To celebrate our love of XC and TR32 rims, we decided to round up a few XC hate comments found on the internet and let ambassador Lief Rodgers have his riding do the talking.
Wheels: NOBL TR32s laced to i9 Hydras Video: Max McCulloch
People that have personalities completely defined by XC?....you know where this is going(this can also be said for any discipline really.....no one likes full endurotardbros)
As a former extremely mediocre road racer, I agree with all of this. I can't honestly believe I participated in that sport for as long as I did lol. Amateur road racing is filled with two things: Douchebags and crashes.
@WestwardHo: I raced exactly 1 crit, 15 years ago. The level of idiocy for exactly no gain was astonishing. look, I like my skin and my $9000 bike....I ain't tossing it all away cuz some monday-friday CPA thinks hes MVdP!
@WestwardHo: Also former extremely mediocre road racer, and I found mediocre XC racing to be way more fun, mostly because I'm like 40th percentile fit in a low-category road road race, but like 90th percentile fit in a low-category XC race.
XC racing more fun than enduro. You actually feel competitive spirit when there are riders around you instead of just battling with your fears on enduro stage. You are actually working for more than an hour and going through a range of emotions during the race. Racing XC gave me so many colorful memories I will be carrying through my life. Racing enduro? Well, the camping with the bros was cool...
@WestwardHo: Definitely. Me as well. And xc racing is just the same people on mountain bikes. There's really no "mountain biking" in xc IMO. It is just people in a group road ride with some dirt and rocks thrown in. I admire the athleticism but the sport is as stupid as cyclocross.
@giovenji-mtb: see clips of it frequently. No shade on their abilities...just saying that XC doesn't really reflect what most people do on mountain bikes. They look like a bunch of 140lb road bikers hauling butt on short travel bikes. Really amateur xc is probably more reflective of what most trail riders do.
Some of the fastest Strava guys on the ups in my area (around Santa Cruz) are the fastest guys going downhill. Having super strong legs is an advantage on the ups and downs.
I will say that modern day xc courses are way more technical than they used to be, and also require riders to be comfortable in the air. Although a few years ago, XC racing was my entire life, and I do agree that the lifestyle sucks. It's so serious and pulls the fun out of riding....it took me years to get back to having fun on bikes because xc racing burnt me out so bad. Sold my xc bike for an enduro two years ago and it was the best decision I've made.
Opposite experience, not to say you're wrong but just for counterpoint: I got back into riding like 6 years ago and was stoked with how capable bikes had gotten at descending. Rode only with some friends and rides were very enduro style. That got me hooked, but got pulled into the local race scene after wanting to see what I could do in that realm. As a person who likes pushing myself, that was super motivating and the races were very fun. I can't see myself ever selling my race bike now, even though I still go on plenty of chill trail rides.
Anyways, I expect competing nationally/internationally is a very different experience, which is why I'll always respect the badasses on the big stage.
I always avoided racing for fear it would take the fun out of riding. But I hate going to the gym or exercising for the purpose of exercise, just can't hold the motivation.
I got into marathon XC and have loved it. I get to pick and choose a range of events across the country, so I always have something to train for the motivation holds for.
Get to go to places and trails I'd otherwise probably not and enjoy a stonking good ride and a weekend away.
Of course though, if one takes it all too seriously I can definitely see it becoming a choose and losing the fun.
The XC races I do locally are pretty chill. Sure, everyone these is doing their best to smash the competition, but the entire time you are staging you are just chatting and catching up. Lots of cheering each other on, stopping to aid when needed (tools, CO2, etc) to get them back in the race, etc.
One of my biggest "rivals" (the guy I was gunning for for years) has turned into one of my best friends.
Skill consists entirely of your ability to get air and do cool tricks. Nothing else. At least, that's what my little brother says when I dust him on the local, very much not Enduro/DH trails
Most of the riding most people do across the world is XC. Whether they're fast at it or not is another question.
I love MTB. I love XC. It's all super fun. There's also this whole vibe on pinkbike that it's not cool to ride your bike if you're not doing it purely for "fun". But there's tons of us who like to ride because we also like to suffer and push ourselves, physically and technically. And some of us think all that suffering is fun too. Most people doing XC are having fun, believe it or not.
I ride my bike in the woods, climbing up and bombing down hills. Occasionally, my tires leave the ground intentionally. Sometimes there's wooden things or big rocks. Is that XC? Downcountry? Enduro? EnduroCross? DownCross? DownEnduroCross? CrossEnduroXCountryCross?
I just ride a bike as far and fast as I can on the best bike I can afford.
Let the marketing team call it whatever they want.
XC is awesome but the lifestyle (diet, training on the road constantly, etc.) is what sucks. Could probably be said for racing at a high level no matter what discipline, but think it trickles down more to the amateur level for XC compared to Enduro or DH. But yes, XC racers can rip, I just want all my time to be ripping instead of spending most of it doing intervals or other training rides.
At least in my experience, the overly vocal "XC sucks" kind of people just tend to be a little out of shape and have pretty poor stamina.
I don't disagree that XC sucks when you are gassed after 15 minutes of riding because you aren't used to pedaling your bike that much. It makes sense that you would have hate that. But it should also be pointed out that XC can be lots of fun. You just need to be in decent shape to have that fun.
Who doesn't like turning themselve# inside out for an hour and a half. Modern xc courses do mean that it is not just the roadies that can win. Technical descents mean I can stay in touch on aluminium clunker with DH mud tyres.
@ExmoorBiker: 1. Nice work wrapping up the SWXC series, I raced the first round. It was a good event. 2. I thought you were using the word clunker to refer a bike with no gears and no suspension, looks like I was wrong with that assumption. 3. The last round you raced on a Scott Spark by the looks of things, hardly a bad bike. 4. I'm faster than you.
@jeza08: yeah the spark for the last round, would be nice if it was carbon, hoping Santa is going to hook me up All other stops of the season were on a scale alloy which was originally a 27.5 plus, changed to 29. Running a spesh hillbilly upfront with a maxxis shorty up back.
At different times in all our lives we'll enjoy different types of riding. I just read all the comments and it sounds like most have ridden road or XC before and at the time enjoyed it. Now look forward to the day that you come off the bike in a bad way and know that you'll probably look forward to starting all over again. Trainer to road to XC to jump line. It's just not what you want to ride today and that's an ok answer.
They kid ripped that line though. Sweet.
XC is awesome, anybody who hates on it is just likely in bad shape or relys on their long travel rig to compensate for the fact that they suck at riding.
-An XC rider.
XC is awesome, always will be with the right kit... Currently we pretty much still have XC and DH (remember all mountain, 160mm lighter air forks, Freeride, 160 to 180mm burlier forks, all before Downcountry and Enduro). Enduro!!!! riders riding DH wheels, tyres on 170mm bikes with a 65 to 63 degree head angle is still DH. A dropper post and wide cassette doesnt change that its still DH.
Yep, several already touched on it. XC is a blast! Being competitive in the top tier takes an insane amount of dedication that just mentally drains you and takes all the fun out of it. When riding stopped being fun and felt like a chore, that's when I dialed back on the races. Now I just race occasionally for fun and not for point standings.
Cool video but this doesn't feel like XC. I feel like the terrain dictates the discipline more so than the bike does. If I took out a downhill bike and rode it up a fire road I wouldn't call it a downhill ride just because I was on a dual crown bike.
Some of you guys are hilarious. Most of the quotes in the video were of people saying XC riders can't ride for crap. XC rider (granted, he rides other disciplines, but most of us who are any good at bikes do the same) rides XC bike on moderately aggressive terrain better than 95% of Pinkbike readers could do on a big bike and it doesn't prove anything because he races enduros as well (like many of us who race XC do) and it wasn't "an XC trail". I mean, if it goes up and down, and across country, it's kinda XC by definition.
Such a weird thing to hate on what the competitive side of the sport evolved from. Or maybe that's it - many want to pretend at being competitive but actually doing it requires work and discipline. And sometimes tight clothing.
Imagine being so insecure that you actually care what others ride or wear.
So he defends XC while riding a XC bike and doing enduro type trails? Humm so this isn’t XC riding. Maybe try and convince the masses with a good XC video with the actual discipline showcasing the actual riding?…
LOL.Fotunately he didn't experienced pardoxal reaction to the drugs before goroing on the Heli, would be a hell of a ride.I had never taken any benzodiazepines (aka Valium/sleeping pills) until medics gave me after surgery, Till this day not sure if I was really sufucating or just tripping at the same time ceeling lights were throwing smoke and the wall clock pointers trying to attack me.
We simply have fun together with friends no matter the bike, some on bmx, some on dj, trail, dj, enduro or fun capable city bike and still we can enjoy it together
XC is going up and downhill on a mtb thus it is what most of us do. XC bikes are what suck though fair play to Lief Rodgers he can surely ride that bike with style.
Looks more like a trail bike and I bet those skills were not honed on an XC bike to begin with. Anyway. It’s the XC mindset and the trails they typically ride that sucks. I like a or pedal as much as anyone but don’t buy in to the leg shaving , gram counting and generally overly serious / unfriendly vibes. My hood has plenty of dudes cleat skidding down the b-lines to make me believe that ,yes, most XC riders can’t descend well. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason
I'd love to rock a 24lb xc bike with fast tires, they're super fun and feel so fast. But in my rocky CA area I flat every ride if i run XC tires. Wanna send it into questionable terrain (which is really fun)? Not happening on a whippet bike, so you put beefy tires on and rims that can take a beating and suddenly you're at 32lb, and you may as well go to 34lb and have 170mm of travel too.
I can see it in an area with mellow dirt trails, but in pointy terrain, XC lyfe just ain't happening unless you wanna fix stuff frequently.
@nattyd: I have. I've been mountainbiking for over 25 years and have seen the odd xc race in my time. Sure things have progressed a lot since the 90's but even now, none of the riding featured in that video would be found happening during any xc race ever. And this is fine. There is nothing wrong with that. XC doesn't have to be as cool or exciting as other sports. Roadies accepted this long ago and they're doing just fine.
@gabriel-mission9: You straight up do not know what you're talking about. I don't know what "odd XC race" you're referring to, but the majority of courses now have features as big or bigger than what's in the video: Mt. St. Anne, Petropolis, Lenzerheide, the Tokyo Olympics course, Les Gets... all crazy technical. Huge berms, jumps, drops, chutes, you name it. Plus a lot of truly difficult stuff that most bike park bros can't ride for shit like off-camber switchbacks.
@nattyd: Lool, no. Have you ever actually been to a bikepark? I watched the video you linked to, which I'm sure you carefully selected as the gnarliest video you could find, and it was basically a blue trail from any good bikepark. The biggest feature was like a 1ft drop off. At one point they rode over a lump big enough to momentarily get both wheels off the floor! Yet again the video does more to prove the haters points than refute them. There is nothing wrong with xc being a bit boring. My mum enjoys knitting. This is fine. She doesn't try to hype it up as "extreme radical knitting thats just as exciting and cool as skydiving". Cos knitting isnt as exciting as skydiving. XC isnt as exciting as DH. This is ok. It's nothing to get upset about.
@gabriel-mission9: That's Stellenbosch... You would know this if you watched XC, but it was run only once in 2018. It doesn't come close to any of the any of the courses I mentioned, all of which have features comparable to the video in this article. The point of that video is Nino easily dropping a DH pro on all the descents (including many features >>1') , high-post on a 100 mm bike. Love to see you try that.
And as far as XC being less exciting than DH... unlike you, I actually watch them both. It's not close. DH is great, but watching 50 guys pick nearly identical lines down the same run over and again doesn't come close to bar-to-bar, mass-start racing. That's not just my opinion. XC viewership has outpaced DH for 4 years now:
@nattyd: I didn't ask where it was... If you think any of those features are >>1' i feel sorry for both your riding buddies... and your girfriend... You are talking pure nonsense. Show me any xc race ever with a double big enough to throw a sui, or a multiple bike length/height drop. I'll wait... Needles hasn't been a pro downhiller for a very long time, and clearly wasn't putting in any effort at all. If you want to get really pedantic about the results of one silliy staged video, he also won the race... Keep grabbing at your imaginary straws mate. Your argument fell apart a long time ago.
And as far as viewer numbers... mcdonalds sells far more burgers than any other burger restaurant on the planet. This doesn't mean their burgers are the best, it just means most people are stupid...
XC doesn't really suck and Leif obviously rips but - its more fun to say it sucks than say nothing or act diplomatic. XC is clearly more technical & airborne these days but trying to ride XC like enduro or DH in XC kit looks robotic.
Underneath it all is that XC kit & style is just 1000% dopey - not dope: the Pinocchio shoes, Lyrca ballsack tights & ultra-tite jerseys, wacky watermelon helmets, Robocop glasses and Charles Dickens 1/2 finger gloves... it's a step up from roadie gear, but neither should be seen in public. Just a glance at the kit like that makes one's nuts slurp right up into the abdomen. Ya can a least pop into a restaurant, bar or hang out easy in your trail, enduro or DH gear (assuming that's not too Power Rangers) but XC kit? Never. . Again, homey's rippin' but why use just the tip when you can go balls deep? That being said - I am 100% certain any & every serious XC rider is far fitter than me - takes way more endurance to go all out constantly vs. lazing uphill (like me & many of us) so I weirdly respect it as a discipline...but just barely.
Every xc guy and gal on the trail is always in " competition mode. It's like they're ALWAYS trying to prove a point or ALWAYS trying to race. Their vibes f*cking suck.
those trails have been in that area for 30 years, long before "freeride" and "enduro" , again XC means you have to be fit, most are not and therefore its not accessible to them...
Xc does suck, the average xc rider can’t jump and can’t throw a huge sui, the overall xc lifestyle sucks, but just cause you ride xc doesn’t mean you suck
So you think that if you can't "throw a huge sui" then you suck?... You sound like a wannabe poser who only rides so you can post videos on the internet to impress your wanker friends... Grow up!
@Saucycheese: I suppose that’s correct, I only ride dirt jumps, that’s my side of mtb, I guess I don’t really think much about the other things that make a good xc rider
122 Comments
XC racing, less fun.
XC racing lifestyle, waaaaaaay less fun.
People that have personalities completely defined by XC?....you know where this is going(this can also be said for any discipline really.....no one likes full endurotardbros)
You actually feel competitive spirit when there are riders around you instead of just battling with your fears on enduro stage.
You are actually working for more than an hour and going through a range of emotions during the race. Racing XC gave me so many colorful memories I will be carrying through my life.
Racing enduro? Well, the camping with the bros was cool...
Anyways, I expect competing nationally/internationally is a very different experience, which is why I'll always respect the badasses on the big stage.
Really enjoyed the video!
I always avoided racing for fear it would take the fun out of riding. But I hate going to the gym or exercising for the purpose of exercise, just can't hold the motivation.
I got into marathon XC and have loved it. I get to pick and choose a range of events across the country, so I always have something to train for the motivation holds for.
Get to go to places and trails I'd otherwise probably not and enjoy a stonking good ride and a weekend away.
Of course though, if one takes it all too seriously I can definitely see it becoming a choose and losing the fun.
One of my biggest "rivals" (the guy I was gunning for for years) has turned into one of my best friends.
I love MTB. I love XC. It's all super fun. There's also this whole vibe on pinkbike that it's not cool to ride your bike if you're not doing it purely for "fun". But there's tons of us who like to ride because we also like to suffer and push ourselves, physically and technically. And some of us think all that suffering is fun too. Most people doing XC are having fun, believe it or not.
DC = Loose fit
That’s the main difference
I just ride a bike as far and fast as I can on the best bike I can afford.
Let the marketing team call it whatever they want.
I don't disagree that XC sucks when you are gassed after 15 minutes of riding because you aren't used to pedaling your bike that much. It makes sense that you would have hate that. But it should also be pointed out that XC can be lots of fun. You just need to be in decent shape to have that fun.
1. Nice work wrapping up the SWXC series, I raced the first round. It was a good event.
2. I thought you were using the word clunker to refer a bike with no gears and no suspension, looks like I was wrong with that assumption.
3. The last round you raced on a Scott Spark by the looks of things, hardly a bad bike.
4. I'm faster than you.
All other stops of the season were on a scale alloy which was originally a 27.5 plus, changed to 29. Running a spesh hillbilly upfront with a maxxis shorty up back.
If you strictly only compare MTB disciplines isn't this one true? One has to be the lamest
Currently we pretty much still have XC and DH (remember all mountain, 160mm lighter air forks, Freeride, 160 to 180mm burlier forks, all before Downcountry and Enduro).
Enduro!!!! riders riding DH wheels, tyres on 170mm bikes with a 65 to 63 degree head angle is still DH. A dropper post and wide cassette doesnt change that its still DH.
Such a weird thing to hate on what the competitive side of the sport evolved from. Or maybe that's it - many want to pretend at being competitive but actually doing it requires work and discipline. And sometimes tight clothing.
Imagine being so insecure that you actually care what others ride or wear.
Anyway. It’s the XC mindset and the trails they typically ride that sucks.
I like a or pedal as much as anyone but don’t buy in to the leg shaving , gram counting and generally overly serious / unfriendly vibes.
My hood has plenty of dudes cleat skidding down the b-lines to make me believe that ,yes, most XC riders can’t descend well.
Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason
I can see it in an area with mellow dirt trails, but in pointy terrain, XC lyfe just ain't happening unless you wanna fix stuff frequently.
I'd love to see you try to follow Nino Schurter or Jolanda Neff down any descent on those courses. Nino has already humiliated some pretty good pro downhillers. www.redbull.com/us-en/videos/nino-schurter-andrew-neethling-stellenbosch-xco-world-cup-track-talk
And as far as XC being less exciting than DH... unlike you, I actually watch them both. It's not close. DH is great, but watching 50 guys pick nearly identical lines down the same run over and again doesn't come close to bar-to-bar, mass-start racing. That's not just my opinion. XC viewership has outpaced DH for 4 years now:
www.pinkbike.com/news/cross-country-world-cups-were-viewed-by-more-people-than-downhill-for-the-first-time-in-2018.html
So, wrong again.
But hey, if you want to go through life talking nonsense about a sport you don't follow, I can't stop you from making a fool of yourself.
You are talking pure nonsense. Show me any xc race ever with a double big enough to throw a sui, or a multiple bike length/height drop. I'll wait...
Needles hasn't been a pro downhiller for a very long time, and clearly wasn't putting in any effort at all. If you want to get really pedantic about the results of one silliy staged video, he also won the race...
Keep grabbing at your imaginary straws mate. Your argument fell apart a long time ago.
And as far as viewer numbers... mcdonalds sells far more burgers than any other burger restaurant on the planet. This doesn't mean their burgers are the best, it just means most people are stupid...
Underneath it all is that XC kit & style is just 1000% dopey - not dope: the Pinocchio shoes, Lyrca ballsack tights & ultra-tite jerseys, wacky watermelon helmets, Robocop glasses and Charles Dickens 1/2 finger gloves... it's a step up from roadie gear, but neither should be seen in public. Just a glance at the kit like that makes one's nuts slurp right up into the abdomen. Ya can a least pop into a restaurant, bar or hang out easy in your trail, enduro or DH gear (assuming that's not too Power Rangers) but XC kit? Never.
.
Again, homey's rippin' but why use just the tip when you can go balls deep? That being said - I am 100% certain any & every serious XC rider is far fitter than me - takes way more endurance to go all out constantly vs. lazing uphill (like me & many of us) so I weirdly respect it as a discipline...but just barely.
Who's the kiwi ripper who was riding in the world cup xc on a transition spur? I thought he was riding in a flannel for some of them.
I ride flats and baggy shorts when I am in the regional xc series.
Always love blank profiles shitting on people out their living life. Go touch grass.
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