Do you pay attention to the weight of bolts? Are you willing to compromise strength for weight? I over the years have seen many who have touted light weight bikes. Ti bolts all over their rigs, ti spokes, ti railed seats etc. I admit I did a ti railed seat once just once, bent it and went back to cro-mo. I have ridden ti frames in a road application it is cool. On a MTB however they feel like a wet noodle, and I rode a Litespeed! I have sen riders use ti skewers and bend them. I have seen and experienced a ti b.b. spindle ring out like a wash rag. I cannot even imagine ti spindles on pedals, not to mention spokes! I spoke with a couple of people and they swear that ti is just as strong as anything else. I do not understand carbon bar ends, if you crash and they get damaged thats it. I do not understand carbon MTB frames. I have even seen carbon spokes now that's scary. I don't know call me weird but I believe in a MTB application you should have what works. You should not be concerned with weight so much as to it is "iffy" if it will break or not. There are frames and parts out there that have a weight limit but are feather light. Still you see them get bolted on bikes with riders that have these huge grins. Then they look at my bikes (KHS) and say "whoa heavy." Thing is it works I slam it around all over the place out here I weigh 200 pds. and never have to adjust or repair/replace anything. I see all the time those who have this feather stuff and are always doing something to it. Maybe this stuff has its place somewhere say racing. However for those who ride all year round and this is their primary ride why try to make it a sub 20 lb bike? Should a FS rig be a feather? I don't think so. FS rigs were orriginally intended for DH riding. However the new segment came in after years of not riding anything caught on tho the MTB fad and wanted comfort. FS rigs offer this but for XC riding they lack promise. After all if you are going downhill and racing why would you want a feather? Would you rather have an anvil? I would, it only makes sense to me to be as heavy as possible, when doing DH stuff. Compromising strength in this area is borderline suicide. I mean even Pat Irwin who won the Iditasport Extreme siad that he did not use a whole lot of lightweight stuff "that may or may not break." HHMMMMM interesting concept he races endurance MTB and wants durability and strength. Maybe durability and strength is overated and outdated, but I cannot justify $300 for bolts that may snap or round off. I cannot justify $100-150 for a ti b.b. that will ring out like a wash rag etc. I wil stick with the tried and true cro-mo stuff and that which works and lasts. I can always get stronger to push my lead sled faster.