r/xcmtb

Have a Chisel Comp HT and recently upgraded to a Chisel Comp FS. I dont necessarily need 2 bikes, and the ability to lockout the rear suspension makes it feel like there isnt much use in keeping the HT. I thought about maybe swapping out the tires to something more gravel road and then swapping the bar out for a surly corner bar to have a type of a gravel bike? I ride a good mix of fire roads, street, and trails ( pnw) when i do ride which isnt a ton . I also have just a road bike but usually just always keep it in my garage hooked up to the trainer.

Just thought since I already have it, its good to keep it since its such a good HT but also dont know if its worth just keeping around to maybe use at another time for something else.

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.

Anyone know who makes a 60mm stem with 35mm and over -10 degree angle? Been searching but can’t find it.

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'm interested in switching to clipless pedals on my xc bike. I currently run flat pedals on all my MTBs but use clipless on my gravel bike. I've tried my crankbrothers candy and eggbeaters with float cleats on the MTB. When I'm riding with flats I can push through the berms and corners with my feet to steer but with the clipless pedals anytime I push with my feet it feels standing on ice cubes and I end up just having to oversteer with the front compensate. Any suggestions on a xc pedal that would still have that stable feeling I get from my flats?

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’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!!

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

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. :)

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!

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? 🤣

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,

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?

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!!!