Lighten my bike or new XC build

I like the look of the XRM 6.9…. but I can’t get past that front end mess with the handlebar lockout. Is it as bad as it looks from the website pics? Looks like a really over complicated front end with the lockout and dropper lever.

I was going to post a pic of the finished cabling on mine, except it’s not finished. Found the rear Magura caliper does not fit in the frame! Worse still discovered that after cutting and threading the hose 😭.

Anyone know what the max rotor size is for this frame? May have to resort to a 180mm.

I wouldn’t mind betting its 160mm as the XRM is specc’d with the same size rotors as the XR irrespective of frame size.

Yeah wouldn’t surprise me either.

Finally had a chance to go for a big ride with the XR 7.9 today. Impressions very positive coming from my old-school hardtail. The place I noticed the most benefit was on technical climbing, the bike was a beast at that. The geometry feels comfortable for me and I only needed a few tweaks to dial it in perfectly.

@lovewookie You were definitely right about the mud shelf, I had to clear this out multiple times during the ride, seems like it’s a normal feature of this type of design though?

Weight weenies will be horrified but I’ve already added 1kg to the bike:

• Forekaster front tire to get us through hopefully this final month of horrible mud
• Big coverage mudguards. Crud XL fits on the front but it sticks out at an angle for some reason, trying not to be OCD about it
• Brand-X Ascend dropper, 150mm just a smidge too high so I went for 125mm (to fit tomorrow)
• Alloy 760mm handlebar. I thought about it and just don’t feel super comfortable riding a lightweight carbon handlebar from a brand that’s not talked about in this forum. It’s most likely fine, but I figure I’ll ride more confidently with an alloy handlebar from a trusted brand.

You were definitely right about the mud shelf, I had to clear this out multiple times during the ride, seems like it’s a normal feature of this type of design though?

yeah, anything with a brace there will collect mud.

just don’t feel super comfortable riding a lightweight carbon handlebar from a brand that’s not talked about in this forum.

Mine came with a FSA SL-K, which is a bit of a weighty beast for a carbon bar. specs wise FSA say it’s 215g, vs 145g for the progress carbon bar it’s supposed to come with.

they are sold on tradeinn, but that doens’t mean much as they sell odd brand tyres too….

Mine came with a FSA SL-K, which is a bit of a weighty beast for a carbon bar. specs wise FSA say it’s 215g, vs 145g for the progress carbon bar it’s supposed to come with.

I got the Progress bar from the official spec, FSA seems to be a more recognised brand

Is anyone with an XR in the XL (or L?) size able to comment on sizing? Does it feel like a long bike?
I’m right on the border between L and XL at 184cm, but with a longer torso and arms than average (ape gene!)  Currently on a long Large Giant from 2012, so not much in modern geometry to compare with…but XL on road and cross bikes.

Obviously only XL is available, so it’s a go/no-go decision and none in stock anywhere convenient to try out

I’m 185cm but (I think) balanced proportions. I have to caveat that I’ve not yet ridden the XL but have sat on in a fair few times. I was slightly worried about the length prior to sitting but it does not feel as long as I expected (for comparison my trail bike is an aether 9 in L which has a longer reach, shorter stem and wider bars). I’ve got a 180mm one up dropper fitted which I think should be ok at it’s max length (think because not 100% decided on which cranks I’ll run yet).

Where are you in the country @import?

I’m 6’2, short legs long torso and tend to go for long bikes.

I have a XL, doesn’t feel overly long, but it’s not cramped either. the 70mm stem it came with seems to be decent size for me, which is nice.

By comparison, I had a Carbonda/vitus FS in large, as the seat tube on the XL is daft, like 540mm. reach on that Large however was 500mm, seat tube was 480mm, but it felt really short and awkward, and a bit weird. But I guess a lot of my riding is done sat down, so a long, slack bike with a steep seat tube  didn’t really work for me.

problem I have with XL bikes is that a lot of them are 21″ which is a bit long for my legs, but have a good reach. The XL is possibly slightly tall seat tube at 20″+ a bit., but the standover is massive so the only compromise for me is that if I run a dropper, it’ll be restricted to a shorter drop. However, I don’t really like droppers, not long ones anyway, so it suits the purpose of a XC bike.

@lovewookie you could have been describing my proportions too. I’ve fitted a 125mm dropper and that’s about right. Makes me happier I didn’t go for that Vitus Rapide FS, did you sell yours because you didn’t get on with the fit?

@import I’m just a few cm taller than you and the bike fit is great, doesn’t feel like I’m at the bottom end of a range and doesn’t feel super long. But bear in mind I’m coming from road biking so the lower front end XC geometry suits me and I don’t have much experience with comparable FS bikes.

. Makes me happier I didn’t go for that Vitus Rapide FS, did you sell yours because you didn’t get on with the fit?

yeah, I think I may have been better on the XL, but I’d have only had about 220mm post showing as my legs are quite short. hindsight it would have probably been ok, as standover was massive. it’s a proper dilemma being inbetween sizes.

I struggled a bit with the slack head angle, to get to feel comfy I needd a 70mm stem, but anything over 60mm and it felt floppy. The 76deg seat angle was a bit odd at first, I could push the saddle back on the rails to get comfy but it compromised the alreay active suspension too much with my weight far back. again, a XL, at 20mm longer may have solved that and enabled me to ride more neutral over the BB and cope with a 60mm stem or less

I also didn’t like where the saddle was when riding undulating stuff. I don’t use droppers, but the long bikes really need them to be able to maximise being able to move about the bike. It was just in the way, and that just annoyed me more.

The XR7.9 doesn’t seem to suffer from any of that. I can move about the bike well enough, the head angle is slacker than I’m used to, but feels stable rather than flopping about and it’s got enough progression in the rear suspension to get on with letting me pedal.

The closest feeling bike I’ve had to it is my very old canondale scalpel, the one with the shock behind the seat tube. I’d managed to pick up an XL of those so it was long, but had a dropped top tube so decent standover and suspension that did the job to remove rattle and minor hits. it was perfect for 90% of what I rode and the other 10% I could mince my way down anyway. The 7.9 is like that, but more squish.

Pretty much ready for the first ride tonight now. Saddle height set with the 180mm dropper and still have some post insertion to play with if it ends up being a little high. Can’t wait!

First up built and ready to ride weight was 12.1Kg inc pedals. That is with some obvious fat to be trimmed out of the cranks, pedals and dropper before the big one of the wheels. Happy with that as I’m now on a lighter bike thatn the start of the thread but have gained rear suspension :D.

As for the actual ride size wise it felt good, I didn’t have to adjust the post (other than when it slipped down, need some carbon paste) and the length was good. I was noticeably in a lower racey position compared to either of my other bikes and felt mostly comfortable in that position. It is going to take a bit of getting used and I definitely need to adjust the saddle as it felt like I was being pushed onto my hands too much at times. Moving the bike felt nice and sprightly. Climbing over roots or going along a rooty section felt good with less slipping than the hardtail. Going down I was more cautious on, its been a while since I’ve been on anything with a stem this long so need to build some confidence there. The local wood’s trails are similar in nature to XC tracks and I didn’t notice anything that concerned me. The rear suspension just quietly gets on with its job though the rebound needs a bit of adjusting as I think it’s a bit fast currently. All in I’m happy with the change, now just need to get some saddle time on it before the next race to build confidence.

it felt like I was being pushed onto my hands too much at times

This is the next step in getting good at racing – build up your core strength to maintain that lower position!

Don’t be afraid of running a shorter stem by the way – I run a 60mm on my race bike nowadays.

Oh, and, if you’re not getting the results you’re after on a 12.1kg bike with racey geometry, upgrading the wheels and cranks won’t make a difference. Nice kit is nice to have, but the bike won’t be holding you back now.

Yeah that is in the plan with my PT as it is definitely a weak spot currently. I got a fair bit of lower back aching during the first race.

I think there is a 60mm and a 50mm in the spares box to play with.

Spec diagram from Lapierre support for future reference

Nice one! Do you have that as a pdf or just image?

Second proper ride today. Winchester to the sustainability centre via the SDW. Ride was great, bike was great and I set PRs on 3/4 of the segments. Now having thoughts that the hardtail can go as not sure when I’d ride it!

Only negative currently is what I think is BB creak (only manifests under heavy pedal load, not under deliberate suspension compression and can cause it by pedaling hard either side).

Nice one! Do you have that as a pdf or just image?

They just sent that small image. I wonder if it’s worth acquiring a set of replacement bearings in advance, or whether they’re common types that could be easily sourced.

Second proper ride today. Winchester to the sustainability centre via the SDW. Ride was great, bike was great and I set PRs on 3/4 of the segments.

Cool, how’s the ground conditions down there? I’m itching to do SDW again this year and just waiting until a nice weekend when it’s dried out.

Now having thoughts that the hardtail can go as not sure when I’d ride it!

I’m keeping mine for winter, but I agree with you, this XR is a better ride than my hardtail in every way.

Only negative currently is what I think is BB creak (only manifests under heavy pedal load, not under deliberate suspension compression and can cause it by pedaling hard either side).

That’s annoying, possibly not enough grease in the threads?

SDW that I covered was basically dry apart from the odd puddle. The Chalky climb to the sustainability centre was really slippy however that was probably due to the short shower half an hour before I got there. Hopefully a bit later in the year I’ll be making an attempt at sub 12hrs from the Winchester end (starting on Southampton for bonus miles).

It’s a press fit BB so suspect not threads. I’ve already regressed the pedal threads and it’s not those. Pedals are not very old. Will pull the crank and check the ring mounting and if the spline needs greasing. I already have a hope of BB on the shelf so if those checks don’t fix it I’ll be knocking the current one out and fitting the hope.

I wonder if it’s worth acquiring a set of replacement bearings in advance, or whether they’re common types that could be easily sourced.

looks like common ones, though they are matrix bearing, solid lube

No 12 https://www.bike24.com/p2283455.html

No 29 https://www.bike24.com/p2283418.html

Been very tempted by one of these but just can’t shake the feeling the front’s too low for me.

Having sold my gravel bike because I couldn’t get on with a low front and drops.

with the stem at max and a low rise riser, it’s not that low.

the BB is low, so relatively speaking it feels higher than you’d think.

That said, it’s not high by any stretch, but there is a bit of flexibility.

and for the record, I’m not bendy, and don’t get on with drops either.

does anyone use a bottle on the seat tube? The bosses are very low down, so much so that my SKS cage physically doesn’t fit in, the holes on the cage are about 1cm to high, and even if it did, the bottle woud bottom out on the frame and not sit in the cage properly.

something like this:

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/accessories/bottles-cages/cube-bottle-cage-hpp-matt-blackred__630

looks like it’s got holes quite low down and may work, but anyone successfully got a cage to fit?

I’ve used a Lezyne Side Load bottle cage which fits in there well. Holds a 600ml GripGrab bottle securely enough, a 750ml bottle would not leave enough clearance for the compressed shock.

Great, I’ll try something like that. 🙂

Really loving the XR and have been riding it loads recently. However I had my first maintenance issue already – loud clicking headset. I disassembled the headset and it was pretty filthy especially around the top bearing.

It seems obvious why it’s happening too. There’s several millimetres gap between the custom cover and the frame, letting the dirt in. On my other MTB there’s no gap there. Fortunately the bearing is sealed so just a clean and regrease seems to have fixed the issue for now, but I can’t help but feel this is a design flaw?

I can’t help but feel this is a design flaw?

that’s the kind of defect me and the manufacturing guys argue about all day. Me: “You made it wrong”

Factory: ”no, you designed it wrong”

ad nauseum. They’re almost always right – it’s easy to design something that can’t be made in volume.

id fill that with something… blu tak personally 😂

so, 6/7 months on, how are folk getting on with their XR’s?

I’ve not done huge miles, about 550 ish in this time over 30 or so rides, but it’s been an absolute gem of a bike to use. there have only been a few times where I’ve not felt comfortable riding stuff and TBH it probably saved me from imminent injury..but 99% of the time it’s pretty perfect for what I do.

Took it out of the shed this morning though and it seems like I’ve play somewhere, think some of the bearings are shot, which is quite a surprise considering the mileage or lack of, and that they’re supposed to be fangled SKF solid lube bearings..

I’ll update once I’ve had chance to investigate properly after work, but wonder if others have had similar? I kinda hope it’s bearings (easy to sort) and not something else :-/

bike gets fairly well looked after, hosed down not jetwashed and dried out in the kitchen overnight normally.

I’ve loved the XR this summer but it’s in storage over the colder months now. I’ve probably done roughly the same mileage on it, including a few 100 mile epics in the South-East.

That’s annoying about the play, keep us updated on which bearings you find to be the culprit. I did find a thread on MTBR where quite a few people reported quick failures with those SKF matrix bearings so not sure if they live up to the marketing. https://www.mtbr.com/threads/skf-mtrx-bearings.1099122/

Thanks, that’s an interesting read.

I’ll be investigating later today and will report back.

Main pivot seemed to have a bit of movement, bolt was done up tight, so I stripped it all down

One thing I can say is that it’s definitely not skf matrix bearings, not configured like the drawing. The main pivot bearings are in the frame, not the swingarm, with the pivot bolt having tapered ends to nip down onto the bearings.

The linkage bearings themselves are marked JNK, all VRS seals with one having slightly different colour blue to the rest, which was odd. That one was rough as hell, the rest seemed to have a little play but we’re smooth.

Main pivot bearings are black seals rather than blue, no name and VRS sealed. These are smooth but have a fair amount of resistance.

The discoloration on the main pivot bolt and drive side spacer suggests to me that the bearing has been sticking.

Only thing left for me to do is reassemble the main pivot and check that the swingarm isn’t worn. :-/

Mines parked up for the winter. I did the xc season and few longer rides then stole the wheels for a single speed. It’ll be back out in the spring with new lighter wheels and an xtr mech I picked up. I’ve also got one of those any direction Wolftooth dropper remotes in the hope that will make the lockout/dropper controls less cumbersome.

On the riding front I’m still very happy with it. I’ve more confidence and it’s feels faster.

All reassembled and torqued up and there’s no play in it. However, the linkage bearings are rough and the shock link bearings are slightly wobbly so it’s being retired until I can get it all working happy again. Probably with some max bearings instead.