What place and trail would you consider technical riding? I've never really had a moment with them where i felt them actually get in the way, they just look like they should. In fact they are probably helpful for technical climbs. But at places like sourlands i feel like it would do me better to be in more contact with the bar. If Esi's offers the same pain relief as Ergons without being clunky i'm all for it.
Well, I've never ridden in North Jersey so I'm not sure that I have any decent points of reference for you. I ride mostly in Southeastern PA, so French Creek, Bear Creek, Jim Thorpe would be the more popular rides that I would consider technical so you may be familiar with them. The only places I've ridden in Jersey are Gloucester County College, Camden County College and Ceres Park. None of these places are even close to technical riding by my standards, so they are not a good point of reference.
Come to think of it, It doesnt much matter
where I'm riding technical trails. In general I'm talking about rock gardens, off camber sections, off camber roots, log-overs, steep switchbacks, Steep climbs, fast decents, etc, etc. Technical riding is technical riding.