XC racing has changed a lot over the past decade
odern life is moving at a blistering pace. We have instant communication, same-day deliveries and multiple lifetimes worth of entertainment all on demand. The phone in your hand is more powerful than a desktop computer from a decade ago, while bikes from the same era are almost as redundant.
XC racing has changed a lot over the past decade too. 29in wheels now dominate the sport and the tracks have gotten shorter, with an increased number of laps to ensure that riders pass the cameras more frequently so you can keep abreast of the racing on your smartphone. More recently, technical sections, both up and down, that wouldn’t look out of place in a world-class enduro race, have been introduced to spice up viewing, and test riders’ skills, not just their fitness.
With all of the advances in racing, the technology in XC bikes has adapted with the times. The changes to the racing format forced riders to abandon their lightweight hardtails in favour of heavier full-suspension bikes. There’s still a lot of variation in the amount of travel riders use, but typically it’s 80mm at the shorter end and 120mm at the upper end.
More recently there’s been widespread adoption of dropper posts in XC racing to allow riders to better navigate the technical sections. Even race tactics have changed, where we now see riders attacking on the descents, rather than simply surviving them.
To show how quickly things progress, 10 years ago, online shopping was only a fraction of what it is today. Forget win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Now you could be watching the race unfold and purchase the bike you want at the very same time. And with the rapid growth of online brands, you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your armchair.
Three brands offering cutting-edge XC bikes straight to your door are Canyon, Intense and Vitus. Surprisingly there aren’t more, but the online brands seem dominated by the more gravity-fuelled side of mountain biking, even if its relatively niche compared to XC racing.
And if you’re in any doubt about how much the bikes have changed, the geometry and sizing of the three modern XC race bikes in this test is more progressive than most trail bikes from a decade ago. And thanks to the full carbon frames and advances in components, they are also considerably lighter.
Of the three brands in this test, Intense Cycles has been making mountain bikes the longest. The American brand started by welding alloy frames in California almost 30 years ago, and has only made the switch to a direct-sales business model in the past couple of years. The Intense Sniper T Expert costs £3,899.99 and has 120mm travel front and rear, and is the only bike to come with a dropper post as standard. It’s also the heaviest bike by quite some margin.
Canyon is arguably the biggest and most established online bicycle brand, but it’s still relatively young, founded in Germany in 2002. It’s no stranger to XC racing at the highest level though, and its brand new Lux CFR WC Team at £6,649 is the most expensive bike in test, and looks it too. It is also the lightest bike here.
Vitus has a long heritage in cycling, and the brand was bought by Chain Reaction Cycles as recently as 2008. Surprisingly, though, its first XC full-suspension race bike was released just last year, the Vitus Rapide FS flying silently under the radar. For 2022 you can pick up the CRX version tested here for £3,999.99 with a mix of XTR and XT equipment and carbon Reynolds wheels. Can the newcomer spring an upset, or will the more established brands assert their dominance in our online XC race bike test?