My friend bought an S-Works Stumpy FSR recently. It was damn hard riding with him the first month. He went from a hardtail 29er to the Stumpy. He was cussing up a storm and was a general drag there for a bit. He's getting better with it, but for the most part, he's back to where he was with the 29er. Hopefully another month or so of riding it will help him get to the next level which is what he was looking for. There is something to be said about test riding before you buy. Especially when you drop major cash like my friend did.