To answer the question about the front of my bike, I have the RST Gilla Plus T6, which I was told was heavier. But when I went looking online for the weight of this piece, according to RST it weighed a little over 2 1/2 lbs. I'm not sure if I was reading the right information or if the information was inaccurate, but it made me start to wonder. The stem is mobius alloy, what ever that means - but it's bigger than the one on the new model. The handle bars are also some sort of alloy. When I called Specialized, they also told me the wheel set was a heavier one too. Compared to the Rockhopper, it's between 2 to 3 lbs heavier, at least from the way it feels when I pick it up.