I’m planning to get a high-end steel hardtail, something along the lines of the Fairlight Holt (Holt 2.0 - Fairlight Cycles), mainly because my priority is ultra-distance racing. For that kind of riding, I think this type of bike is close to ideal—durable, comfortable, and reliable. Plus, I just find this kind of bike exceptional.
That said, I’d also like to enter some XC races from time to time (regional level, 40+ category), and I’m curious how such a bike would perform compared to the usual modern carbon full-suspension XC race machines.
A bit about me:
My background is in enduro and downhill, so riding a hardtail on technical sections doesn’t bother me.
The main concern I see is grip on steep climbs and weight.
For ultras, comfort and reliability are my top priorities, but I’d still like to be reasonably competitive in XC.
So my question is: how much of a disadvantage would I be at in XC races with a steel hardtail like this? Would setup choices (tires, gearing, cockpit) help close the gap?
As a very blanket/broad statement - my experience is that equipment differences matter very very very little in regional age group racing, which is what I presume that most of us do. Despite all of our talking about fastest tires and Flight Attendant suspension, I usually see the fittest guys winning on generally run of the mill bikes. Sounds like you need this bike for your main passion, it is going to hold you back very little for some extra XC racing. My only recommendation would be to be as fit as possible. Some weight training will help, and I would run a nice cushy 2.4 tire.
Some areas that are consistently bumpy enough are faster notably, but for most XC races it won’t be a huge issue. Familiarity with it will make it so you can get pretty close
Second on the 2.4’s! I trained on my hardtail all summer with 2.25’s to “save weight” and because they were “faster”. I went to 2.4’s for a long race to be more forgiving on the body and after lots of suggestions from folks that had done it before. The larger volume tire made a ton of difference in absorbing the bumps, rocks, and roots and kept the body happy.
It would depend on the terrain. I raced a hardtail for a couple seasons and the only time I felt like it was holding me back was in bumpy sections. I would get dropped in these sections by people I could drop on the descents and on smooth climbs. I live in the SE so every race I do is rocky and rooty. I went back to FS last year and am noticeably faster all around even though my bike is 2-3 pounds heavier.
IMO, equipment differences matter very little, and frame material matters even less. A steel hardtail won’t perform consequentially different than a carbon or aluminum hardtail given the same geo.
Geometry matters too, back in 2022 I turned up to my first XC race in over 20 years on a 1999 Marin FRS with a 71deg head angle, short top tube, high BB, 130mm stem and no dropper post. The riding was steeper and more technical than anything I has been riding with my club in our local woods. I barely made it around the course. I’ve since had a go on a friend’s bike with modern geometry and it made riding similar terrain easy.
I’ve currently got both a handmade steel hardtail and a FS XC bike.
I ordered the hardtail with a short head tube and long seat tube in order to have a fit close to what I was looking for and still have room for two 500ml bottles and a frame bag. It’s made out of high-quality steel tubing and is really easy to service with the external cable routing.
Aside from those things, the FS is better pretty much across the board. Almost all of my rides include commuting on roads, paved trails, gravel, and double-track on my way to one of my local MTB trails. The FS is just as efficient, if not more, on all surfaces since it has a lockout and a lower stack.
I’ve done some A/B testing with them in multiple different terrain scenarios, and the FS is just so grippy and comfortable. It’s a little heartbreaking in a weird way, but it has ruined me a bit, and I don’t know if I’ll ever have much desire to ride a hardtail again.
They are fantastic bikes, but similar to adding a suspension for the front of a bike, adding a shock to the rear changes everything.
My only issue now is that if I want to carry more than 1.5L of water on a ride with stops, I need to carry a pack, but a good pack isn’t bothersome whatsoever..
Your skill level will far outweigh the impact of any bike. As a relatively unskilled XC racer, I can podium age group cat 2 races on my FS bike, but I would be off the back on a hardtail. More skilled friends of mine, on the other hand, are winning expert races on their hardtails. They’d no doubt be even faster on a full suspension bike, too, but I think they’d be less faster than themselves than I am when I switch from hardtail to FS, because they’re actually good at riding their hardtails .
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