTP channel I don't love, but if you've got a better source for dedicated hardtail related information/reviews online let me know. Given how unlikely it is I'm going to walk into a LBS and see a hardtail I want to ride that I can demo having a source for reviews that has actually thrown a leg over a bunch of frames I'm interested in is useful...despite the fact I have different preferences than HTP.
And as I noted in a previous post I think HTP does frequently say that he likes a particular geo/set of parts for his body shape/skill level/local Sedona trails and that the viewer may want something else. So I don't see how he's doing anything off base from a reviewer's perspective. They all say "I like X, Y & Z" and "I don't like A, B & C". That's their job and it's the reader/viewer's job to figure out how applicable the review is to their own situation.