XC Racer's – bike d'jour?

Jumping on this thread slightly, but will be massively related for Kryton i imagine…

What tyres guys ? Tubeless of course.

For me it’s 27.5 but i expect for him it’s 29.

For marathon style events where you can get all sorts of terrain on one ride an intermediate XC tyre with extra sidewall protection.
Ron Snakeskin or X-King Protection are the obvious two that come to mind, both lightning fast and both offering acceptable grip in a wide range of conditions.
Bontrager XR2’s, Vittoria Barzo and Maxxis Ardent race are also generally well thought of.

I have now – and very nice – but what do you have to pay to get a single chain ring!

as a bike d’jour then 2×11 would be my preferred option….

one of our team turned up with a top fuel 9.8

was five minutes quicker than my superfly hardtail in back to back laps.

For marathon style events where you can get all sorts of terrain on one ride an intermediate XC tyre with extra sidewall protection.

I rode a Ron/Ralph snakeskin combo last week.

Anyone wanna flog me a frame?

I have a Top Fuel alu frame 17.5″ sat around that i could do with moving on

I’m wondering if I should buy a set of lighter wheels for the Anthem

will the one’s off the HT fit, for a try.

Just to be annoying…
How long was this marathon race? round 4 hours I am guessing?
How much 4h race training had you done?

In my experience you can get away with Time Crunched sort of training on anything up to 2 hour races, but once you go above that there is no substitute for actually training longer durations.

Time crunched training doesn’t do anything for your core, arms, shoulders and Mental state which all come in to play hugely. If you’re core is done and you still have half the race to go, you are going to feel beat up regardless.

2.25 Racing Ralph on the rear
2.25 Nobby Nic on the front

Tubeless, evo versions

Just to be annoying…
How long was this marathon race? round 4 hours I am guessing?
How much 4h race training had you done?

In my experience you can get away with Time Crunched sort of training on anything up to 2 hour races, but once you go above that there is no substitute for actually training longer durations.

Time crunched training doesn’t do anything for your core, arms, shoulders and Mental state which all come in to play hugely. If you’re core is done and you still have half the race to go, you are going to feel beat up regardless.

Not annoying at all. In fact I’d had a short conversation with my teammates this morning about the same thing. At the end of last year I wasn’t expecting to be doing these events, so was focused on XCO. I’ve trained exclusively for that and combinations of family/weather/time mean I’ve not done many longer rides, and have missed some crucial Sweet sport/tempo workouts.

Hence you are spot on. My pace for XCO has improved so far which is good, but clearly here I was underprepared for the duration. Some analysis of my Speed/HR shows I dropped of considerabley after 2 hours, and lets not forget this particular marathon was hard baked ground, 20 degrees and 1500m+ of climbing. – I’m also not a strong climber, and like many I cramped also. Although it didn’t seem to reappear I also carried a tweak in my left quad into the race.

So although N+1 is strong I don’t want to panic. The next 6 weeks plan pre Rd2 is all Tempo & SS (discussed in the trainerroad thread) indispersed with 4 or so XCO races so that should help.

will the one’s off the HT fit, for a try.

Front yes, rear is 142 to QR conversion so a bit of a faff but doable!

Thanks to Krytons thread i just bought some new Tubeless wheels for the Whyte.
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/WBI25EGRS/wtb-st-i25-tcs-rim-on-el-guapo-rattlesnake-hubs

It’s mostly so i can run a 2nd set of lighter faster rubber for the XC events.

I was tempted by the N+1 but trying new wheels before jumping into that.

Going to head out tomorrow hopefully doing some back to back testing between the Parkwood and the Whyte T130

I don’t think a single XC bike is wise. Do you really want to wreck a carbon FS on a wet muddy Merida Brass Monkey for no gain? Don’t forget the mud clearance issues almost all FS will have and that plagued you.

You can make your carbon HT comfier – Syntace P6 hiflex seat post or a lighter weight and nearly as bendy KCNC prolite. Both make a big difference. Bigger tyres at lower pressure and in extreme cases 2 pairs of shorts. If I can do 14hrs on the Manx 100 (and that is ROUGH) in comfort on a HT I’d say it’s setup not the fact it’s a HT per se).

The next round is really HT territory IMHO. Biggest issue will be avoiding grass covered ruts at speed (which is why I didn’t enter last year as I had a big off training on the course)

You’ve a better or less selective memory than me adsh, thanks for the apt reminders. Yes my anthem clogged badly which was why I decide to get the HT. I have a Kcnc Scandium seatpost on the HT from XCracer but I’m not sure if the “pro lite” is a different post?

My pressures were 25psi for the Marathon ron/ralph 2.1 snakeskins. It has been noted by others I run them high…

The next round is really HT territory IMHO

Wantage/Chiterns – is it? I was going to test the Anthem…?

I’m thinking of a bit of a rationalization/update of my bikes, too. I rode the builth marathon too on a 80mm travel spearfish, and although it is comfy and fast on lots of trails, it’s a pretty nervous descender. I’ve also got a solaris and stumpjumper 29er, both of which are very nice, but the stumpy isn’t getting ridden a lot at the moment.

The new sparks look great, with the 120mm versions having better geo than my stumpjumper (although a little less travel) and potentially a lot lighter. But I’d still like a hardtail – Does anyone know the current best chinese offering with

reach around 430mm
HA around 69
Head tube around 100mm
Chainstays somewhere around 425-430

in a medium

(i.e. I’m looking for a scale, but from china!)

Wantage/Chiterns – is it? I was going to test the Anthem…?

Hmmmm. What series is this then?

Scott Marathon – Rd 2

Syntace P6 hiflex seat post

That is now on my shopping list! cheap OEM post is doing my nut(s) in at the moment 😆

The new sparks look great, with the 120mm versions having better geo than my stumpjumper (although a little less travel)

Yesterday I demo’d the new Spark 29er, a Scale 910 an a Niner Jet RDO.

The new 120mm Spark is a really good all round trail bike. Accelerated well, good on descents and the geo is spot on. However I wouldn’t really call it an XC race bike (although you could do it), might be good for marathons, but for all out racing the Scale was on another level.

The Niner was the best of both, despite having more travel it pedaled better than the Spark and descended 10x better. It is however twice the price.

Perfect, thanks lots 🙂

I’ll have some of that i think. We’re flying out to Andalucia a couple of days after, so that will be a nice final fling. It will also be useful potentially as quite a few of my evening Friday rides go to Wantage as we stop there for coffee.
I’ll be there 🙂

Entered 😉

The new 120mm Spark is a really good all round trail bike. Accelerated well, good on descents and the geo is spot on. However I wouldn’t really call it an XC race bike (although you could do it), might be good for marathons, but for all out racing the Scale was on another level.

Tsk. This is alright if you are Nino who has both of course and 100mm on his Spark.

Two pages to discover if 2 bikes is the right way for Nino, it must be good enough for me 😀

Weeksy nice one – see you there! Full or half?

weeksy – Member
Jumping on this thread slightly, but will be massively related for Kryton i imagine…

What tyres guys ? Tubeless of course.

For me it’s 27.5 but i expect for him it’s 29

I run Vittoria Barzo TNT up front and Mezcal TNT out back, sorted

Weeksy nice one – see you there! Full or half?

Full.

ARRRGGHHHHH No i’m not.. “Oh, that’s the weekend i’m going to see Take-That in Manchester”

I’ve had to email them and cancel 🙁

Sorry for the de-rail.

So you’ve chosen Take That over a day out on the bike?

*shakes head*

You do realise you just admitted to cancelling a bike ride in favour of watching a boy band? 🙄

LOL i’m not bloody going, she’s going with her mate, which means i’m looking after our 8 year old.

Interesting article, and list of prospective bikes & mods at the end:

http://marathonmtb.com/2016/08/16/bike-for-marathon-and-stage-racing/

Fancy having a bash at the hope round of the mtb marathon series, anyone else?

wors – Member
Fancy having a bash at the hope round of the mtb marathon series, anyone else?

I’m not 100% how well this one will work, what with all the walkers and other people in the area, unless they go really remote somewhere.

I have a 2016 Trek Superfly and think the Geometry is the best of any off road bike I’ve owned. I’m sure other new bikes from other brands are just as good so you could get more from a new bike than lighter parts on an older bike.

FWIW I did the Builth night ride on a 21 lb XC HT and hit the moor in 4th but then gradually lost ground on all the sheeptrack to end up 14th. This was partly me but partly the bike. HT is rubbish on lumpy flat stuff.

I then did the day marathon on a 29 lb trail FS. It was heavenly on the sheep track but hard work up the climbs as would be expected.

So it depends on what you ride most and how you ride it.

For a climber like me, it has to be a HT (or rigid and/or SS). It’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay quicker on climbs.

I was amazed when a very well known Elite rider turned up with one of these.
https://www.canecreek.com/products/seatposts
Have tried one myself and really liked it, Transformed my HT.

You’ve a better or less selective memory than me adsh, thanks for the apt reminders. Yes my anthem clogged badly which was why I decide to get the HT. I have a Kcnc Scandium seatpost on the HT from XCracer but I’m not sure if the “pro lite” is a different post?

My pressures were 25psi for the Marathon ron/ralph 2.1 snakeskins. It has been noted by others I run them high…

The next round is really HT territory IMHO
Wantage/Chiterns – is it? I was going to test the Anthem…?

I think you’re good with the one from XC racer – if you try to bend the saddle back you should see quite a deflection if you’ve got a decent amount of post showing. I have the expensive and comfortable Syntace on my HT and fitted the KCNC to my Epic. To my surprise it seems to bend as much as the Syntace.

2.1s and 25psi is where your problem lies I’d say. 2.25s and approx. 20 front 22 rear for me at the most.

I think the next round is basically the Ridgeway plus trails off it. As such it may have some dried horse hoof and vehicle ruts. If you’re fast it can get a little jarring on a HT.

I rode the builth marathon too on a 80mm travel spearfish, and although it is comfy and fast on lots of trails, it’s a pretty nervous descender.

I’m surprised at the ‘fish feeling nervous, I find mine noticeably more relaxed than my Epic and other XC bikes. In fact I’d do so far as to say it’s probably the perfect bike for these sorts of events.

I’m surprised at the ‘fish feeling nervous, I find mine noticeably more relaxed than my Epic and other XC bikes. In fact I’d do so far as to say it’s probably the perfect bike for these sorts of events.

The Mk1 had a 71 degree head angle and low offset forks, combined with the short top tube and long chainstays it put a lot more weight on the front wheel than more modern bikes do. I fitted a 1.5 dgree slackset from Works components to mine and it made it into such a good bike, regret selling it now. I want a new one but they are not easy to get hold of with Raleigh being the importers. I reckon if they did a better job of advertising them Spearfish would be a popular bike again.

Aha mine is a Split Pivot 69.3HA. Absolutely love it.

There’s a split pivot version for sale on here

Aha mine is a Split Pivot 69.3HA. Absolutely love it.

Probably with 51mm offset forks too, i fitted some of those too to my Mk1. Great bike.

There’s a split pivot version for sale on here

Not in XL there isnt 😆

FWIW I run a Cannondale F29 hardtail which has quite a bit of ‘flex’ built into the frame and seatpost and I’ve managed 5 hours at a good pace which included up and around Langsett and Wharncliffe. With 2.25 Ron’s running at 20psi ish its surprisingly compliant. As previous has said the biggest downside I find is the lumpy flat bits where you need to pedal. The full susser is miles faster. I don’t think you can beat the newer geo short travel full sussers. I’ve got an Occam 29er and it is by far and away faster in every MTB situation. Its only 24lb and has Dt Swiss carbon wheels which, being so light make loads of difference getting up to speed.

There’s a split pivot version for sale on here

If it was a large I’d buy it for a spare. Cheap.

I think the next round is basically the Ridgeway plus trails off it. As such it may have some dried horse hoof and vehicle ruts. If you’re fast it can get a little jarring on a HT.

I did 4hrs on the ridgeway yesterday near the forthcoming Scott event.

I’d say your anthem would be faster – I was spinning out on 32/12 and grateful for the rear suspension on the Spearfish allowing me to sit for the most part.