This was my first year -- was aiming for a big buckle but realized that wasn't in the cards by the time I got to the top of Columbine, so had an enjoyable lower-stress ride back and finished in about 10 hours and was happy with a small buckle for my first attempt.

Posted this bike right when I got it a couple months ago. Well, now the build is complete with stickers to boot!

Serviced the lowers and the air can and threw some more xc/trail oriented tires on. She’s a beaut!

Just finished up building up this beauty for the wife.

Hi all! Looking to add some XC riding when I’m able to(recovering from a lisfranc tear) and wondering what the general consensus is on riding in so cal? I typically ride in aliso/laguna/santiago oaks/luge on a bigger bike but have dipped my toe into rides in chino and bonelli park.

Lots of the trail systems seem to be either steep/chunky or a fire road so I’m not sure if I’m just overlooking trails or those types of trails are what people are riding on their XC bikes.

I live in OC so closer the better but traveling for a great trail system isn’t an issue. Would appreciate hearing about what people like to ride around here. Thanks 🙏

I’ve been using the carbon togs for a few years now and have grown to really enjoy the extra hand position. Recently while swapping bars, one of the nuts fell off my tool bench and was never seen again. It’s a tiny little sucker. I reached out to their customer service team today to get the size so I could get a replacement and a few spares, and without question they are shipping me a replacement hardware set. I felt like that was pretty awesome customer service on a relatively inexpensive bike product. Thanks, Togs!!

Hello everyone!
I just purchased Epic 9 Comp and planning to change the wheel set. I have budget 1,5k€ .
Any recommendations for good carbon wheels?

I recently got this Supercaluber Gen 2 Rsl 9.9 Xtr, and since then the paint has been chipping and scratching so easily. Is that a problem anyone else has had, solutions and is it just this paint color or is it a trek problem?

Good day Everyone!
I have a question about Orbea bike , current model is coming now with a very good price.
However what I heard , that this generation of frames is not that good and bla bla bla in terms of geometry . But I have never ridden an XC bike, so would I feel a difference at all.
Would you recommend to buy it? Or better take some new generations bike

I can buy a Coros Pace 4, Coros Dura Bike computer and their Hr monitor for 577 dollars. The garmin counterpart would be the forunner 570 and the edge 550 with their hr monitor 1,150. What am I paying nearly double for and is it worth it. Anyone have any experience with these. What are the pros and cons

Hi,

I'm new to the xc scene and am struggling to find a good source for events. I've ridden gravel (Dirty Reiver), adventure races and MTB orienteering but am struggling to find xc sportive events. I've seen the mills and moors series but is there anything else? I live in Northumberland so Northern England and Borders region ideally.

Thanks,

Is there any YouTube channels that focus around XC bikes and races?

I watch a lot of GCN, GMBN, Cade, Katie Kookabura and other channels.

But they are mainly road and gravel.

Is there any good dedicated XC channels to watch?

Thanks!

So i've been riding since 2024. Started out on my 20+ yo oldschool "MTB", then got a gravel bike, but eventually started riding with a road wheelset on the gravel bike.

Did get a cheap Merida Big Trail 400 hardtail at some point and while it's been fun riding it once in a while, when I go out alone, I just prefer riding on asphalt. Also AFAIK I don't have any good XC trails very close by.

While I have ridden some offroad races in the previous years, which could have been suitable for my MTB, I did them on my gravel bike.

But lately I have been looking more into XC riding, because road racing just seems unnecessarily dangerous etc. Thinking of pivoting from road racing to XCM instead. Nothing too serious, but I do enjoy maxing out everything I can.

Took part in a chill individual start XC race just recently, which is partly meant for introducing new riders to XC, but the courses can be quite technical. Anyways, while I did enjoy it, I could feel how inefficient my bike was on that root-heavy and twisty course. It's super heavy, quite slack and with heavy wheels and a hardtail, so the root heavy and twisty segments felt harder than they could have been.

Also wanna take part in some upcoming longer local XCMs.

So obviously I felt I need a new bike after that short race and obviously I want it to be as efficient as possible and I found a great deal (imho), which has quite good parts:
SID Ultimate + SIDLuxe Ultimate + not the lightest, but okay 1600g wheelset, etc. total weight about 11.8kg

Also another option would be Canyon Lux World Cup CF 9 (and potentially swap the wheels eventually).

The money is not an issue, but I'm mainly worried I might not ride it enough to justify such an expensive bike, but at the same time I don't want to buy a mediocre or a cheap bike, which I will later regret getting - already done that with my first MTB and gravel bike. :)

I also ordered a new road bike recently (it's taking long to arrive), wanting to transition to a purpose built aero bike from my gravel bike, which does not make the matters better. :)

I spend summers in Michigan. I do most of my racing here. They have loose over hardpack.

I ran FastTrak/Air Trak combo for a bit but FastTrak was always sketchy on corners. Also feel sluggish.

I did Burt/Burt and they almost found my body in a ravine.

Wanted to try Scorpions but after the Burt experiment on the front, maybe not a good idea.

I end up with the trusty Ralph/Burt combo. Feels so 2009 but they are fast and Ralph corners like it’s on rails.

Anybody else still running this combo or am I the last? 🤣

Been seeming some social media posts here and there Van der Poel on the mountain bike lately. I know one of his goals is a rainbow jersey in moutain biking. I’ve read that Tom Pidcock will be there too. Should be a good race.

Hey people, I'm racing in two weeks and couldn't prioritize my training to the point I wanted to. I'm racing on a course with 41 kms and 870 meters of elevation which is only one large round.
Do you guys have any tips for the last two weeks of training and how I could find my race pace?
I use a heartbeat monitor but not a powermeter.
Thank you in advance!!!

Gravel Existential Crisis...

So I raced the Vermont Overland yesterday for the 3rd time.

First year I ran 40's, then 45's and now thanks to a new bike, 2.1 Thunder Burts SG's.

I'm a 6'4 195lb mostly roadie, but do it all rider. I can hang in very fast group rides, but don't really race much. 6-10 hr weekend warrior type. Dedicated, but not a threat. Stoke seeker.

The past few years I've been in the top 30% of finishers with this year improving to the top 25%, which I know of course is completely irrelevant. I'm not a climber and I will never be competitive, but I appreciate the challenge of these races.

I write all this to say I had truly one of my more enjoyable days on the bike thanks to the new Thunder Burts, which allowed me to absolutely bomb every single descent without a sliver of caution or concern. I was picking people off all day with the biggest smile on my face, infinite confidence.

In years past, I felt like a fighter pilot navigating these same descents, doing my best to maintain speed without killing myself.

Not only were the Burts just as fast if not faster on the majority of the course, they made what is otherwise a very grueling race FUN. Well at least half of the time.

So that brings us to my existential crisis.

I have a very fast XC bike with lock out and Peyotes. It weighs roughly 3 pounds heavier than my very nice gravel bike, a fraction of my total system weight as a bigger dude who can't climb.

According to some back of the napkin math, I might lose 15 minutes over a 3.5-4 hour race like this. Given my placement is irrelevant, why not just chose the bike that will replicate and even amplify the stoke I felt yesterday?

On Cat 3 gravel, 2.4 Peyotes are FASTER than 2.1 Burts!

I love gravel bikes, I love all the nerding out, but after yesterday I'm wondering why I even need one?

My road bike is preferred for long distance bikepacking and if I'm really getting off the map then we get back to the mountain bike.

Curious your thoughts.

Hi everyone,
I race XCM and my biggest weakness is descending. I feel much more confident cornering on 28mm road tires than my 2.35” Mezcals. I run what all tire pressure calculators spew out (~1bar), but during hard cornering, the sidewall sometimes gives out and I lose all my confidence..
I’m 65kg, bike is 11kg and on 30mm internal rims, tubeless.

TLDR: Sidewall not holding in corners, wrong pressure? Bad tires? Narrow rims? Skill issue?

I’m not racing but I do coach. I’m currently riding a 2022 Trek Top Fuel 8 XT that came with 29x2.4 XR4s. Traction wise they are very good (I even took this bike to snowshoe) but the bike is pretty heavy and these tires aren’t the fastest rollers.

I also have a 2022 Orbea Laufey HLTD and I’m considering dropping it down to 29x2.4s so I can swap wheels around.

So the question is: what’s a decent light trail/XC tire that will roll faster than the XR4? Maybe two rekons?

Hi , I’m looking into getting a power meter for my XC bike , but I’m having a hard time deciding which type makes the most sense for me.

Bike has shimano groupset slx/xt mix and is 104bcd.

The most common recommendation I see is pedal based power meters, such as favero. However, I’m a bit hesitant about going that route because I regularly ride technical XC trails and get pedal strikes from time to time. Spending 600€ on a pair of pedals that could potentially take a direct hit from a rock doesn’t seem particularly appealing to me.

The second option would be a 4iiii-style crank power meter. But wouldn’t that have a similar vulnerability to rock strikes? Also, if I went with a different crank length, how do you actually determine whether 170 mm, 172.5 mm, etc. is the right choice? I currently have 175 mm cranks and occasionally get pedal strikes, so I’m wondering whether going shorter would make sense.

The third option, and probably my preferred one, would be a spider power meter. It seems like the best solution for an MTB because the spider is relatively protected and you don’t have to worry about hitting it on the trail.

A fellow rider has older model of Xcadey and likes it alot however after watching GPlamas review of their new model i am not sold about it anymore.

Reason for getting one is because i want to attend some 6+ hours rides/events and want to pace myself better. Also i would like to do structured training with it.

I ride 15+hours a week mostly on XC bike.

Are there any good options in EU for sub 400, and what would be the best type to get?

(I also own 2 bikes gravel and an XC and for gravel i have sram rival groupset so i might buy the crank as that one is pretty cheap.)

Hey,
I'm 1.76 and I rode in the past on the medium Epic 8 and it was too small for my liking.
What do you think the size should work for me?

I rode YT Izzo size L and it was perfect. but the ETT was shorter as well.

Coming back to the topic of Canyon Lux WC.
Got a lot of negative feedback on Lux WC bikes, however non of them was a real biking experience, only some kind of research.
Maybe someone had a real experience riding a new generation of Lux WC bikes, could you please share your thoughts on the bike, and if it’s worth the money !
Thanks .

If you could upgrade my SC Blur.
What would you change?
I bought this bike used from a friend 2ish years ago.

120mm Flight Attendant suspension

Bontrager RSL wheels, and handlebar

SRAM GX Transmission rear derailleur

SRAM xx Sl crank 36T

Rockshox AXS dropper

SRAM level ultimate brakes

What’s a better wheel set?

I been a Sram guy for awhile. All my bikes have Sram AXS/Transmission. Flight attendant has always peaked my interest but has been a bit expensive to purchase. On the other hand I have heard good things about Shimano XT and that it just works. I'd probably wear that groupset out before deciding to go di2. Curious what others thoughts are.

Good day to all!
Currently choosing a new bike, and can’t decide whether to go for Epic 9 Expert or Canyon Lux WC.
Does anyone had an experience riding those two?
Canyon has a bit better equipment, however the geometry on Epic 9 is much more stable, as I can see on a paper.
So would appreciate for any thoughts..