thanks for the repsonses- I forgot I posted this. I thought about it and I'll have to live with the bike. I was spoiled by my old 02 stumpy, which weighed next to nothing. Thing is, it had its share of faults like delicate rims and subpar drivetrain, so I'm trying to not just remember the good things about it.
I rode this bike in the parking lot for about 10 minutes before buying it and it seemed fine. The fork is my main complaint and I've heard others complain about it being stiff, so I just sold it on eBay about an hour ago and I'm shopping for a replacement (chime in!). I didn't want to put too many miles on the parts before selling them off on ebay because they seem to sell quicker when they are new. This one sold buy it now in about 1.5hrs
Here's what I meant by sluggish:
with my old stumpy, when you stepped on the pedals, it just LIFTED off, and you could get up to a nice speed in no time. You could feel the ground through the tires. It seemed like all the energy you put into the thing was translated 100%. With this RH, it feels more like 65%. Plus the shock it so stiff, it's just not a fun ride.
so I'm going to get another fork and probably some Mavic 717s with xt hubs. I noticed the light wheels made a big difference in my old stumpy, too.