What bike for XC racing?

MikeWW

Pretty familiar with MTB's (got a Genesis IO single speed and a Marin Mount Vision 5.8) but need some suggestions for a race XC bike for one of my lads. He's currently on a dialled alpine (all mountain type bike) and its not great(i.e heavy) for the races he is starting to do.
Planning to spend up to £1500 so suggestions for a bike that will put him at least on a level playing field
Thanks

thekickingmule

There are loads of bikes you go for with that budget, do you want a FS or a HT? If HT then maybe look at some titanium frames with a good spec to go with it (There was an article in MBUK the other month about some, probably on this site somewhere).
If going for a FS, then I can't really help, but my riding buddy got a nice Focus for less than that, and he rode the IOM E2E the other week on it. Was very light and he did well. Could also look at some Santa Cruz models, my other mate did VERY well on one in the same race.

Have fun looking, but definitely try before you buy, what may suit me or you may not suit your son.

MikeWW

Probably hard tail as I reckon it would be quicker and to be honest he didn't have any problem doing the Dyfi on a single speed rigid
Will have a look at the Focus bikes-thanks

stephenite

Maybe you shouldnt restrict yourself to a HT. There was an article in a local magazine here in norway comparing HT and FS in regard to racing. The magazine reckoned the full sussies have a slight edge over the HTs. Not sure if they were just trying to sell more magazines or what. But there are more and more lightweight full sussers out there now. OK they cost a lot, but you could look at Scott Spark. The Spark 40 comes in at just under £1500. Weighs 12kg and has full lockout on front and rear shocks. Idea being lock the rear shock going uphill, and unlock going down, thus theoretically going faster than a HT. This is going to depend upon the nature of the XC races in the UK tho'.

Personally, i ride a (ahem) scott scale, but wish i'd bought the spark. I need to rob a bank! Anyway, good luck

ps. backing up what kickingmule says.. try b4 u buy. size n that are important if u want to win races

clwydian_rider92

Ive got a Cube LTD Race and the spec is amazing. Id have a look at the range. Also buy now or soon whe the sales are on. Good luck

Matt N

what races is he entering becuase i do a lot of riding and would like to have something like to race to motivate me

TonyWard

My advice would be to do the races on the bike you want to ride around on and have fun. If you get within 5 minutes of the winner think about buying a more race specific bike. Otherwise, continue to focus on the engine!

matt cupid

go for a giant anthem .
defo an xc race bike if ever there was one. There hard to get hold of at the moment so you would have to get on the waiting lists, but worth the wait i think .

captain8track

anthem is a great bike, maybe an used Scalpel would do the trick to.

HT's is a jungle, a lot of carbon stuff going around. Maybe the Titanium tip wasn't that bad, they won't break. Friend did a crash into a rock today that would probarly leave a big mark on a carbon frame, he rides a steelframe so no worries...

supersonic

Scott Scale and Cannondale Taurine 4 would top my list of XC hardtails for that sort of money.

GHill

In addition to some of the others mentioned (Scott Scale, Cannondale Taurine, Giant Anthem), I'd probably think about a testride of a Specialized Stumpy hardtail.

Anonymous

If it's for racing, I would aim for a titanium frame, so light and have a nice flex on it, it will be the dog's bollox.

gezzza

For a hard tail i would be looking at a Scott Scale its an XC frame through and through.

For FS a Scott Spark is IMO the bench mark frame that other manufactures are struggling to match.