You know... Not ALL those first gen spitties were bad though. I have one from the very first batch ever made. I've ridden it as my main bike for about 4 years now? (dang, has it been THAT long?) That's about 6hrs of saddle time/week for about 200 weeks or 1,200 hrs of saddle time.While I certainly agree with 1st gen Spitty/Rune bushing issue sucked saliva drenched pr0n dick, they did *try* to get it sorted with a free new axle and I believe they offered a discounted deal on a 2nd gen model. Having said that, the "upgraded" axle really didn't solve the problem, and I think there was a pretty long delay in terms of actually getting a new model. Regardless, the new Spitty is an excellent bike by all the accounts I've seen.
Know what? I'm still on my FIRST set of bushings!!!
Bushings were an awesome idea, but you had to have VERY exact tolerances. Mine happened to be w/in spec so I've never had an issue.