I think it's a good idea.
I've been a Commençal owner for 3 years now (yes before they were available in the UK) and I've been really happy with my purchase, but I think I'm in the minority of owning a hardtail
I got mine when I was living in Belgium and around the same time 3 of my mates bought Commençal's too, there were some great end of season deals going on at the time. When I got it no-one in the UK had heard of these bikes and now they're the latest and greatest, however I doubt that I'll be ear-marked as a trend setter

The main change I made to the bike is replacing the Formula B4 brakes with Avid Juicy 7's. The bike only has 80mm forks, but it handles so well I've not had any complaints with the travel (assuming that the trail is XC oriented of course!)