Last weekend I went for a ride with a couple friends with fs. One had a 38 lb Specialized Big Hit set up for freeride, another on an older i-drive set up for xc (about 28 lbs), and me on my 24 lb HT Stumpjumper. We had to stop several times so they could try some nasty jumps It was entertaining to watch. When we actually rode, I owned them on the longer climbs and stayed even on the smooth trails. But I ate their dust on the really rocky descents. But there were also plenty of technical sections that were all about the rider that I held my own on. At the end of the 10-mile ride, I was the only one with a sore lower back (i-drive guy was sore all over from a couple face and ass plants). That M2 frame is pretty harsh. The fs guys spent most of the ride trying to convince me to go fs. At the end of the ride I was considering it, but I ultimately decided to stick to my plan of getting a steel HT when my M2 dies. I will not go fs until I am satisfied with my skills as a mountain biker. After all, if you can't handle a certain obstacle on a ht, how will it look if you can't handle it on a fs, either?