big john

The Seven is a great bike, especially on a twisty mountain road. It is quick handling yet very stable. The knock is the harshness. It's quite stiff. Not quite like the CAAD5 I used to have but still harsh on rough roads. You're right, it would be tough to top if all I did was good roads.
I bought it used and changed nearly everything to make it work for me.

The KHS is an enduro style bike and a "plus" bike at that, meaning it came with 35mm internal width rims and 2.8 tires. The tires are 825 grams each and those big inner tubes are hefty, too. Plus I'm carrying 3 of the tubes with a spare. Haven't gone tubeless. The bike weighed 32 pounds at the store when I bought it. The weight isn't a problem for most of what I use it for but it would be nice if it were 4 or 5 pounds lighter on a long climb.

I thought about going with some 2.4 tires to see if that would liven it up a little. I don't know what else I could do to knock weight off except maybe carbon rims, but I don't know how much the grams per dollar would be. It's due for some freshening up, the rear tire is bald, the drivetrain is trashed, and the rear shock is leaking.

Overall I have been very happy with it. It fits my weird body and it has saved me from myself several times. It's by far the best mtb I have ever ridden.

Biker395 

I've ridden them and they're fine. I just really prefer triples.

1. Less shifting of the chainrings for the most part. You can do almost anything in the middle ring except the steep stuff and descents. The compact double had me shifting a lot more.
2. Better spacing. This is mostly relevant in two situations:
(a) Endurance racing. Believe it or not, selecting just the right gear can mean 1/2 MPH in speed. Irrelevant usually, but that is huge in endurance racing.
(b) Long climbs. I can upshift to a longer gear when I could not on a compact double (as the next gear is a little too high).

But eventually, I'm gonna have to suck it up.

Barrettscv 

I still use triples, and never liked the 2x10 compact drivetrain with 50 & 34 chainrings. The 50 chainring is too large and the rider is often has a bad chainline while using the three larger cogs on the cassette. The 34 is too small for flat sections when approaching 20 mph and not small enough for the really steep climbs.

The 2x11 and 2x12 drivetrains with super compact cranks are nearly as versatile as a triple. A 48 & 32 crank with an 11-32 eleven or twelve speed cassette is an excellent century ride drivetrain. I stay on the 48 chainring at speeds above 12 mph with small changes in cadence with each gear change and that covers 80% of my riding.