The X-low is a bit faster indeed, and as Dave says: you can easily
touch the ground with your hands when standing still. Both versions
are easily to handle. Keep in mind that when you drop the chain it
rubs the front fork and making right turns is a bit harder compared
to a Jester or M5 which have mono-forks.
Nevertheless, the Baron is easier to ride and to handle than the M5,
which is a faster bike.
The older (X-low) versions had some problems with the frame at the
site of the headset and they have been taken care of.

Sjef


--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, david neilson <daveandtomo@...>
wrote:
>
> Jeremy,
>
> The X-low version was certainly faster, perhaps by one
> kph or so, all else being equal. Both are equally easy
> to ride. I also liked the fact that the X-low allowed
> both hands to touch the ground more easily than the
> stock Baron.
>
> My X-low was a 2004 version though. I believe that the
> bike was revamped last year which shortened the
> wheelbase and raised the seat and perhaps, the bottom
> bracket. The earlier X-lows were very similar to the
> Challenge Jester and were probably intended to compete
> with them in Europe. There was at one point, a lot of
> negative comparison of the Baron to the Jester and I
> think they wanted to address that. The redsign took
> away nearly all the advantages of the X-low design in
> my opinion.
>
> Dave
>
>
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