Being a lurker on MTBR and a proud owner of a Ventana, I'd say that of the three you mentioned, the Epic may be the best suited to your needs. It's always been a race bike and I believe Ned Overend has campaigned it, however the high end, lighter model has always been kind of overpriced.

Right now, Supergo has a deal on Turner Burners, $950, which by all accounts are exceptional frames. The Turners are famous for their durability and design.

If you read the reviews on MTBR, you'll find a lot of complaints about the quality of the Giants.

Consider posting on the MTBR forums and see what those folks say.

I posted that exact question on mtbreview.com (which bike to buy) last week, I am looking at an Epic or NRS1, you can see their responses. Not sure of the prices in the US but down under I think the Giant is better value, comes with disc brakes and tubless tyres standard. Having said that a friend of mine is headed to the US and I may get them to buy me an Epic as the 03' models are being sold off for $1500 at the moment. I believe the stump jumper is more of a trail bike than a pure x-country racer.

I have an NRS air and let me tell you it is nothing short of perfection. Especially for climbing. I have not ridden the Specialized but I can say that the NRS is designed to allow you to get out of the saddle and climb without a loss of power from bouncing around. I love mine, but then again everyone has to make their own decision.

The nrs2 is on sale for $1079 at performane right now, and you get a 10% credit if you have a performance card. That's a really good deal if you have a store near you.

I vote for the Epic. I just bought an 03 S Works Epic from E-Bay. I paid about half full retail. I raced an Exterra race last weekend and inmo, it is a perfect bike for exterra type races, which are not usually very techniccal. The brain shock really works and the setup is perfect for racing. It has a lockout for the front shock which I highly recommend because a lot of exterra races have plenty of climbing and often hard surfaces.

I used to mtn bike downhill. My NRS 2 was great for downhills but its a relatively heavy bike and waaay too plush in my book. (Especially after riding road for a year) The NRS Air is definitely a different story but if these "offroad tris" are anything like the ones I've seen, you won't need that much cushioning. Since I love climbing now I'd go for something light, like the Giant XTC series. Superlight outta the box. Put some sweet tires on (I love IRCs) and you're set.

I rode a specialized fsr team years ago, and found it pretty unresponsive. It also weighed a ton. My friend's hardtail gt zaskar le frame + marzocchi bomber + full xtr was MUCH smoother. My point? Just because its dual susp. doesn't mean its more comfy. If you're doing hills n' stuff, unless you're getting tehe NRS AIR or something I'd go light. XTC light. I'm not sure how good the rock shox Ti fork is but back in my day the AMP F-3(?) was one of the lightest ;)