The XT's are going to be lighter than the RF prodigy cranks....I use the prodigy's though...they work just fine. I have seen XTR cranks come loose all the time, weird....but the xt's are a good crank. For the problem of wearing off the finish on them...it all depends on where you put your cleat and how much float you have in it. I wouldn't worry about the finish man....you say you do mild DH and some pretty rough xc stuff, so they are gonna get scratched and nicked up eventually!