Birgitt Olsen Feb 24, 2010:

Hi Melanie,
I spoke to a friend who has a bike shop (here in Aus) and he mentioned that single suspension bikes (which is what the reference seems to be indicating) are quite rare. He also said that bikes with a 'single joint' suspension -- as I called it! -- would be said to have a single pivot suspension. When I asked if the opposite of that would be 'multiple pivot suspension' he indicated that this phrase was not used. Instead, bike technicians referred to specific brand names for multiple pivots, e.g. 'four bar'. Not sure if this helps at all ... it's still quite mysterious to me!