I've personally taken it on really tight downhill switchbacks, and using the cross brakes (not the drops!), it worked superbly - cornering is great. I can't give a really in-depth account of the frame's handling in the really gritty stuff, but I'd say its a good "all-rounder", with the ability to run skinny racing slicks at times, and to act as an MTB at others. I'd say about 40% of my rides are off-road, and only 30-40% of these are actually technical or difficult in any way. I am a bit more on-road - I do touring/commuting on road, which takes up the majority of rides. But I thought I'd post up some info here anywho. Irish, I tried to respond to your PM, but I haven't hit the 15-post count, so (apparently) I can't even reply to PMs. I've gotta say, though, the Razzo frame looks good too, if you can find a matching rigid fork (I assume u want rigid) on the cheap. The only problem I could see with it is that it has a high top tube, its not slanted like most 29ers, so you might hit your nards if you fall off I myself dont have any problems, even though the BB height is a little high w/29ers on it. Not too bad! That's 1/2 lighter than the LHT. Measuring mine, it came out to 6.8lbs frame+fork, w/uncut steerer. The Karate Monkey is a beast, so its way heavier. But, as a frameset, it happens to be lighter than a comparably sized Surly LHT and CC, which are my frame of reference since im a road/touring/CX rider. The steel isn't super light - I'll admit that. Right now, I'm running CST Critter 29x2.1s on it, and there is still quite a bit of room for a larger tire, ie, 2.25 or maybe even a 2.3 (but thats really pushing it). My opinion: its a great all-round bike, and it stands up well not only to carrying large loads (touring), but also for general road riding, around-town stuff and for even some fairly tough off-roading. I, myself, have the 56cm Origin 8 CX700 that the OP was interested in.