You are right about the tyres. My Avalanche 0.5 had them, they are heavy and slow. What's worse, the Blue Dragon has a stiff casing and miserable grip. The rear tyre is around 700 grams or more - combine that with an average 150 gram tube and you have a lot of rotation mass. The front 2.3 Yellow Kirin is even heavier. You can lose a pound by putting on tyres in the 500 to 600 gram range. Panaracer Fire XC's, Hutchinson Spiders, depends what sort of terrain you are riding as to what would work best for you.
As for the rims - they are around the 450 gram range - not light but by no means not boat anchors either. I have never had any trouble with mine in 18 months of trail riding. There is a bit of weight in the Deore hubs but you won't feel it as it's at the centre of the wheels. Mass at the outside of the wheel (your rims, tubes, and tyres) is what you have to work hardest to acellerate.
I don't know about you, but I found the two inch riser bar way to high for climbing, too.
As for the rims - they are around the 450 gram range - not light but by no means not boat anchors either. I have never had any trouble with mine in 18 months of trail riding. There is a bit of weight in the Deore hubs but you won't feel it as it's at the centre of the wheels. Mass at the outside of the wheel (your rims, tubes, and tyres) is what you have to work hardest to acellerate.
I don't know about you, but I found the two inch riser bar way to high for climbing, too.
