I am definitely faster on this bike than I ever was on a hardtail. Very light and strong. The chainrings cause crapy chain shifting. Bottom bracket creaks a lot. Manitou Mars CL Forks really suck.
Forks have too much rebound and flex too much in ruts and thick dirt.
I know I did. Now my bike is a lean mean race machine. Its plush and shifts on the dime. The only pit fall is it still creaks. Oh well, I guess I'll have to keep wippin out the TriFlo on the metal matrix.