3 XC Bikes You've Probably Never Heard Of - Mont-Sainte-Anne XC World Champs 2019

Aug 29, 2019 at 17:47
by Matthew DeLorme  

photo
Technical Misfits
3 XC Worlds Bikes You May Never Have Heard Of
UCI XC MTB World Championships, MSA, Quebec
Photography by Matthew DeLorme


Whilst scouring the pits today I found that the more polished pro bikes were hidden away as the elites by and large took the day off. I did notice a few things that caught my eye, however, including a few bikes that I had never seen or heard of before. This being World Championships, everyone deserves a shot at the gold and these exotic machines are no exception. All three of these bikes hail from Asia, and after doing a little research, I found the finest of the bunch is made by Bridgestone. As for gleaning any major technical details, I do regret to say that there was a bit of a language barrier, and getting pressures and details proved difficult. For that I'm sorry, but hopefully, you'll still agree that it's still kinda cool to see different stuff from the wide world of bikes.

Meet the Ghisallo a Japanese bike that looks a little bit like a Scott Spark.
Meet the Ghisallo, a Japanese bike that looks a little bit like a Scott Spark.

The lines on the head tube are softer than the Scott the cable routing is pretty clean.
The lines on the head tube are softer than the Scott, the cable routing is pretty clean.

It s all just a bit busy by today s standards.
It's all just a bit busy by today's standards.

Something tells us it might be easier to figure out how to fly a plane.
Something tells us it might be easier to figure out how to fly a plane.

But that rocker looks like a direct copy.
That rocker could be a direct copy.

The rear triangle is less pointy at the back then the Scott for sure.
The rear triangle is less pointy at the back than the Scott for sure.

SRAM XX1 gets the gear changing done.
SRAM XX1 gets the gear changing done.


Meet the Trigon T5829. Possibly also know as the Kure. This one is kind of mind blowing.
Meet the Trigon T5829. Possibly also known as the Kure. This one is kind of mind-blowing.

The FOX Float can be locked out remotely.
The FOX Float can be locked out remotely.

Kure Made for Speed. It says so right there.
Kure, Made for Speed.

The stem and bar we couldn t discern the brand.
Tons of drop on the stem.

The components on this thing aren t bad. XTR brakes bring the stopping power.
A solid component mix with XTR brakes bringing the stopping power.

An early PNW components dropper for dealing with MSA s technical descents.
A PNW components dropper for dealing with MSA's technical descents.

Those DT wheels do have matching hubs.
Those DT wheels do have matching hubs.

Maxis Recon Race tires on decent enough DT Swiss wheels.
Maxxis Rekon Race tires on DT Swiss wheels.

Cable management could be a bit more clean.
Cable management could be a bit cleaner but it's getting the job done.




The Anchor XR9 is a carbon hard tail hailing from Japan made by Bridgestone.
The Anchor XR9 is a carbon hardtail, hailing from Japan, made by Bridgestone.

That negative stem is wild and the machining is kinda cool.
That negative stem is wild, and the machining is kinda cool.

Eagle XX1 cranks keep the bike in motion.
Eagle XX1 cranks keep the bike in motion.

Not sure of the front hub....
Not sure of the front hub...

But the rear is a Bontrager.
But the rear is a Bontrager.

A very current Rock Shox SID keeps the bike tracking through the rough stuff.
A very current RockShox SID keeps the bike tracking through the rough stuff.

Never heard of Nextie wheels until today but the don t look half bad. A quick poke around Google indicated that they are made in China.
Nextie carbon rims.


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104 Comments
  • 369 12
 The verbiage used is absolutely condescending. When articles are posted about local bikes at the Whistler BIke Park, not a disparaging word is mentioned about bikes from the Kona Stab era. But when XCO racers from Asia descend on MSA with an exotic bike, words like "technical misfits" come out.

These athletes do not get anywhere near the same kind of support and money that the regular pros in the World Cup circuit do. They make do with what local help they can get from their home countries and are really not that far removed from privateers.

Making fun of their equipment is a bit low, don't you think?
  • 53 1
 Too bad I can give you only one upvote. Exposure in international media could be a huge thing for them, something to show their sponsors and negotiate deals for next season. The way it is done here though...
  • 91 6
 Then there is this comment below a picture of a shifter, a brake lever and a dropper remote:

"Something tells us it might be easier to figure out how to fly a plane."

Sorry, but if you can't figure out how those work, you're just not that smart...
  • 36 0
 true, I saw 3 Freaking levers there. How is that different from any other shifter/dropper combo? Take a look at any Scott cockpit and go say it’s the result of some “weird foreign attempt at mountain biking”.
  • 48 3
 You can tell the bros that wrote this article looked down upon the foreign racers and their bikes. Cool guys, nice you have access to all the best stuff. Really I’m starting to think all the pinkbike staff is a bunch off dentists.

“Maxxis Rekon Race tires on decent enough DT Swiss wheels.”

Wow stellar reporting!
  • 16 1
 I joined PB just to upvote this.
  • 35 2
 This article should be pulled or heavily revised. And Mr. DeLorme owes the riders and their mechanics an apology.
  • 19 0
 Did you notice that some 'technical misfit' editor mixed a photo of the Anchor in with the Ghisallo?
  • 12 0
 +200 props from me to @Verbl-Kint. So sad. Remember always that we have the responsibility to drive next generations to the right direction in every single aspect of our sport. Please! Youngsters are reading, learning and judging from your articles PB
  • 2 0
 Come for the comments not the Pinkbike “words”.
  • 6 0
 I don't ride XC, and definitely enjoy looking at sweet DH/Enduro bikes, but I simply cannot disagree with this. Its awesome to see that these guys and gals made it this far on a comparatively shoestring budget.
  • 5 0
 This could have gone either way. Why not call out Scott for just using catalogue frames? The “lookalike” in most these cases is usually the original.
  • 10 0
 They cant make fun of SRAM so they make fun of euro ads and privateers instead.
  • 3 9
flag krattAtak (Aug 30, 2019 at 7:59) (Below Threshold)
 I mean the one is a blatant Chinese ripoff of a Scott and the other is pretty ugly. You can’t say you don’t see where he is coming from. That said I bet he could have said the same stuff in a better way and more positive way. I kinda want one of those fake Scott’s setup 1x and without the lockout bs
  • 1 0
 Agreed! Who is @mdelormephoto anyway... :-/ #considerthesource
  • 8 0
 Noone:

Pinkbike Editors: Oh no, an additional lever, mIgHt bE eAsIeR tO LeArN hOw tO fLy A pLaNe
  • 2 0
 @mm732: don't forget, not too long ago, women mnt bikers as well.
  • 3 0
 @cvoc: Was gonna say the same thing- since when is operating the 3 standard controls on the right grip confusing? Feel like someone didn’t have their coffee before they wrote this garbage.
  • 1 0
 @Apfelsauce: because they don't use catalogue frames
  • 176 0
 The captions here seem kinda condescending to me. It seems like these are bikes ridden by people who care more about riding than keeping up with the latest trends and I respect that.
  • 35 1
 Agree - "This being World Championships, we decided everyone deserves a shot at the gold"

Well I'm glad you made that decision
  • 82 0
 "decent enough rims...", "cable management could be cleaner..." Imagine those (privateer) athletes, stoked to be competing at the worlds and excited to see a pro photographer take pictures of their bikes. Then they read the Pinkbike article... "shit, still not good enough by arrogant PB standards."
  • 43 0
 Man i thought i was alone on this perception....."some decent parts here"...proceeds to display a full XTR build...."decent"...right...
  • 21 0
 Yeah, agreed. Great photos, but the captions are a bit off-putting. I'm not a big fan of XC bikes, and I think some of the stuff is a bit goofy looking. But, the implicit hint disapproval at mismatching hubs or no-name bar/stem is a tad bit elitist for my taste.
  • 79 9
 Seems like PB needs to get out of their comfort zone a bit more often. Claiming not knowing Nextie when most of those looking for affordable and well built carbon hoops have been using them for almost ten years is kinda lame. The carbon wheels movement might have started with Edge (now Enve) but is pretty crowded these years, and with prices way more in line with the blue collar biker. I'd venture to say several American and European brands are rebranding Nexties these days, charging a good extra money for a couple stickers.
  • 7 25
flag slumgullion (Aug 29, 2019 at 19:12) (Below Threshold)
 Pretty sure Matt’s specialty is photography - it’s ok to cut him a little slack for not being familiar with Nextie.
  • 3 1
 Nextie is just a rebranding operation themselves as far as I can tell. Xiamen, where Nextie is located, is a hotbed for carbon manufacturing. There are probably a dozen popular Chinese brands (Light Bicycle, BTLOS, Carbon Fan, etc), some with their own factories and others buying from those factories, within 10 minute drive of Nextie.
  • 1 0
 They very likely are all the same thing. Lots of industries do the same thing. For example lots of welding machines come out of the same factory they just select the specs they want but really one company is behind it all.
  • 2 0
 @thook: I wouldn't say all the same. There are some pretty wild variations in qualify pending the factories they come out of. I have bought many, including from Nextie and have seen some pretty poorly made rims, and some that look better than a lot of big domestic brand products. Who you buy from definitely matters.
  • 1 0
 @privateer-wbc: curious who you’d recommend these days? I’ve generally been happy with the LB stuff though prices are up quite a bit.
  • 5 0
 Where does it say he never heard of Nextie? All I saw was that he had never heard of Anchor, the bike they are assembled to.

That said, I have Nextie Rims on both my bikes (full squish and HT) and have had nothing but good luck with them.
  • 1 0
 @powderturns: WAO.
Money to be had off Agent rims and wheels at the moment
  • 1 0
 @powderturns: i had a long conversation with LB today (new wheels soon) and the guy was absolutely on top of it. Very knowledgeable. Straight up legit.
  • 1 0
 @privateer-wbc: agree totally. Nextie has differences in quality within their line even. Just today I ordered a new "Premium" rim there. These are way better quality than the "Standard" ones.
Actually I'm quite happy with Nextie: They offered me a 100% crash replacement last year (on a two year old rim), now they gave me 30% on a new rim, as my old one had a dent on the hook after 3 years of (enduro, trail, some park) riding.
  • 2 0
 Rocking Nextie's with I9 hubs on my Instinct BC. Been damn near bomb proof. Would by again!!!
  • 32 0
 Tone deaf and ugly. Hopefully the author stops, listens, and considers the history and his position here—appears to be one of those “teachable moments.” No doubling down, claiming it’s not that bad or that you were joking. Learn something.
Cheers to all that have cared enough to call this casual BS out: when the Pinkbike comments section is telling you to check yourself...and it’s not about 26” wheels, flat pedals, or gearboxes...whoa.
  • 28 1
 Anchor? Probably not the best name for a World Cup XC rig.
  • 6 0
 Came here to say it IS the best name haha
  • 2 0
 my thoughts exaclty
  • 22 0
 No closeup of the Kure's chainstay? It looks super thin like maybe it just flexes for travel; what material is it? Enquiring minds want to know!
  • 1 0
 My thoughts exactly!
  • 16 1
 Never heard of Nextie? Been around for a while and I feel they’re in the same vein as Light Bicycle, as far as more popular Chinese carbon brands.

Maybe that’s just me?
  • 2 0
 Similar. But I think LB actually makes their own rims. Not sure that Nextie does.
  • 1 0
 @privateer-wbc: I'm curious why you think that. I honestly don't know if they do or not, but I've owned 3 pair now, and have had nothing but good luck with all of them.
  • 3 0
 @Fresh1: I think that because they sell open mold rims that are exactly the same as some other Chinese brands/factories. I purchased a set from Nextie, and a set from BTLOS that were identical, except cheaper from BTLOS, for example. And I have had a chat with them about spoke hole drilling and they seemed pretty clueless, where as with BTLOS I've actually been able to speak with an engineer directly.
  • 12 0
 FYI - “KURE” is a Japanese brand of lubricant “556” is their version of WD40, so it is most definitely not a bike brand or model name.
I agree with allot of the comments above that allot of the bikes shown should not be commented on in such a condescending manner! Come on we’re better than this!
  • 11 0
 Thank you for everyone to see our team bike. The writer visited us at very busy time between the women junior and man junior, so we couldn’t get enough conversation. Maybe his misunderstanding.
We actually started to challenge to Europe from this year. The bike too. You are going to see more exciting GHISALLO in next year.
If you are interested please follow @fukaya_racing in instagram! Or visit Japan tent in world champs!
  • 11 0
 The most interesting item of ALL these bikes.... The KURE chainstays... So what do they do? Post two shots of the Rear Shocks zipties instead... Ugh
  • 7 0
 When endurobros dabble in xc.
  • 9 1
 Cool bikes! The first one isn’t exactly like any I’m aware of, but it’s very similar to the Light Carbon 937, which is also similar to the Pro-Mance M7007 and TanTan FS027. All of these bikes feature geometry and design in the vein of the Scott Spark and are high-quality worlds-capable frames. If you’re mechanically inclined and up for a bit of experimentation, you may fancy sending these companies $700 for a premium carbon frame, including factory painting and shipping to your doorstep. I can hardly justify spending $6000+ on some brand bikes when I can build the equivalent bike from public molds for half that price.
  • 6 0
 GHISALLO 501(Prototype): GHISALLO is a Japanese domestic brand produced by FUKAYA.
Rider:Men Under 23 TAKEUCHI Ryo JPN

TRIGON TS829: TRIGON is a manufacturer of carbon products in Taiwan.
Rider:Men Junior NAKAJIMA Ayumi JPN
"KURE"is a Japanese brand of lubricant. It is his sponsor.

ANCHOR XR9:ANCHOR is a Japanese brand produced by Bridgestone Cycle.
Rider:Men Under 23 MURAKAMI Koutarou JPN
  • 12 2
 At least they not e-pregnant bike.
  • 9 0
 Pretty sure that front hub is a DT Swiss 350 with a Japanese flag sticker and the riders name.
  • 2 0
 Yeah, looks a lot like 350s. I think you can even partly read the "STRAIGHTPULL" sticker. Solid.
  • 7 0
 On the Kure, is the whole chainstay a leaf spring? I would love to see an up close shot of the bottom bracket area.
  • 4 0
 "The patented design of the titanium plate wrapped with carbon fiber chain stay provides the extra damping and style. Together with FOX Elite fork and shock, thisbike just performs great." From their website: www.trigoncycles.com/650b-xc-mtb-ts827.html
  • 3 0
 Looks like a leaf spring, bonded at the bb and chainstay. I believe this is a popular 'open mold' bike.
  • 5 0
 Thanks for the post, PB! Love this stuff. I would like to know who the respective riders are, and to see their results. They must be privateers. And pretty good if they are racing world cups.
  • 4 0
 These were pretty cool to check...kinda get the feel of drift cars from Japan....I want to see a Japanese drift DH bike now!
  • 7 0
 With the rider being a krusty old drift master who smokes two packs a day, but would drift an inside line right past you at mach 5.
  • 1 0
 Name: "The Wheelman"
  • 4 0
 That Kure cable routing would get a whole lot neater if they mounted the shock the other way round...
  • 2 0
 I thought the same, but seems like they are using the internal cable routing port on the left side of the frame, and it was originally meant to guide the front derailleur cable. It forces the cable to exit going to the back of the bike, hence they had to make it take that loop around the seat tube. They could maybe send the dropper cable through that port, place the shock the other way around as you say, and route the lockout cable where the dropper one currently is.
  • 4 0
 The "SRAM XX1 gets the gear changing done" photo needs to go with the Anchor bike, not with the Ghisallo.
  • 1 0
 The hypocrisy of many pb commenters is a trip. Lesson to learn from, but goodness... Read it again. Many positive points made. Yes it needed a better edit but it’s not nearly as bad as many have stated. im sure it’ll get sorted out.
  • 6 2
 Now listen, guys, that was really good, but I need... MORE ZIP TIE!
  • 6 0
 I put my chamois on just like everybody else, one leg at a time. But, then I win gold medals at WC's.
  • 2 1
 DeLorme nice moments on the sensor of course but I agree a bit condescending // you should pipe in with some words, good for the brand as they say. But for sure don't push for the common man and then tear back down...
  • 3 0
 Anchor, no exactly the name I would have gone with for a XC race bike??
  • 2 0
 I have a carbon unbranded xc frame. It has worked great for the past year. It was $600.
  • 2 0
 XC guys: THERE'S TOO MUCH GOING ON WITH ENDURO BIKES!!

Also XC guys: See pictures posted above.
  • 1 0
 "noone watches a bunch of grown men on clothes that are soo tight the slightest bump could pop one of their testies."

...Ever heard of the NFL?
  • 1 0
 Nextie rims are really good btw, have had 2 bikes now with these on. Not managed to kill one yet with two seasons of enduros
  • 1 0
 They've become a lot better over the years.
  • 2 0
 Ghisallo -> bit.ly/2zyeLlW
Kure -> bit.ly/32bPkTq
  • 1 0
 hehe, nice. Tempting to build up one of those TRIFOX. Buyers have been positive about them.
  • 1 0
 Ha, beat me to it! I saw it on ali-express just a week ago too.
  • 1 0
 The 8th picture of the XX1 derailleur is out of sequence and is from the Anchor not the Ghisallo.
  • 2 0
 Where is wakidesign we need you here
  • 2 0
 Cooler bikes than anything ridden in the electric moto race at MSA.
  • 1 0
 Definitely a condescending article ... bad form Pinkbike ... not too surprising these days though.
  • 1 0
 Is it just me, or is that SRAM XX1 image out of order?
  • 2 2
 I'm so happy that I'm not the only one who was completely annoyed at the writer's obnoxious and condescending tone.
  • 1 0
 Never heard of these companies before
  • 1 0
 #25.4aintdead
  • 1 0
 Trail side bitching.
  • 1 0
 Fouriers fixie stem
  • 1 0
 Zip tie galore!
  • 1 3
 Cool. Where are the timed training results for DH?
  • 3 0
 There's no timed training at World Champs, just a seeding run that takes place tomorrow.
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