How Much Do Pro XC Bikes Really Weigh? - Val Di Sole XC World Cup 2023
What's the first thing that comes to mind when you say cross-country race bike? It's going to be weight, right? With the change to more extreme XC tracks, does the shave-every-gram mindset start to change? More riders than ever before running tire inserts, wider tires, and bikes with 120mm of travel. Are the days of weight weenies dead, or are there still plenty to be found?
We headed out with a set of scales into the pits at Val di Sole to see who would first let us weigh the bikes and second, who would come out on top with the lightest bike that we could measure.
We found 12 teams who were happy to weigh their bikes. That's not to say that there weren't more who were keen, but with time short we couldn't get around to all the pits. Maybe we can revisit this later in the year.
There were certainly a few that were not keen for us to get the scales out on their bikes, which in itself was interesting. This is not super scientific. We borrowed a set of scales from the Giant Factory Off-Road Team (thank you, guys). We originally borrowed some luggage scales from the Val di Sole bike shop, but the Feedback scales were a lot easier to work with, so thanks to both for their help. And then we got to it.
But first, you have to understand the practicalities of what we did here. This won't be a photo epic; the pits are always a tight space, so we worked around teams who were busy prepping bikes for a very busy XC practice. We used a simple format: first, the teams guessed their bike weight and if they had inserts and power meters fitted or anything else that would be a big weight addition. Then we put the bike on the dream crusher and found out what it weighed. So let's see what we found.
Trek Supercaliber
Okay, first up, the Trek pits were a bit tight, even though they look massive. There were a lot of bikes and mechanics, all of whom were flat out, so we couldn't get a shot of the bike on the scales in the stand. You'll have to trust me on this one.
Teams Weight Guess
The Trek team wasn't really sure about this one. Their guess was around 10kg.
What's On The Bike
This Supercaliber belongs to Anton Cooper, and it doesn't have any inserts or a power meter on it. It's also worth noting that the Supercaliber is a softtail, with only 60mm of rear travel.
Size
Medium
Weight
9.75 kg / 21.5 lb
BiXS Pace
Team's Weight Guess
11 kg
What's On The Bike
The BiXS Pace, being a 120mm travel bike, may not yield low weight numbers. The team was quick with their guess, suggesting they might have weighed it previously. There are no tire inserts or a visible power meter, but it does have a dropper seatpost.
Size
Medium
10.97 kg / 23.7 lb
Ridley Probe RS
Team's Weight Guess
11 kg
What's On The Bike
The Ridley Probe RS, being a hardtail, is expected to have a low weight. Unfortunately, we didn't get information about the rider for this bike. However, it does have a power meter, dropper seatpost, and inserts in the tires.
Size
Large
9.39 kg / 20.7 lb
BMC Fourstroke
Team's Weight Guess
10.5 kg
What's On The Bike
The BMC Fourstroke that we measured had a power meter and dropper seatpost fitted.
Size
Large
Weight
10.62 kg / 23.4 lb
Superior Team XF 29 Issue R
Another warning here: reading orange roofs in pits may result in photos with random colors. However, we have to work with what we get. To avoid this issue, team managers are advised to make the roof of their pit white, please.
Team's Weight Guess
10.5 kg
What's On The Bike
We weighed two Superior Team XF 29 Issue R bikes, one in size large and the other in size small, to see how much variation there was between the two. Both bikes were equipped with dropper seatposts, front and rear tire inserts, and power meters.
Size
Large
Weight
Small 10.45 kg / 23 lb
Large 10.48 kg / 23.1 lb
Liv Pique Advanced Pro 29
Team's Weight Guess
10.3 kg
What's On The Bike
The Liv Pique Advanced Pro 29 that I weighed had XC CushCore installed in both the front and back wheels, along with a Stages power meter.
Size
Medium
Weight
10.3 kg / 22.7 lb
Mondraker F-Podium Carbon DC RR
Team's Weight Guess
11.3 Kg
What's On The Bike
The Mondraker F-Podium Carbon DC RR, although initially intended as a spare bike for the team, is built to the same specifications as a team bike. It is a larger travel XC bike and features a power meter.
Size
Small
Weight
11.04 kg / 24.3 lb
Scott Spark RC Team Issue
Team's Weight Guess
10.3 kg
What's On The Bike
The Scott Spark RC Team Issue that we weighed belonged to Nino Schurter, and was equipped with a power meter, dropper seatpost, RockShox Flight Attendant, and has 120mm of travel. The team mentioned that these were not the lightest wheels they could run on the bike.
Size
Medium
Weight
10.25 kg / 22.6 lb
Giant Anthem Advanced Pro 29
Team's Weight Guess
10.3 kg
What's On The Bike
The Giant Anthem Advanced Pro 29 that we weighed had a rear insert in the tires and a dropper seatpost fitted.
Size
Medium
Weight
10.32 kg / 22.8 lb
KTM Scarp
Team's Weight Guess
10.3 kg
What's On The Bike and
The custom painted KTM Scarp that we weighed had tire inserts fitted and a dropper seatpost installed.
Size
Medium
Weight
10.42 kg / 23 lb
Simplon Cirex SL
Team's Weight Guess
10.7 kg
What's On The Bike
The Simplon Cirex SL that we weighed had recently returned from training and was equipped with training wheels. Additionally, it had inserts in both the front and back tires, along with wider tires, which would add some weight.
Size
Medium
Weight
10.8 kg / 23.8 lb
Santa Cruz Blur
Teams Weight Guess
10.5 kg
What's On The Bike
Once again, we had the opportunity to weigh a large and a small bike at Santa Cruz. Both bikes had a rear tire insert and a power meter installed.
Size
Large and Small
Weight
Small 10.10 kg / 22.3 lb
Large 10.48 kg / 23.1 lb
So, what did we learn from all of that? Actually, bikes are still pretty lightweight. The hardtails are not as common as before but they definitely offer the lightest options. However, speaking to the riders and mechanics, weight isn't necessarily the main concern anymore. The durability of the bike to survive a full XC race is high in their minds. If it comes down to a compromise between finishing the race and shaving off a few grams, the teams I spoke to seem to prioritize being able to finish the race.
A big thanks to all the teams and mechanics involved, as they really got behind it and enjoyed it. I even had a lot of the mechanics throughout the day chasing me to find out how they were holding up against the rest of the field. It's clear to see that weight still matters, but perhaps less than it ever has before. Also, the fact that the Scott bike is so light is just mind-boggling.
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Member since Nov 28, 2019
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When I was a worse rider I needed more bike to cover my poor technique on a feature or trail. Now that I have a 130/120 bike, 170/153, 180/170, it helps me figure out what is the most fun! I prefer the Arrival for Squamish and the Enduro for Whistler bike park. And the spur for dark blue and under.
I suppose if I lived in VT or NC it would be a different story.
To each their own I guess
Conversion is the tricky part & if ya don't use a lot it goes away, but you can literally google "62.6kmh to mph" and the answer will pop up if ya don't wanna covert... point being, just think powers of 10. Aside from inches for wheels & tires nearly eveything is mm for bikes so just think about 1" to 25.4mm (or just 25 for rough)
Quickies:
*100mm (10cm) = 4 inches
1 kg = 2.2 lbs
Those alone will take ya places
My Quickies:
Ft to m: divide by 3
Lbs to kg: divide by 2
Yard = m
Mile to km: little bit more than half
Quickies:
80kg average weight of adult male
100kg average weight of American male
Driving a long distance? Miles.
Doing some DIY? Metres.
Running race? Miles OR kilometres.
Buying a beer? Pints.
Buying milk? Pints.
Buying spirits? Millilitres (shorts) or Litre(s) (bottles).
It’s a literal minefield.
Kilos for ever!
Pinkbike does a lot of IS units already but I'm surprised they typically stick with pressures in psi (where 29psi is about 2bar or easier, 30psi = approx 2bar). I always find bar much easier to relate to as 1 bar is about 1 atmosphere which makes it much easier to relate pressures (when mentioned in bar, Pascal or atmosphere) to the ambient pressure.
A large percentage of U.S. Consumers, Industries and Government just didn't want to make the switch.
The result is the maddening mixture of Standard & Metric we have today. I hate it and wish we'd just finish the job and get it over with. Especially when it comes to Tools. There's only one thing I don't care for with the metric system and that is there's no really good equivalent for the "Foot". Inches to cm, Yards to Meters, Miles to Km all work out pretty well; but there's nothing to replace the Foot. It needs a new Unit of Measure right around 30cm.
I understand your disappointment with the lack of in-between names but that's probably because it typically works in powers of ten whereas the imperial system also works with multiples of four (four shoe sizes in an inch), twelve (twelve inches in a foot) and three (three feet in a yard). Yet at the same time, that same approach is still commonly being used to measure time and angles. Twelve hours in half a day, sixty minutes in an hour, sixty seconds in a minute, why? A straight angle is considered 90 degrees even though 100 grad sounds more "metric". Watch the world go mental if bike geometry would be measured in grad instead of degrees.
So long story short, be careful with what you wish for. Lots of people would be very, very unhappy if we'd really go fully metric.
You’re correct, but just after that, discs started to become the norm, and those added at least a pound/~half kilo, then came big wheels, and now full suspension
I've got a current generation Spark with Pikes, a Faserwerk bar and stem and full 11 speed XTR including the wheels. It's 24lb and I had assumed Nino would be riding one in the region of 20lb based on what pro XC bikes used to weight. It's actually comforting to see that these pro bikes are so heavy.
btw; I remember when I bought a carbon levers for my Formula brakes. Just 50 bucks and I saved more than 6 grams
Got a link to the DH bikes?
Also LB on an article about bike weights: "This is the coolest article ever!"
My gx 9.8 weighs 10.5kg with pedals, invisiframe and very light bottle cage. I can imagine the very top specs ones getting well below 10kg easily.
Having the lightest bike won't win you the race (sometimes, it can lose you the race), but scales are inexpensive and weighing isn't time-intensive compared to some other things we do, so why not! That said, none of our athletes are extreme weigh weenies. We could make these things lighter but none of them are asking for it.
Cheers.
(Thanks for dropping by, Pinkbike!)
never read enduro articles
A pro athlete will have no problems fitting into a bike with a slammed stem.