Modern “fast” XC bike?

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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the_marsbar
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by the_marsbar

I've been wanting to get back into mountain biking after a long-ish break (~four years). However, I'm finding it really difficult to figure out what I should look for in a bike nowadays.

I had a Cannondale F-Si team with light parts and a dropper seatpost, which I liked. I've never had a full suspension bike, so I'm missing some experience there (I've of course demoed some in the past).

I was close to buying a Specialized Epic hard tail, but then the rumors of it being discontinued had me thinking twice about getting a hard tail again. Is it at all a viable option these days for XC racing?

To give a sense of how confused I am, I've looked at bikes as diverse as:
- Something like Evil The Following (more towards the trail category, but could probably be built into a competitive machine?).
- Specialized Epic Evo or another 120 mm XC full suspension bike.
- BMC Twostroke hard tail.

Could anyone help me write up a list of bikes to look into and or pitfalls to avoid?

by Weenie


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MikeMoore
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by MikeMoore

Unless your budget is limited, I'd suggest that on modern XC courses a good full sus will always be faster.

Depending on your skill level, either a more downcountry build or a traditional XC bike is the way to go. The bog standard answers would be Scott Spark, Giant Anthem, Specialized Epic Evo, BMC Four-stroke, and bikes in that kind of line.

Personally I'm on a Pivot Mach4 and it is an absolute rocketship!
Weight 74.4kg, FTP 303W => 4.04 W/kg

Retired Bikes
Custom 650B Kingdom Double9
Kinesis Aithein / Kinesis Racelight 4S

Current bikes
Reilly Spectre / Cervelo R3
Pivot Les / Pivot Mach4SL
Ventana El Conquistador

ComeKnowMeAsGC
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by ComeKnowMeAsGC

Sigh. I've dealt with the same. I live in Las Vegas (pretty rocky) and was riding a '20 Epic HT. Convinced myself all the loss of traction on the rear tire was slowing me down and beating me, and, that I'd be better off going FS. Fast forward a few months, I bought a used Epic Evo and am not in love. It's most certainly more comfortably, but it just feels big/clumsy compared to the HT. Times on the trail are about the same, my body is happier, but I don't enjoy the ride as much. Will likely look to get a supercaliber or new epic once it's released as a happy inbetween.

Hexsense
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Location: USA

by Hexsense

The balance shift toward more travel.
Hard tail guys now ride either Trek SuperCaliber (65mm travel) or Specialized Epic (100mm, with brain).
Short travel guys go toward more travel (100-115mm) with remote lockout. Example: Ibis Exie, Bmc FourStroke, Orbea Oiz, Cannondale Scalpel,...
'Run what you brung, it's all about the rider not the bike' guys just buy 110-120mm travel without remote lockout.

js
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by js

I suspect the most important thing in buying a bike right now is being informed and honest about how you're planning to ride. If your dream rides skew towards Leadville type excursions, maybe a HT is for you. If you enjoy earning technical improvements as much as performance gains, then you may want something else.

If we accept a guy like Kabush to be a standard for underbiking, there's no way I'd want to ride a hardtail on anything he's using a fully for. I accept it's difficult to know with certainty what styles of riding or terrain are going to appeal to you as you start back into MTB, but at least you have an off-road past for some indication and obviously have a good idea of what your local riding has to offer as well.

As for feedback on modern bikes, mine is limited, but I can say that a 2022 Epic Evo feels like it's a firmer ride that my 2019 Anthem. Both the rear suspension and the Sid up front rid much firmer than the Maestro and Fox 32 Perf/Elite. To the point that I don't really feel like I'm getting more travel, albeit I am, very slightly - by most accounts the Evo is 106'ish mm rear travel and the SID seems to maybe give 110mm of stroke.

What has made a massive difference to my rides is the added steering precision from the stiffer fork & rear end, plus improved geometry.

by Weenie


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the_marsbar
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by the_marsbar

Thanks for the input so far :)

We moved to a different part of the country a year ago, and I'm now reminded that even though I don't have an XC bike, I should really swing by the trails I used to ride around here when racing, even if only on my CX bike. Just to get updated on any changes compared to what I remember.

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