Third round of changes to the bike included XT shifters, Haven bar, gore housing, and WTB lockon grips. Down to mid 27lbs with the stock tires, tubes, fork, and wheelset.
Considering that's with wire bead 29x2.3s, Duster rims on formula hubs with champ spokes, and a recon Silver fork, yeah.
Put some Maxxis Ikons on in hope of dropping more weight and I ordered the TLR rim strips to go tubeless sometime shortly. It would be awesome if I could get it into the 26lb range with the stock fork and wheels. Brakes are probably pretty heavy too, but I'm giving the Elixirs a fighting chance to stay on the bike.