Mountain Bike Racing - xc racing on a santa cruz blur

hi
is a santa cruz blur a good choice bike for xc racing
my objective in buying the bike is speed over comfort within reason
the kind of racing i want to do is shorter track 2 hours ish up to 100k events in aus
ive compared the blur to the superlight, and the superlight does seem a little quicker under pedalling and may have ben down to rar shock pressure however this has been a road test only. i looked at a second hand superlight from 2001 and detected a crack in the rear swingarm which is a little offputting.
im fairly open on bike choice and am considering an ellsworth truth and a yeti asr as well
any advice appreciatedthanks

I did a few races on a Classic Blur in 05.........notes:
The sizing, even on a large (I am 5'11) feels a little short in the top tube with a 100mm stem and layback post.
Pedal bob is minimal
Suspension is awesome....slam in/over/through pretty much anything
Actual Weight: 6.5 lbs ano frame w/RP3

Now....the classic Blurs are no longer produced (you could probably find one new if you tried), so you would be looking at a Blur XC. Medium Ano frame actual weight 5.5 lbs, and a longer TT length as well. I can only assume this would be a great race bike. My Blur took me to the podium in sport class and was capable in expert, if heavy (about 28 lbs fully built w/full xt including 765 tubeless wheels).

That being said, if I was buying a pure FS race bike right now, there is no better value than the Giant Anthem 1. The Anthem 2 is also nice. Took a demo on a short road ride and it just felt fast.

Andrew

I have never raced on a blur but I did race a Superlight for 2 1/2 years. That bike was awesome. I never had a problem with it and it is very rare to ever hear of anyone breaking one (when riding it as intended). I was not a big fan of the Blur's but I didn't spend a lot of time on them. I was really turned off by their weight. Now that the Blur XC's are being made I would imagine that they would be a great bike.

That being said I absolutely love my Truth. It will be hard for me to part with this one, there really aren't any other bikes out there that I would want to switch to after being on the Truth for a while. The only bikes I would consider would be a Racer X or possibly a Turner Nitrous. However I would be afraid to use the Nitrous as a trail bike or for endurance racing. It just looks a little too fragile. The Truth makes an awesome cross country racer but it is also one of the most common frames for endurance racing. On top of that it makes a great all purpose bike as well.