Gee, I like it when a boy is beaten by a girl.
Well then Lynn, beat me, whip me, make me feel cheap!!
Bushwacka:
First of all, I'm sure you know more about bike selection than I, and your earlier posts indicated that you had done a lot of reading and research into the various suspensions.
Having said that, when I was looking I asked a friend of my son's who is also a sponsored racer, and he said one of the things he really liked in the GT rear suspension was the shock pushing forward when compressed. He said it's subtle, but that allows the energy from the compression of the rear wheel to add to forward momentum at a point when the momentum is slowed slightly by the obstacle.
He compared that to suspensions like the Giant, designs where the upward movement of the wheel just results in extra down-force on the frame between the wheels. You're clearly pretty sharp technically, so I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on his thoughts.
And no, I didn't buy the GT because of such a subtle design doo-dad. I had found an excellent price, then sent him the specs to make sure I wasn't making a big mistake. He was very positive on the GT rear suspension design (like you) and of Fox front shocks (on your bike, I noted). And said that GT had put a fair amount of research into their carbon frames, the components were good, so overall approved my decision (and was wow'd when I shared the price).