Trail Vs. Cross Country MTB

haydenshieh
haydenshieh Posts: 21
edited May 2013 in MTB buying advice
I currently can't decide whether to buy a Cross Country mountain bike or a Trail. I will probably ride trails from a foot wide rocks to couple yard wide gravel trails and I like doing some jumps. Any advice on buying would be appreciated:)

Comments

  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    After several years riding mountain bikes I haven't worked out what the difference is. Back in the 90's they were just called mountain bikes. Get some test rides and find out what you like. How much are you spending?
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  • Buckled_Rims
    Buckled_Rims Posts: 1,648
    Yeah, me too as RockmonkeySC says it's confusing as hell. I'm now prepared to buy a new MTB, but get totally confused as to the genre of MTB the manufacturers classify then in. What is the difference between a Cross country and trail bike? Indeed what the difference between a freeride and an all mountain. Damn, I'm so outta date.

    To me, to be honest, it's a decision of hardtail vs FS and 26" or 29".
    CAAD9
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  • 97th choice
    97th choice Posts: 2,222
    My take on it is that an XC bike is a light weight HT or FS bike with 100mm travel or less and geometry suited for speed and handling, but not overly technical or steep trails.

    Trail is a bit more aggressive and capable of handling steeper more technical stuff.

    Enduro is the new name for all mountain bikes as far as I'm concerned.
    Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye

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  • dusk
    dusk Posts: 583
    as I above I would now class xc as lightweight and short travel and probably only suitable for racers or people who exclusively ride tow paths. Trail bikes are more of an all rounder and probably a better bet for the OP
    YT Wicked 160 ltd
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  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    Surely an XC bike is...

    Must not get drawn into this...
  • thelonegroover
    thelonegroover Posts: 1,073
    97th choice wrote:
    My take on it is that an XC bike is a light weight HT or FS bike with 100mm travel or less and geometry suited for speed and handling, but not overly technical or steep trails.

    Trail is a bit more aggressive and capable of handling steeper more technical stuff.

    Enduro is the new name for all mountain bikes as far as I'm concerned.

    I'd agree, what makes them more aggressive is, trail bikes tend to have a slacker head angle and more travel (120mm+).
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  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    dusk wrote:
    as I above I would now class xc as lightweight and short travel and probably only suitable for racers or people who exclusively ride tow paths.

    Have you ridden an xc bike? I ride a Giant XTC (I think most people would call that an xc bike) and it's surprising how capable it is. I can keep up with just about any one when riding single track, jumps are no problem. The only time I suffer is when riding really rooty or rocky stuff and too tired to pick it up over big stuff or manual through rooty bits. Steep stuff is no problem, round tight, steep switchbacks it's probably easier than on my downhill bike, even if I need to throw it in sideways on the brakes.
    I think people over estimate how much travel they need or under estimate what a short travel, lightweight bike can do. Most of the people I ride with have 5 or six inch travel bikes but don't ride anything I don't do. I have had (and still do have) bigger travel bikes and just felt like trying something different this summer and I have been pleasantly surprised.
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  • felix.london
    felix.london Posts: 4,067
    +1

    I ride my Rockhopper 'round here - it has a 120mm Reba but I've added air to the -chamber so I've got 110mm of travel available and I'm smashing down some pretty sketchy trails...sh1t loads of rocks, drops, some insane switchbacks (that just don't seem to stop). The 110mm gets used but when the fork was at 120mm I would rarely use all the travel. When it gets super steep I do wish for a bit of slacker head angle but apart from that I don't have too much of a problem getting down most stuff over here

    ...saying all that, as soon as the El Guapo frames are back in stock I'm getting one and will probably never ride the Rockhopper again!
    "Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes

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  • dusk
    dusk Posts: 583
    again it comes down to what you classify a bike as, I had a trek fuel ex8 (2008 model) which was called an XC bike but I would call it more trail, maybe I exaggerated a bit with my idea of what an xc bike is....

    and I fully agree that a lot of people are "over biked" when it comes to their equipment
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  • Bishbosh10
    Bishbosh10 Posts: 268
    Nothing wrong with being over biked.... :shock:
    2011 Giant Trance Ltd, 2016 Revs, XT bits etc.
  • Yacoby
    Yacoby Posts: 211
    Bishbosh10 wrote:
    Nothing wrong with being over biked.... :shock:
    It does make some stuff boring though. Depends on where you are riding.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    XC to trail is a bit blurred, the lighter end of trail is the longer travel end of XC, yes a true 'race style' XC bike will probably only be 100mm (80mm for a 29er), but some 120mm offerings are more XC than 'proper' Trail (Boardmans)....of course any decent 100mm bike is more thn capable of doing more trail type stuff anyway.....
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • symanoy
    symanoy Posts: 123
    I would say its a weight strength thing. A true XC bike is focused on being race light rather than tough. Though that is changing as thru axles and the like are appearing on XC Bikes.

    Both can be great fun, and cope with similar trails. A trail bike will allow for less rider skill perhaps.

    Geometry makes more of a difference that travel imo, a slack head angle gives way more confidence on descents and technical sections. regardless of travel.

    As someone above said, better questions are hardtail or full sus and what wheel size?

    Examples of XC bikes: Specialized epic, Giant Anthem (26er, 29er more trail), Scott Spark and Scale,
    Examples of Trail Bikes: Specialized stump jumper, Giant Trance, Scott Genius.

    What confusing is while brands only tend to make one XC range, trail bike ranges will normally come in several trail guises, normally 120mm, 140mm, 160mm.

    Hope this is helpful rather than more confusing!
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  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Bishbosh10 wrote:
    Nothing wrong with being over biked.... :shock:

    Tried that (Giant Reign X for everything) got very bored everywhere except DH and freeride tracks. It was also hard work on climbs.
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  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    ^^ this. Been there done that, it just makes everything boring, and if you want to ride DH or freeride tracks you're always better off with a proper bike for that anyway.
  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 701
    How does it make things boring, can't you go faster with a more aggressive bike?

    I've often wished for more bike than my RR8.1 100mm travel 'XC' bike when in Wales. Was at penmachno the other week and llandegla yesterday. Get shook about like mad on rocky bits. Two things I wanted, a full susser and a dropper post.
  • symanoy
    symanoy Posts: 123
    Its about quality of suspension more than travel. If it has no small bump sensitivity or poor damping it doesn't matter how much travel there is, its going to be rough. Likewise a short travel well controlled fork is going to handle anything well and remain smooth and composed.
    Giant Trance X2 Build Sadly since stolen!
    replaced with Giant Trance MKII
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    danlightbulb wrote:
    How does it make things boring, can't you go faster with a more aggressive bike?
    Not really. In most trails i've ever ridden or seen people ride on big travel bikes you spend more energy cycling the suspension up and down than you do moving forward. It's not something you understand until you've had something with more travel than 150mm and is slacker than katie price...
  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 701
    Everyone I know who has a hardtail and who has ridden a full sus has said its like floating on a cloud. I've never ridden one for any distance so I wouldn't know. I don't think they'd have ridden big hitting 150+ travel bikes though. I'd imagine a nice light 120-140 travel full sus is ideal for uk centres if you want a bit of comfort?
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    danlightbulb wrote:
    Everyone I know who has a hardtail and who has ridden a full sus has said its like floating on a cloud. I've never ridden one for any distance so I wouldn't know. I don't think they'd have ridden big hitting 150+ travel bikes though. I'd imagine a nice light 120-140 travel full sus is ideal for uk centres if you want a bit of comfort?
    Eh? None of that has anything to do with being overbiked. Going from a hardtail to a 140mm full suss is not what we are talking about at all.

    A giant reign was mentioned i believe which is 170mm rear travel, marketed as a do-it-all bike. In reality it can't climb hills for toffee, is boring and spongy on trail centre stuff, and can't do DH or FR as it hasn't really got strong enough components.

    That's not to say people shouldn't own them, far from it, i'd just warn them prepare to be sorely dissapointed.
  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 701
    bennett_346 wrote:
    Eh? None of that has anything to do with being overbiked. Going from a hardtail to a 140mm full suss is not what we are talking about at all.

    A giant reign was mentioned i believe which is 170mm rear travel, marketed as a do-it-all bike. In reality it can't climb hills for toffee, is boring and spongy on trail centre stuff, and can't do DH or FR as it hasn't really got strong enough components.

    That's not to say people shouldn't own them, far from it, i'd just warn them prepare to be sorely dissapointed.

    Ok I see what you mean, I really hadn't considered that someone would buy a 170mm travel bike for riding normal uk trail centres. I see what the definition of being overbiked is now. As this topic was about xc vs trail, I tend to always see xc bikes as most likely being short travel hardtails (probably because thats what I have), whereas trail bikes I see as most likely being medium travel full sussers (as thats the most common type of bike out on the trails). I think the point I was trying to make is that a medium travel full susser is probably an ideal bike for a mix of uk riding for 95% of people.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    bennett_346 wrote:
    danlightbulb wrote:
    Everyone I know who has a hardtail and who has ridden a full sus has said its like floating on a cloud. I've never ridden one for any distance so I wouldn't know. I don't think they'd have ridden big hitting 150+ travel bikes though. I'd imagine a nice light 120-140 travel full sus is ideal for uk centres if you want a bit of comfort?
    ch is 170mm rear travel, marketed as a do-it-all bike. In reality it can't climb hills for toffee, is boring and spongy on trail centre stuff, and can't do DH or FR as it hasn't really got strong enough components.

    Actually it climbs ok but weighs a ton (only 1.5lb lighter than my DH bike), the rest of that is spot on. I broke suspension linkages, wheels, saddle and various other bits. Not bad as a freeride bike.
    I'm now riding a 100mm travel lightweight XC bike and on anything up to black trail centre stuff I can ride as fast on this as I can on an all mountain bike. A bigger bike just takes a lot less input and covers up all your mistakes which is what in my opinion makes it dull. You are just a passenger, the bike does everything for you. On my hardtail I have to carefully pick lines, manual over bigger stuff and sometimes even take a slightly more hairy line to jump over bigger roots or rocks. As for smooth, winding single track, the sharper steering just makes it so much nicer. It steers so quickly that I can hold more speed through the tight sections and know I can get it turned.
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  • danlightbulb
    danlightbulb Posts: 701
    How can you break a saddle? Dont sit down on the gnarly bits surely? Unless you crashed and that broke it.

    I don't think its a bad thing letting the bike do the work for you. It surely makes you less likely to come off and means you can go faster over rocky descents and rough ground. Even Cannock which I now find pretty easy to ride has alot of worn out eroded areas which still shake you about on a hardtail. I find myself being thrown offline by rutted ground quite alot on my hardtail at speed.
  • symanoy
    symanoy Posts: 123
    It depends on your ability and riding levels.

    A beginner is going to feel way more confident on a bigger bike, and so be able to ride more technical stuff and have a great time. As your skills increase what you need from the bike changes.

    Very proficient riders enjoy the thrill and challenge of HTs, single-speed, fully rigids etc because it pushes their riding, but they're capable enough to do.

    Starting off overbiked to build confidence is no bad thing imo.
    Giant Trance X2 Build Sadly since stolen!
    replaced with Giant Trance MKII
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    How can you break a saddle? Dont sit down on the gnarly bits surely? Unless you crashed and that broke it.

    I've broken several Spesh Toupes, the shells just aren't that tough.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    njee20 wrote:
    How can you break a saddle? Dont sit down on the gnarly bits surely? Unless you crashed and that broke it.

    I've broken several Spesh Toupes, the shells just aren't that tough.

    I have broken loads. Crashes and plain unpleasant experiences. When going for a high speed 30 foot double be sure you can make the landing :shock:
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  • haydenshieh
    haydenshieh Posts: 21
    I have a 3000$ dollar budget and I'm probably going to ride both wide and really narrow trails. I'm thinking XC is more for competition so I feel a trail bike would be good. I'm probably going to get the Trek Fuel EX 8 unless anyone can suggest a better bike for <3000$. Also I would like Shimano shifters cause I don't really like the two thumb shift

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