I couldn't agree more. I went with this spec on the recommendation of the crew at NSBS with an open mind, but with the agreement and intention that if any of these "compromises" turned out to be just that, I would swap them out. However, I am committed to giving them a fair shake. So far I have only got the one day on these tires but the beauty of the bike park is I can ride everything from very dusty loose berms to wet roots to rock faces all in a few hours and I didn't notice anything that I felt these tires were in any way inferior to my Schwalbe Big Betty ultra-soft standard tube tires on my Scythe the weekend before.
The World Cup on the front is not surprisingly dramatically superior to my 2010 Team which I had a soft spring on and still had to run with 0 low or high speed compression to not destroy my wrists.
I will continue to play with the rear air shock but so far I am much happier with it than I had anticipated being.
Mark
Very fair. If you are not noticing deficiancies, then why carry extra weight. Although I would suggest if you are interested to ask a buddy to swap front wheels with you to do a back to back run on the different tires so you can get a great comparison. When I first went on the EXO I was happy. But once I went back to the DH casing I could really feel the difference. Perhaps the newer Supertacky ones will be less of a difference, but I feel that a good amount of it can be attributed to the casing as well.
As for comparing a 2010 Boxxer Team to a 2012 air, I don't want to sound like a dick but my 2010 Team was rough as guts with a soft spring. The comprimise for weight here comes straight from the factory on both forks and the minimal use of oil by design to reduce weight. Maintenance aside, they are not as plush and easy on the wrists and hands as an open bath fork. But that is a whole other discussion, and plenty of people seem happy with the firm feel, minimal small bump compliance and service schedule of a Boxxer. From what I understand, if you are happy with all those things, going WC over the Team is a sensible enough way to save weight. I would be amazed however, if the rear shock could approach the sensitivity of an RC4. My Nomad with an RC4 is a different beast compared to the same bike with an air shock.