2022 XC Bike Thread

I completely agree. I just couldn’t think of what else was due. Plus, the new Anthem is their race machine, so there’s room above. But you’re right. They aren’t going to do a 120mm bike alongside the 120mm Anthem.

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It looks like a Giant with live value but could also be a new pivot trail 429. Don’t remember when the most recent trail 429 was released.

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Very interested in comments on this bike…

You bet. Anything in particular you want to know?

Very, very balanced handling. Super-fast rolling, which I’m sure a large part is from the stock Aspen tires.

The suspension setup was a little odd. It’s a SID select front and SID Luxe rear. At the recommended pressures, the rear felt a little stiff and the front was really stiff. After playing around a while I wound up putting two tokens in the fork (stock is no tokens) and running a very low pressure so I could get some nice active feel off the top and a faster ramp-up to prevent bottoming out.

The salmon color is right up my alley. I got some blue ESI grips to match the logos and trimmed the left one to fit with the TwistLoc.

It’s my first Santa Cruz and I’m definitely impressed.

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Giant trance is my guess!

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Definitely looks like Maestro. Didn’t they just come out with a Trance? Definitely a Trance X.

The front end doesn’t look very DownCountry to me. Might just be an upright stem.

This is great info @Wheatstraw53 !

I’d love to know - why did you choose the Blur, and what were you coming from? Are you primary riding for fun, or do you have races planned for it? If so, what kind?

Thanks!!

Ding ding ding :grinning:

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Also ding ding :grinning:

I don’t think the Trance is in the DC category. It might be similar to the RM and Niner in terms of geo and travel, but (like those bikes potentially) it’s stepped squarely back into trail.

I assume the RM etc will be a significantly better pedaller/straight line clmber.

ETA: or I guess, now the XC bikes have stepped into the range that I consider DC, DC has to exist slightly further along the trail scale. I just think they are supposed to be XC fast with more capability.

Agreed. At that travel (120/130), angles and weight (29.5lbs per PB for a $7k build :open_mouth: ), I see that as a pure “Trail” bike.

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Agreed. It’s hard for me personally to see what’s the point of such a bike?

For that kind of weight & money, why not go for a bike with more travel, that still retains equally good pedaling position & suspension platform.

Heck, my previous 2018 Yeti SB5.5 was lighter, probably better uphill & downhill, and it had 140mm/160mm.

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I’ve always ridden XC bikes, partly due to the local terrain and partly because it just suits me as a rider. Anthem, Scalpel, XTC, Superfly. My last bike was a 2020 Trek Top Fuel after the downcountry reboot. I liked the idea of trying something a little more rowdy to see if I could expand my capabilities a bit, tackle some rougher terrain, etc. That worked out great for me and I felt like I progressed as a rider. I tend to change bikes every year or two.

I would have gotten a Blur TR if they had been available, but the regular Blur was my only choice. I was a little concerned about whether I’d “regress” having a bit less travel to work with. So far it hasn’t been a problem–I’m riding the same stuff, with the same confidence, and maybe getting bucked around juuust a bit more.

I race very rarely but I enjoy riding hard, trying to beat my Strava times, etc. I did enter my first XC race in like 10 years back in June, and I won the Cat 3 40+, so for one glorious day, I was King Of The Casual Dads. That was on the Trek. Next year I’d like to do another XC race or two and maybe one of the longer endurance races like Mohican or Lumberjack.

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That build is just…shakes my head. My enduro bike is 34 lbs and its 160/160. And it was $7500 CAD (including the weareone carbon wheels!!!)

Its interesting to see the evolution of the downcountry categories and how many companies are missing the mark, the trance included. I expect that in the future, as XCO gets rowdier and rowdier, the typical race XC bike will be a light, 120/120 build around 25 lbs.

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I think you’re right. DC was the light, fast, efficient 120mm bike. That’s now the XC rig’s territory.

Thus brands are pushing their XC/DC bikes up to trail bike. RM element and Ibis, plus the other slack/long bikes are now more trail than XC, but at least they retain the pedally nature.

The Trance was never a XC/DC bike so it’s kind of telling as to the intention of the other bikes in the test. It’s just a short travel trail bike.

The Lux Trail and Blur TR I’ll be interested to see tested, and will be an interesting comparison with the Element.

I agree (also with @mailman ). Also think that travel and geo influence this - so 66-68 HTA is the current DC bike, will soon be XC.

So if I just hold onto my Ripley for a few years, it will be the XC bike that I want to but now! (Maybe plus a pound or two in frame weight)… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Yeah. Whilst I actually think 67-67.5° is the sweet spot for a super fast XC bike for mostly all of us, I really expected the big brands to stop at 68-68.5° like the previous Top Fuel and Orbea Oiz Trail (and Scalpel?) For their dedicated race bikes.

120/120 or 120/110 seems perfect too, though I also understand some top end racers preferring the smaller forks (32 or SID) for the weight. It doesn’t seem like enough.

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Progress in the bike industry

F100/R100 fast XC >> 120/120 fast XC
120/120 DC >> 130/120 DC
130/120 Trail >> 140/130 Trail

in 2023:
100 front and 100 rear super fast and light gravel bike!

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I do actually think alot of this comes from the gravel trend. Like a 100m hard tail doesn’t really make much sense when modern geo gravels are almost as capable.

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I think that bikes get more capable, so over the next 2-3 years organizers design more difficult courses to make it interesting for the more capable bikes.

And then bike manufacturers design more capable bikes to handle the more capable courses.

It’s not an arms race, but that sure feels like the closest analogy.

I think that the arrival of gravel has pushed XC courses so that they don’t look like gravel rides anymore…

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