For the riding I do Downcountry all the way. I've been riding a 29er with 120mm forks for a number of years and using these bikes for BC Bike Race, Trans Rockies Singletrack six, The Pioneer and several other stage races and marathon events. Downcountry just makes sense for riding trails blind and long days out when down hills are technical and the climbs come in equal measure. Current bike is a Transition Spur which I guess sits towards the trail end of the downcountry genre.
sold the xc and go with carbon all mountain 160 lyrik front / 160 rear 2.3 DHF front 2.3 Agressor rear with cush core - the perfect setup for anything other than gnarly bike parks where aluminum is needed.
All these classifications, clothes now too! I’ll just stick with my downhill, XC, gravel adventure, enduro, (hydrogen powered) hybrid hard nose squidgy tail, thank you very much.
@@gmbn Not long ago Specialized and other brands had useful terms such as "Allmountain" or "Trail" to distinguish slightly more robust/agressive bikes than XC. But yeah, let's create a new cringe non-category to muddy the waters of MTB marketing.
Looking forward to upcountry, up trail, down trail, level trail, dry country and wet country bikes lol... When I first got into mtb my one bike did everything well. There's no point to all these excuses for spending more money. Pick a bike and use it how you want to and most importantly ENJOY it don't get bogged down in fashion. Also the same reviewers who say the older bikes are naff were the same ones saying how brilliant they were back in the 90s 00s etc...
Yeah, I agree, just pick any bike and enjoy it. You can race downhill on an XC bike, and race XC on an enduro bike. This however isn't a reason to make the "down country" class go away. If you're a person who wants a trail bike, but also races XC, the down country bike is the best choice.
I understand your point but this helps people choose what bike is good for them and also those classifications are usually just used instead of geometry numbers and grams
Thanks Neil for sharing some of your insight with us less experienced riders. Describing how wheel/tire setups and suspension travel changes will affect the feel of the ride helps me with choosing what changed I make to my bike over time. Appreciate all of your hard work.
I always used XC hardtail bikes, now i have the new Scott Spark with 2.4 tyres and 120mm and LOVE IT. Downcountry bikes makes you up faster than All Mountain bikes and faster descending than XC bikes
I’ve found that my 2016 Kona Explosif no longer has old trail bike geo and specs (67.5 degree HA, 120mm fork travel) - it’s a downcountry bike now. Rides great no matter which category it’s in.
I made my Lava dome pretty much the same specs. Is it now a downcountry? Or trail/xc hybrid? To be honest, I ride it in jeans and as long as it is a Kona, I dont really care haha. It can go up the hill, it can go down, also jump lightly too. Thats all that matters
Adding more names to segments of mountain bikes appears to be of little value - suggest down-country would be a great one to drop. XC and Downhill are two clearly distinct categories - Trail less useful floating somewhere between the two. It is great to see videos showing the progression from basic components through the range for different terrain. Keep up the great work!
@@Bob_Shy_132 to start off, sorry thst this thins is so fucking long. honesty consumers should be better off when making their own choices because of these new names, because these bikes have always existed but instead of names they had different geo numbers, the watter has always been "muddy", and giving it a name makes it more clear what they are meant for. There are no real bike catagories, there is no certain mold a bike has to fit in in order to be a certain catagory, there is a spectrum of muddy water, for example you have trail bikes that geo wise are inbetween enduro and trail, not realy enduro or trail, for example the commencal meta tr, very aggressive trail bike but not yet a enduro. I mean making more distinct catagories only makes it easier. Just think about freeride and enduro, two bikes meant for two different styles of riding and if the name freeride was not there a new rider could easely mistake it for a enduro bike. Otherwise the rider has to learn everything about geo, and I challenge you to ask them if they want a 64.5 or a 63.5 degree head angle, are you more of a 435mm chainstay guy or a 445mm? What do you think is the right seat tube angle? I like that 495mm reach but honestly I'd rather have a bike with 485, what about you? Do you think a 45mm or a 35mm stem is better? And let's not get into suspension dinamics, that's why one is called freeride and one enduro, because it makes it easyer for all riders no matter how much they know. Additionally, if different catagories is too difficult for riders to understand, they should not trust themself's to buy a bike on their own in the first place, if they can't differencieate these differyn catagories they can't be trusted to make the right desition on what bike is best for them, their riding style and their trails. They should ask a experienced buddy or a bike shop for advice. I used to work at a shop and several times someone asks for some advice on what bike they should get, and they come with a certain bike in mind. For example let's say a canyon spectral (the bikes thst where actuakus old there where focus bikes but not may people know the range so I'll just use canyon as an example), and after a few minutes of talking I find out that meybe a canyon neuron is the better option for them. Both are labeled a trail bike but yet are very very different bikes, and the neuron is essentially a good example of a aggressive down country bike, its definatly not your usual trail bike and definatly not a xc bike and just calling it a trail bike is wrong. But a consumer would often not know the difference between a spectral and a neuron because they are both labeled trail so they don't see why they are so different, now label it a doencountry and they will suddenly realise "hey, this is a whole different beast." And finaly, down country bikes are a good and much needed middle ground between xc bikes and trail bikes, for example in my home xc races a xc bike is not aggressive enough in a lot of cases, but a trail bike is not good enough for the climbing, where I live the down country bike is the best option for most riders. You can even see all the riders who have pure xc bikes run them more aggressive, basicaly trying to turn them into down country bikes
Weight is all that matters to me. 20 pounds is better than 25. 25 better than 30. etc. If someone can make a 20 pound bike with 200mm of travel...id be very interested. I dont care what they call it. Till then, i buy XC bikes around 25 pounds.
@@marcalvarez4890 I mean there is more to it than just weight, otherwise we would all be riding road bikes, but fair enough, I get what you mean, I ride a 16kg beast and would not mind having some kg's off
bike companies don’t make enough money when you do the obvious! I am putting the new Vittoria Syerra tires (Enve M70 wheels) on my Yeti SB 5.5 after I finish an enduro race in 3 weeks. If I like it, I will spring for a killer set of light wheels and swap the light tires over whenever I need a “light bike”.
It's also important to understand that bikes are designed with riding style in mind. If you ride an XC bike too hard (jumps, drops etc...) you will risk breaking something, because it's not designed for it. The geometry and component choice help make people aware of the bikes intended purpose, but many people try to blur the lines, which is why the industry like to fit things into categories.
Trail bikes for life only bike you'll ever need can and will do everything! Can swap out parts for a XC race one day then few adjustments and race downhill the next day!
sick, they added a down to country, changed nothing and we got a new mtb-class. Great to see what revolutionary ideas the industry is coming up with these days
I would go with a light weight (carbon fibre) trail bike....140 travel on the front, 130 on the back. Done. If I wanted the best of both worlds, I would have the down country bike or even a cross country bike and put on grippier tyres. Done there too!!! I did that.
Oh. I did that to my old (circa 2010) XC hardtail - put fatter tires on it, upgraded brakes... it still has 26" wheels tho. I wonder how likely I am to survive a descent off a mountain trail.
Awesome video, bikes are getting better and better and it is insane what XC Bikes can do on those tracks. I have my Deviate Highlander for Enduro/Bikepark and Trail riding and my Specialized Epic Race for longer rides/training and also trail riding. Best combination for me
I love the XC/DC category but my local trails are all climbing or descending. No flats sections. I've gone with the Giant Trance 2 29 which is perfect for what i need. Climbs really well but still lets me descend with conficence. When summer comes around or if i'm racing, i change the Minions out for some Ikons to make it that little more down country feeling. The shorter travel family of Trail bikes is where i'll likely sit for a long time.
Transformed my Whyte T130 by putting on Hunt Trailwide wheels and a Dissector/Rekon tyre combo. It now hits it's happy speed with ease and is super agile. There's less grip but with more communication coming back I'm quicker almost everywhere even when you'd think you need more grip. Still have minions for winter and when I eventually visit a proper bikepark.
I have changed to trail bike, Trek Fuel Ex 9.8 GX 2022, recently from my old XC bike and Im having a blast. New bike is still considered short travel but it is miles more comfortable and gives me a lot of confidence on trails, even easy flowy ones. I enjoyed my XC and how efficient it was so I still wanted a bike that climbs well. I was briefly considering Trek Top Fuel 2022, which is down-country bike but it was not available for purchase where I live.
Down country here is a regular xc/back country mtb from the late 90s with lots of carbon bling added in. Trail, 150/140 is now what we considered as all mountain enduro. At least it was on my 2013 zesty, which was a spicy DH bar a different shock shuttle. Enduro is obvs what all genuine mtbers have always done but now needs to be categorised to feed the bike selling process. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a Luddite. I’m completely over biked with my current ride, because it was my choice to be and I enjoy it. My future choice is trail spec, because it’s a normal and logical spec for a do all bike. Choose what makes you happy.
I have a 2022 Trek Top Fuel 8 on order, it is marketed as a short trafel trail bike with its 120f and 120r and a ht of 66. stoked to see what that is all about
If I buy a downcountry Lux Trail I'll still want a Spectral 29, AND vice versa! With 7k to spend I think rather than buying the top of the line CF 9 version of either I'll get the middle (Lux Trail CF 7 for 4k) and the lower end Spectral AL 6 for $2800. I can crash and replace cheaper parts easier and I hear the increased weight is a good thing on the downhill for the agro trail bikes. I had my heart set on the Spectral 29 CF 9 for several months and in waiting for it to come in stock I have really learned I am more XC oriented. Given my XC preference I don't' completely buy into the idea that agro trail bikes can truly be the one bike that does it all. The light weight of that bike means it will get thrown around a bit more. No single bike does it all I need to own as few bikes as possible to cover the spectrum. I still only own one and do not currently see needing more than two more! My 12 year old hardtail needs a companion, at least one soon...
Well, I started looking a few years ago. Back when I was getting passed on my home trail with more and more of these bigger wheels. I needed an upgrade from my pimped out 2007 Titus MotoLite. Then, before the upgrade, I ventured toward tech. A GPS head unit. After confirming my lack of speed on Strava, I wanted something fast. The 2021 Epic Evo! However, if I were more into air I would definitely be on a trail bike.
Just to share my little experience ; ) 3 years ago, at 40+, I get my first full suspension bike: a Scott Spark 2017 (120mm and 27"5 boost wheels). I first changed the tires to get Wild Enduro front and rear and I get a shorter stem (40mm rather 60). I did some beginner enduro with that. I still do. Bike parks too. Years passing, I get more brake (safety first), a bit of rise on handlebar for position. 120mm is more demanding on body so I have no chance to beat Jack Moir but hey!, I never had a chance : ) I'm certainly descending slower than if I had 170mm bike but as I do MTB for fun, a more demanding bike shall almost the same fun at lower speed than a more capable one. And for me, it's all about fun. Last thing: 120mm only on a friend's advice who get 140mm some years before because we both lived on flat land. Cheers all, have fun!
in my mind Scott spark lead the down country change in 2017, but didnt put a label on it. the spark RC is the race bike the normal spark is down country... My 2018 Spark has slowly morphed to be both a racier and down country as i upgraded it.
Great video but to be honest unless you are performing at the outer limits of skill and the technical parameters of the bike your riding, I don’t think it’s that critical? Unless I’m blind, most mountain bikers I see don’t ride at the level that the guys you see riding on these type of videos ride! What I’d like to see is a video on bikes that are all rounders and don’t cost £5k + and would suit intermediate and improving riders on a variety of terrain?
There is no money in doing videos about low budget bikes for intermediate riders. So you won't be seeing them on a channel where 90 % of videos are nothing but ads for the different manufacturers. And don't get me wrong. I appreciate the content the guys put up but most of it is just not for me.
spot on, there really needs to be more discussion at the point of mid and entry level bikes in each category... most of us ride bikes for several years between upgrades, and the concept of carbon frame or carbon components takes a lot of commitment for the average hack. After 10 years of racing club XC I have only just bought my first Carbon wheelset... and they are as heavy as Neils trail wheelset!!! the bike industry needs to talk more about what the weekend hacks buy and can afford
I have a Kona Hei Hei Hei 29er I have put specialized Butcher and Purgatory tubeless setup. I have taken it downhill riding at silver mountain many times and have never ran into an issue. Would highly recommend for a solid down country bike.
I have a 2017 KTM Lycan 273, a bike brand that doesn't ever seem to get discussed anywhere. I suspect that this was something of the first iteration of a downcountry bikes ever made. 66° head angle, 120mm front and 125mm rear travel, alloy frame, and only 13.8kg. The only thing that didn't actually fit the downcountry model was the 70mm stem, but I replaced that with a 45mm shortly after I got it.
What's worse? Baggy DH kit on an XC bike or XC kit on a DH bike? 🤔😂 - For real though, wear what you want, as long as you are safe, wear a helmet and have fun! 🤘
@@calinr1686 honestly, most riders never even dent their helmet in their entire lives. You don't need one, but you should have one. Some brain damage is worse than death.
@@diviscadilek1764 Totally agree. I honestly hope nobody ever gets even a scratch on their helmet, but we all know how easy it can happen. It's like an insurance only cheaper, you buy it once, you have it and hope you'll never need it. Definitely not worth the risks riding without a helmet anywhere.
I was on Canyon’s website last night and noticed they called the Lux a “down country” bike, and I wake up to a video about it... this is all very weird and pointless hahaha
Original designation, and my riding style: hardtail, aggressive trail… spec wise, most closely aligns with down country now. Still rocking the 2003 Specialized Hardrock.
i think its very simple, you want a do it all version of a enduro/DH bike (I.E. behaves like enduro bike would, so mostly downhill focused)? go trail bike. comfortably makes it up the hill but focuses on downhill. you want a do it all version of a XC bike (I.E. behaves like a XC bike would, so mostly climbing focused)? go down country bike. comfortably makes it down the hill but focuses on the uphill.
Had Occam M10 great bike but switched to Oiz 120 travel and it is perfect really fast,great climber and you can send it down too,not much jumping but can go steep down. Love this bike for my local woods and riding style.
I ride woods trails that have rock gardens and tough climbs that also have easy pine needle sections. I like to keep my tires on the ground as much as possible. So for me the best bike is a hard tail XC bike. I ride a Trek Marlin 7 and I really love it.
I have the Orbea Occam and did Covenant Drop at Mountain Creek on it. (on my channel) It's the one bike that does it all! Although next year I'm getting a 170mm bike for park and a 130mm bike for trail.
@@englishmtbinfrance3572 They Surely are! They perfectly fall right in between XC,Downcountry and Enduro, Downhill (not always perfectly but they do fill the gap between those 2 categories I.e.Great at going 1.Uphill or 2.Downhill)
@@snbsmtb I just commented this actually "Trail bikes for life only bike you'll ever need can and will do everything! Can swap out parts for a XC race one day then few adjustments and race downhill the next day!"
DC for me - I am not a fan of uplifts and the vast amount of trails require a lot of pedalling. For gnarlier days I stick on an pair of enduro alloy rims with wide chunky tyres.
You guys should do a video about what’s the difference between a XC bike vs a DownCountry bike which I don’t understand what’s the difference. By the way I’m an Enduro guy 🤘🏻
If you need to watch a video to decide then you probably want a trail bike. Experienced riders will tame the XC geo and aren’t lacking the confidence that a well designed trail bike gives a beginner. For a beginner the trail bike geo is what makes it versatile and encourages progression onto whatever the next step is. Feeling able to turn off onto whatever trail is the next step is just easier when it’s a bike that wants to do it instead of one you have to tame. Knocking 30 mins off a 3 hour ride might be a goal but then adding 30 minutes sessioning the part they walked down on the XC bike is more fun. As someone more experienced it’s a blast taking a XC bike over stuff it’s not designed for and the twitching and feeling like it wants to send you OTB are all part of the fun.
definetly down country... where I live there are no trails with the need for more suspension than 120mm... and the down country segment will more or less clear the XC segment, the XC tracks are progessing to more and more tech-sections where racers will pick bikes with more suspension (most likely 120/120 like the new scott spark)... another thing to consider is there are down country bikes weighing between 10-11kg (for full suspension) which is nearly as low as the lowest CX bikes (9,5-10kg)... so from the PoV of a consumer there is no need to go for a full XC race bike, the down country bike is almost allways the better choice because it's more forgiving, pretty much as fast on the ascends and the flats and much more comfortable than any XC bike which will end up in higher average speed. the down country segment is probably better described as the MTB Marathon segment... just my 2 cents!
I am with you. I like riding long distances cross country on bridleways, byways and fire roads, but there are no steep descents anywhere where I ride so I also don't need a medium/long travel slack set up. We do have lots of ruts, field trails and long dirt climbs though, so I use a beefed up 110mm XC bike for the summer with XC tyres, and a heavier framed trail bike for the winter which I have made less slack (new headset) and converted to 120mm travel and tyres more suited to winter mud. The local bike shops though, in more normal times, tend to be full of mountain bikes that are really not suitable for the local conditions.......
Editing is great, but may is ask for the volume to be distributed equally? When I set the correct volume to understand the voices, the music often gets close to puncture my ears.
Got a 2014 felt virtue nine 2 full sus carbon trail bike as my first mtb and i love it for the terrain/trail here in Norway. I just got for this summer and have changed to schwalbe magic mary and nobby nic 29×2.4combi for more grip on the ground. It got 140mm travel f/r. It still have the original 2x10 gear system and planned on changing to 1x12 but as a read inputs I'm having a second thought and keepinc the of drivetrain. Geometry imo is good for the age.
I ride a ORBEA Laufey H10 (HT with 140 mm travel front), on 29" wheels with a pair of 2,6 inch wide tires. It is a trail bike for sure and a hell lot of fun. On the downside - not forgiving on your body. After two days of hard trail riding I feel as if I were on a rodeo riding a bull all day instead.
I've made my XC-ish cheap HT more trail-friendly by fitting a longer fork, wider bars, better wheels with trail/enduro tires and a dropper post - you say I should call it a "down country" now? If I put a rigid fork, light tires and drop bars there - will it magically transform it into a gravel bike?
@@doriansolomon-miller187 I don't think it matters that much, but if you're curious it's a Rockrider ST560 that was on sale at my local Decathlon store and I swapped the original fork (100 mm Rockshox 30) for a 120 mm Reba.
@@simonmac4291 not agro, totally in the down country range ;) There is a great online community “Hardcore Hardtail” where people will tell you your bike is only hard-core if it’s 160 mm travel. luckily my Santa Cruz Chameleon is a 160 mm travel mullet single speed. I have a rigid carbon fork sitting in my closet in case I ever want to make it a gravel bike;)
„Radness is likely to increase“ - The Don I guess for my weight, the thin SID would also make a difference. My do-it-all bike is a slightly beefed up trail bike with 160mm/142mm and I have a second set of wheels with different tires.
What if you have both! I been riding a Devinci Marshall trail bike with 150/130mm travel for a year and I'm selling my hardtail and getting a Kona Hei Hei with 100/120mm travel for next season. The down country rig for longer less aggressive days and the trail bike for more rowdy riding.
It’s funny that a 4 year old all mountain bike now has a similar geometry as a downcountry. Also funny: I like how he’s like “just get a pair of wheels”. I mean, come on. Carbon wheelsets are about 1k. However, I know some folks who fit the downcountry category based on their riding style. So great the category exists, but given all the categories we have it’s not easy for newbies to decide.
I have a 21 specialized epic evo with 120/100. I only have one bike so I ride it on the road, xc, trail and gentle downhill. It can feel under tyred sometimes, running out of front end grip so I am thinking of putting a ‘butcher’ on the front to replace the ground control. A second set of trail specific wheels and tyres is another option and cheaper than a second bike. Where I ride some of the fastest trail times were set on xc bikes but the riders are in another league altogether to mere mortals like me.
My first bike I built was a down-cointry bike close to 15y ears ago a Klein Palomino with a Manitou Minute (100mm/130mm) My new build is a '14 Trek Superfly FS with a Rockshox Revelation (110mm/150mm travel)
There was not enough good technology back then. Or maybe the riders were less p*ssies than now. They shredded everything on a rigid bike with cantis. Yeah!
Yes, it's just a more capable XC bike. We all want different things out of a bike and this area of the market has been quite confusing for some time now. Hopefully, it will help people make better decisions when purchasing bikes. Doddy over on GMBN Tech talked about it in some detail here 👉 gmbn.tech/show190
In my definition a downcountry bike is an xc bike with xc geo and trail components fit on, in other words, a modified rig that is absolutely stretching the bike to its limits.
What is XC geo these days? The new Scott Spark RC had 120mm front and rear, a 67* head angle and runs 2.35” tires from the factory. That’s their XC race bike…
@@chiefsilverback yeah they are pretty much now what were formerly known as short travel trail bikes. That is the evolution of bikes afterall. If we consider 130mm+ travel and low stack bikes with rather steep HTA (69-67) we could possibly group them as XC geo but that range is a bit large.
The only trouble I have is when I am doing jumps on my 2013 Giant Anthem X29er is because I weigh 126kg it bottoms out on bigger jumps. I am thinking a trail bike might be better with 140mm travel than the current 100mm travel I have. I have had the forks completely serviced and refurbished this year and got the bike shop to set the bike up a bit better for me and I do love it but it might be time for another bike.
@@junka1975 true , but new bikes are hella expensive, for me in my country even what is considered an entry level hard tail is out of reach for most people, let alone full sus which cost as much or more as the average car you see on the streets.
@@darkki94 Don't worry, it's the same for me, to save any money you have to chose what you can go without. No reason why you can't have fun on a budget bike though.
I recently switched from a XC bike to a trail bike for the reason that it is way more versatile. I could even do the occasional bikepark trip with it without the fear of getting two unicycles. I guess even a DC bike would never be meant to get a lot of air time 😜 to keep the efficiency I chose some tires boarding the line to XC tires and I am happy with it so far ( MAXXIS Rekon and Forecaster )
Nobody I know who has a DC or XC bike has it as their only bike. We all have longer travel bikes for general riding. We just pick the shorter travel bikes for certain trail systems. I'm not sure how your DC bike ended up so heavy with those weenie xc tires, but I'd consider that an xc bike for only the smoothest of trails.
I have a trail bike and it will do whatever i make it do. You really Don't need multiple bikes for this and for that just buy one that you like and fits you properly and take it everywhere it will do more than you probably can.
Its going weird now with those bikes.The Top Fuel 8 2022 Is now with 66 degree head tube angle. 120mm front and rear, and 2.4 xr4 trail tires.Its now heavier then a Fuel ex 8 2021 with 140mm fork and 2.6 xr4 tires.
Is down country the new all mountain ? Or is that down trail or enduro lite ? All mountain made a lot of sense to me .... and now struggling to work out what my next bike should be as enduro seems probably a little too much but some trail bikes seem a little lacking for my needs. Ah well better start trying some
To be honest, there is a big difference between some of the metal sub-genres... To the point that I like some of them most of the time and can't stand others almost ever.
Basically a cross country bike just now has more travel than the old days where 80 to 100mm was standard now 120mm is standard, slacker angles of course . But we all used to put wider bars shorter stems and bigger tyres on these bikes anyway so the downcountry tag means nothing really still a cross country bike
We already had All-Mountain for the bikes between trail and Enduro and now we’re just calling All-Mountain bikes trail bikes because we’re calling trail bikes downcountry bikes. It’s nonsense
We all upgrade our bikes , my 2013 Scott scale 930 i recently sold had 2.4 tires, stans rims ,different seat ,grips .flopped the stem , it was my back up trail bike if the Stance wasn't able to go .didnt know it was down country, which is a terrible name
Saw a kiddy ride a redline 340 bmx down a dh course about 15 years ago, and he did it in Asda George shorts and t shirt, may have had reebok classics on too but can’t remember. Just buy a bike you like and ride it how/where you like, there’s more subdivisions in mtb than rock music now…….
@@Brodiesfunction hahah no i'm not that crazy i usually do short jump trails or downhill tracks and i push the bike up sadly :( but since i live in belgium the tracks are like max 500m long so the climbs are usually not that long
If a bike has not much grip on their tires, well just simply swap them tires out with grippy ones...btw I didn't get the fashion trendy bs part thou, all that POC stuff is super expensive 🤦♂️
What even is real milk? How you ever had cow milk straight from the cow ? It tastes nothing like the stuff you buy and in my opinion it is pretty nasty:)
So, if i have a XC-hardtail and want to get another bike. What should i get, down country or trail? I ride in the forrest on tracks with both smother gravel and techincal climbs and decents.
The basic spectrum should be left alone: XC - trail - downhill. Of course it's too late for that as the industry has managed squeeze "enduro" between trail and downhill, and now it appears that they want to do the same with "down country". Anyone who does enough research to find the style of riding they prefer should be able to start with a basic platform and modify it to best suit their particular needs. If manufacturers want to be helpful, they should make it easier and more economical for buyers to customize the models that are already available
There was a time when a mountain bike was that, a mountain bike. Then the manufacturers wanted to make more money, and have introduced a confusing amount of types, in the hope that consumers would simply buy several different versions of similar bikes, ridiculous.
Do you prefer a trail bike? Or a Downcountry / XC bike?
Definetly a Trail bike, because i like a Bit more Travel. But for some people the downcountry could be the way to go
For the riding I do Downcountry all the way. I've been riding a 29er with 120mm forks for a number of years and using these bikes for BC Bike Race, Trans Rockies Singletrack six, The Pioneer and several other stage races and marathon events. Downcountry just makes sense for riding trails blind and long days out when down hills are technical and the climbs come in equal measure. Current bike is a Transition Spur which I guess sits towards the trail end of the downcountry genre.
I have both bikes, all comes down to how I feel on the day.
Trail bike is just more fun
sold the xc and go with carbon all mountain 160 lyrik front / 160 rear 2.3 DHF front 2.3 Agressor rear with cush core - the perfect setup for anything other than gnarly bike parks where aluminum is needed.
“How do you choose the right bike for you?”
Price low->high, scroll until uncomfortable.
Or just click the discount button 🤣😂
I can’t scroll at all I’m already uncomfortable
Totally correct in that statement
That's what I did when I found my DH bike.
@@kylehagertybanana sounds like most people looking at new bikes
All these classifications, clothes now too! I’ll just stick with my downhill, XC, gravel adventure, enduro, (hydrogen powered) hybrid hard nose squidgy tail, thank you very much.
You're expected to have at least 4 different types of bike, with attire to match each! ('Tight baggies', oh Neil...).
Though it can be confusing, we think more bike categories can help people find the bike that suits their preference.
@@gmbn I think the exact opposite. I bought new bike this february and because there are all that categories it tooks me 6 mounth to deside
The stats written on screen didn't match what he said for each bike
@@gmbn Not long ago Specialized and other brands had useful terms such as "Allmountain" or "Trail" to distinguish slightly more robust/agressive bikes than XC. But yeah, let's create a new cringe non-category to muddy the waters of MTB marketing.
Looking forward to upcountry, up trail, down trail, level trail, dry country and wet country bikes lol...
When I first got into mtb my one bike did everything well. There's no point to all these excuses for spending more money.
Pick a bike and use it how you want to and most importantly ENJOY it don't get bogged down in fashion. Also the same reviewers who say the older bikes are naff were the same ones saying how brilliant they were back in the 90s 00s etc...
Off camber down country is next.
One crank arm is shorter to prevent pedal strikes.
Or it’s the excuse to get to own a bunch of bikes
Yeah, I agree, just pick any bike and enjoy it. You can race downhill on an XC bike, and race XC on an enduro bike. This however isn't a reason to make the "down country" class go away. If you're a person who wants a trail bike, but also races XC, the down country bike is the best choice.
I understand your point but this helps people choose what bike is good for them and also those classifications are usually just used instead of geometry numbers and grams
Same, I live in the south, I prefer an up country to go more north 😂
Thanks Neil for sharing some of your insight with us less experienced riders. Describing how wheel/tire setups and suspension travel changes will affect the feel of the ride helps me with choosing what changed I make to my bike over time. Appreciate all of your hard work.
I always used XC hardtail bikes, now i have the new Scott Spark with 2.4 tyres and 120mm and LOVE IT. Downcountry bikes makes you up faster than All Mountain bikes and faster descending than XC bikes
I’ve found that my 2016 Kona Explosif no longer has old trail bike geo and specs (67.5 degree HA, 120mm fork travel) - it’s a downcountry bike now. Rides great no matter which category it’s in.
I made my Lava dome pretty much the same specs. Is it now a downcountry? Or trail/xc hybrid? To be honest, I ride it in jeans and as long as it is a Kona, I dont really care haha. It can go up the hill, it can go down, also jump lightly too. Thats all that matters
Out in the woods having fun is what it's all about! 🤘
That's exactly why all this new categories are ridiculous and only created to get more money out of riders
Adding more names to segments of mountain bikes appears to be of little value - suggest down-country would be a great one to drop. XC and Downhill are two clearly distinct categories - Trail less useful floating somewhere between the two. It is great to see videos showing the progression from basic components through the range for different terrain. Keep up the great work!
Too many segments muddies the waters for the casual consumer. This instills confusion and lack of interest.
The point is to create new muddy categories to sell more bikes.
See CX vs Gravel bikes. Really, there isn't much of a difference between those two.
@@Bob_Shy_132 to start off, sorry thst this thins is so fucking long.
honesty consumers should be better off when making their own choices because of these new names, because these bikes have always existed but instead of names they had different geo numbers, the watter has always been "muddy", and giving it a name makes it more clear what they are meant for. There are no real bike catagories, there is no certain mold a bike has to fit in in order to be a certain catagory, there is a spectrum of muddy water, for example you have trail bikes that geo wise are inbetween enduro and trail, not realy enduro or trail, for example the commencal meta tr, very aggressive trail bike but not yet a enduro. I mean making more distinct catagories only makes it easier. Just think about freeride and enduro, two bikes meant for two different styles of riding and if the name freeride was not there a new rider could easely mistake it for a enduro bike. Otherwise the rider has to learn everything about geo, and I challenge you to ask them if they want a 64.5 or a 63.5 degree head angle, are you more of a 435mm chainstay guy or a 445mm? What do you think is the right seat tube angle? I like that 495mm reach but honestly I'd rather have a bike with 485, what about you? Do you think a 45mm or a 35mm stem is better? And let's not get into suspension dinamics, that's why one is called freeride and one enduro, because it makes it easyer for all riders no matter how much they know.
Additionally, if different catagories is too difficult for riders to understand, they should not trust themself's to buy a bike on their own in the first place, if they can't differencieate these differyn catagories they can't be trusted to make the right desition on what bike is best for them, their riding style and their trails. They should ask a experienced buddy or a bike shop for advice. I used to work at a shop and several times someone asks for some advice on what bike they should get, and they come with a certain bike in mind. For example let's say a canyon spectral (the bikes thst where actuakus old there where focus bikes but not may people know the range so I'll just use canyon as an example), and after a few minutes of talking I find out that meybe a canyon neuron is the better option for them. Both are labeled a trail bike but yet are very very different bikes, and the neuron is essentially a good example of a aggressive down country bike, its definatly not your usual trail bike and definatly not a xc bike and just calling it a trail bike is wrong. But a consumer would often not know the difference between a spectral and a neuron because they are both labeled trail so they don't see why they are so different, now label it a doencountry and they will suddenly realise "hey, this is a whole different beast."
And finaly, down country bikes are a good and much needed middle ground between xc bikes and trail bikes, for example in my home xc races a xc bike is not aggressive enough in a lot of cases, but a trail bike is not good enough for the climbing, where I live the down country bike is the best option for most riders. You can even see all the riders who have pure xc bikes run them more aggressive, basicaly trying to turn them into down country bikes
Weight is all that matters to me.
20 pounds is better than 25.
25 better than 30.
etc.
If someone can make a 20 pound bike with 200mm of travel...id be very interested. I dont care what they call it. Till then, i buy XC bikes around 25 pounds.
@@marcalvarez4890 I mean there is more to it than just weight, otherwise we would all be riding road bikes, but fair enough, I get what you mean, I ride a 16kg beast and would not mind having some kg's off
"Radness . Is likely to increase."
Now there's a selling point for a trail bike if ever I heard one! Nice one Don!🤘
You said the limiting factor was wheels and tyres on the Down country bike, simple experiment switch the wheels and tyres. 🤷♂️
bike companies don’t make enough money when you do the obvious! I am putting the new Vittoria Syerra tires (Enve M70 wheels) on my Yeti SB 5.5 after I finish an enduro race in 3 weeks. If I like it, I will spring for a killer set of light wheels and swap the light tires over whenever I need a “light bike”.
It's also important to understand that bikes are designed with riding style in mind. If you ride an XC bike too hard (jumps, drops etc...) you will risk breaking something, because it's not designed for it. The geometry and component choice help make people aware of the bikes intended purpose, but many people try to blur the lines, which is why the industry like to fit things into categories.
Trail bikes for life only bike you'll ever need can and will do everything! Can swap out parts for a XC race one day then few adjustments and race downhill the next day!
sick, they added a down to country, changed nothing and we got a new mtb-class. Great to see what revolutionary ideas the industry is coming up with these days
Extra round wheels are next LOL.
@@christianholmstedt8770 Oval Rims 💀
@@skarabyll1458
Basically, the harder we ride and the more dented and damaged rims we get the better. LOL
@@christianholmstedt8770 who knows- maybe oval wheels are next. Biopace was terrible for knees. Maybe the answer is oval wheels!
@@skarabyll1458 Shark wheels
I would go with a light weight (carbon fibre) trail bike....140 travel on the front, 130 on the back. Done. If I wanted the best of both worlds, I would have the down country bike or even a cross country bike and put on grippier tyres. Done there too!!! I did that.
Oh. I did that to my old (circa 2010) XC hardtail - put fatter tires on it, upgraded brakes... it still has 26" wheels tho. I wonder how likely I am to survive a descent off a mountain trail.
Awesome video, bikes are getting better and better and it is insane what XC Bikes can do on those tracks. I have my Deviate Highlander for Enduro/Bikepark and Trail riding and my Specialized Epic Race for longer rides/training and also trail riding. Best combination for me
I love the XC/DC category but my local trails are all climbing or descending. No flats sections. I've gone with the Giant Trance 2 29 which is perfect for what i need. Climbs really well but still lets me descend with conficence. When summer comes around or if i'm racing, i change the Minions out for some Ikons to make it that little more down country feeling. The shorter travel family of Trail bikes is where i'll likely sit for a long time.
Transformed my Whyte T130 by putting on Hunt Trailwide wheels and a Dissector/Rekon tyre combo. It now hits it's happy speed with ease and is super agile. There's less grip but with more communication coming back I'm quicker almost everywhere even when you'd think you need more grip.
Still have minions for winter and when I eventually visit a proper bikepark.
Nice to see you out on my local trails, I need to get back out on my bike and spend some time up there.
I have changed to trail bike, Trek Fuel Ex 9.8 GX 2022, recently from my old XC bike and Im having a blast. New bike is still considered short travel but it is miles more comfortable and gives me a lot of confidence on trails, even easy flowy ones. I enjoyed my XC and how efficient it was so I still wanted a bike that climbs well. I was briefly considering Trek Top Fuel 2022, which is down-country bike but it was not available for purchase where I live.
Marketing. That’s the difference. Downcountry is a trail bike from 5 years ago which was enduro the year before that.
Yeap, agreed, sometimes its just a marketing gimmick…
Here's a video from Doddy over on GMBN Tech about this subject. - gmbn.tech/show190 it's worth a watch!
Down country here is a regular xc/back country mtb from the late 90s with lots of carbon bling added in. Trail, 150/140 is now what we considered as all mountain enduro. At least it was on my 2013 zesty, which was a spicy DH bar a different shock shuttle. Enduro is obvs what all genuine mtbers have always done but now needs to be categorised to feed the bike selling process. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a Luddite. I’m completely over biked with my current ride, because it was my choice to be and I enjoy it. My future choice is trail spec, because it’s a normal and logical spec for a do all bike. Choose what makes you happy.
I have a 2022 Trek Top Fuel 8 on order, it is marketed as a short trafel trail bike with its 120f and 120r and a ht of 66. stoked to see what that is all about
If I buy a downcountry Lux Trail I'll still want a Spectral 29, AND vice versa! With 7k to spend I think rather than buying the top of the line CF 9 version of either I'll get the middle (Lux Trail CF 7 for 4k) and the lower end Spectral AL 6 for $2800. I can crash and replace cheaper parts easier and I hear the increased weight is a good thing on the downhill for the agro trail bikes.
I had my heart set on the Spectral 29 CF 9 for several months and in waiting for it to come in stock I have really learned I am more XC oriented. Given my XC preference I don't' completely buy into the idea that agro trail bikes can truly be the one bike that does it all. The light weight of that bike means it will get thrown around a bit more.
No single bike does it all I need to own as few bikes as possible to cover the spectrum. I still only own one and do not currently see needing more than two more! My 12 year old hardtail needs a companion, at least one soon...
Two of my favourite brands. The geometry on the Orbeas is soooo good!
Well, I started looking a few years ago. Back when I was getting passed on my home trail with more and more of these bigger wheels. I needed an upgrade from my pimped out 2007 Titus MotoLite. Then, before the upgrade, I ventured toward tech. A GPS head unit. After confirming my lack of speed on Strava, I wanted something fast. The 2021 Epic Evo! However, if I were more into air I would definitely be on a trail bike.
Just put some light wheels and tires on your trail bike, and you fly up and down 👌
Just to share my little experience ; )
3 years ago, at 40+, I get my first full suspension bike: a Scott Spark 2017 (120mm and 27"5 boost wheels).
I first changed the tires to get Wild Enduro front and rear and I get a shorter stem (40mm rather 60). I did some beginner enduro with that. I still do. Bike parks too.
Years passing, I get more brake (safety first), a bit of rise on handlebar for position.
120mm is more demanding on body so I have no chance to beat Jack Moir but hey!, I never had a chance : )
I'm certainly descending slower than if I had 170mm bike but as I do MTB for fun, a more demanding bike shall almost the same fun at lower speed than a more capable one. And for me, it's all about fun.
Last thing: 120mm only on a friend's advice who get 140mm some years before because we both lived on flat land.
Cheers all, have fun!
I have the same bike and it is brilliant at everything I want to do also
in my mind Scott spark lead the down country change in 2017, but didnt put a label on it. the spark RC is the race bike the normal spark is down country... My 2018 Spark has slowly morphed to be both a racier and down country as i upgraded it.
Great video but to be honest unless you are performing at the outer limits of skill and the technical parameters of the bike your riding, I don’t think it’s that critical? Unless I’m blind, most mountain bikers I see don’t ride at the level that the guys you see riding on these type of videos ride! What I’d like to see is a video on bikes that are all rounders and don’t cost £5k + and would suit intermediate and improving riders on a variety of terrain?
I mean, trail hardtails and low-mid budget trail full suspension would be what you're looking for if you want to do everything.
There is no money in doing videos about low budget bikes for intermediate riders. So you won't be seeing them on a channel where 90 % of videos are nothing but ads for the different manufacturers.
And don't get me wrong. I appreciate the content the guys put up but most of it is just not for me.
@@jormateras9298 precisely my point. You’ve hit the nail on the head👍
spot on, there really needs to be more discussion at the point of mid and entry level bikes in each category... most of us ride bikes for several years between upgrades, and the concept of carbon frame or carbon components takes a lot of commitment for the average hack. After 10 years of racing club XC I have only just bought my first Carbon wheelset... and they are as heavy as Neils trail wheelset!!!
the bike industry needs to talk more about what the weekend hacks buy and can afford
I have a Kona Hei Hei Hei 29er I have put specialized Butcher and Purgatory tubeless setup. I have taken it downhill riding at silver mountain many times and have never ran into an issue. Would highly recommend for a solid down country bike.
I have a 2017 KTM Lycan 273, a bike brand that doesn't ever seem to get discussed anywhere. I suspect that this was something of the first iteration of a downcountry bikes ever made. 66° head angle, 120mm front and 125mm rear travel, alloy frame, and only 13.8kg. The only thing that didn't actually fit the downcountry model was the 70mm stem, but I replaced that with a 45mm shortly after I got it.
When the bike you buy dictates the clothes you wear on it, you're in waaay too deep
What's worse? Baggy DH kit on an XC bike or XC kit on a DH bike? 🤔😂 - For real though, wear what you want, as long as you are safe, wear a helmet and have fun! 🤘
@@gmbn My "kit". Whatever I'm wearing when I decide to go for a ride. If really, really gnarly, might even wear a helmet and work gloves.
@@sapinva Wearing a helmet is never optional
@@calinr1686 honestly, most riders never even dent their helmet in their entire lives. You don't need one, but you should have one. Some brain damage is worse than death.
@@diviscadilek1764 Totally agree. I honestly hope nobody ever gets even a scratch on their helmet, but we all know how easy it can happen. It's like an insurance only cheaper, you buy it once, you have it and hope you'll never need it. Definitely not worth the risks riding without a helmet anywhere.
I was on Canyon’s website last night and noticed they called the Lux a “down country” bike, and I wake up to a video about it... this is all very weird and pointless hahaha
Oh, but not if you're a marketer...
Original designation, and my riding style: hardtail, aggressive trail… spec wise, most closely aligns with down country now. Still rocking the 2003 Specialized Hardrock.
Still rockin my Bridgestone MB 3 from 1991 and my Scott Boulder from 1988..! :-))
i think its very simple, you want a do it all version of a enduro/DH bike (I.E. behaves like enduro bike would, so mostly downhill focused)? go trail bike. comfortably makes it up the hill but focuses on downhill.
you want a do it all version of a XC bike (I.E. behaves like a XC bike would, so mostly climbing focused)? go down country bike. comfortably makes it down the hill but focuses on the uphill.
'you want a do it all version of a XC bike'-this is why I bought the Polygon D7.
Had Occam M10 great bike but switched to Oiz 120 travel and it is perfect really fast,great climber and you can send it down too,not much jumping but can go steep down. Love this bike for my local woods and riding style.
I ride woods trails that have rock gardens and tough climbs that also have easy pine needle sections. I like to keep my tires on the ground as much as possible. So for me the best bike is a hard tail XC bike. I ride a Trek Marlin 7 and I really love it.
I have the Orbea Occam and did Covenant Drop at Mountain Creek on it. (on my channel) It's the one bike that does it all! Although next year I'm getting a 170mm bike for park and a 130mm bike for trail.
I guess I will go with the Trail bike! They're just awesome!!
Theyre the perfect bike!
@@englishmtbinfrance3572 They Surely are! They perfectly fall right in between XC,Downcountry and Enduro, Downhill (not always perfectly but they do fill the gap between those 2 categories I.e.Great at going 1.Uphill or 2.Downhill)
@@snbsmtb I just commented this actually "Trail bikes for life only bike you'll ever need can and will do everything! Can swap out parts for a XC race one day then few adjustments and race downhill the next day!"
@@englishmtbinfrance3572 Yeah! It is truly the near perfect All-round MTB and I love'em
DC for me - I am not a fan of uplifts and the vast amount of trails require a lot of pedalling. For gnarlier days I stick on an pair of enduro alloy rims with wide chunky tyres.
You guys should do a video about what’s the difference between a XC bike vs a DownCountry bike which I don’t understand what’s the difference. By the way I’m an Enduro guy 🤘🏻
If you need to watch a video to decide then you probably want a trail bike. Experienced riders will tame the XC geo and aren’t lacking the confidence that a well designed trail bike gives a beginner.
For a beginner the trail bike geo is what makes it versatile and encourages progression onto whatever the next step is. Feeling able to turn off onto whatever trail is the next step is just easier when it’s a bike that wants to do it instead of one you have to tame.
Knocking 30 mins off a 3 hour ride might be a goal but then adding 30 minutes sessioning the part they walked down on the XC bike is more fun.
As someone more experienced it’s a blast taking a XC bike over stuff it’s not designed for and the twitching and feeling like it wants to send you OTB are all part of the fun.
definetly down country... where I live there are no trails with the need for more suspension than 120mm... and the down country segment will more or less clear the XC segment, the XC tracks are progessing to more and more tech-sections where racers will pick bikes with more suspension (most likely 120/120 like the new scott spark)... another thing to consider is there are down country bikes weighing between 10-11kg (for full suspension) which is nearly as low as the lowest CX bikes (9,5-10kg)... so from the PoV of a consumer there is no need to go for a full XC race bike, the down country bike is almost allways the better choice because it's more forgiving, pretty much as fast on the ascends and the flats and much more comfortable than any XC bike which will end up in higher average speed.
the down country segment is probably better described as the MTB Marathon segment... just my 2 cents!
I am with you. I like riding long distances cross country on bridleways, byways and fire roads, but there are no steep descents anywhere where I ride so I also don't need a medium/long travel slack set up. We do have lots of ruts, field trails and long dirt climbs though, so I use a beefed up 110mm XC bike for the summer with XC tyres, and a heavier framed trail bike for the winter which I have made less slack (new headset) and converted to 120mm travel and tyres more suited to winter mud. The local bike shops though, in more normal times, tend to be full of mountain bikes that are really not suitable for the local conditions.......
Definately down country for me, I need all the help I can get up-hill as I'm carrying enough of my own weight!
Now that that’s been cleared up 👍🏻👍🏻
I’m now just a bit worried that my bike could clash with my clothes 🙈🙈
What should I do, who do I call??
Editing is great, but may is ask for the volume to be distributed equally? When I set the correct volume to understand the voices, the music often gets close to puncture my ears.
Looking forward to downduro and downtrail bikes
Have no idea what he's talking about but it seems that he's presenting two bicycles that basically do the same thing, which is ride.
Got a 2014 felt virtue nine 2 full sus carbon trail bike as my first mtb and i love it for the terrain/trail here in Norway. I just got for this summer and have changed to schwalbe magic mary and nobby nic 29×2.4combi for more grip on the ground. It got 140mm travel f/r. It still have the original 2x10 gear system and planned on changing to 1x12 but as a read inputs I'm having a second thought and keepinc the of drivetrain. Geometry imo is good for the age.
Trail bike, jack of all trades, i have a 2016 Scott Genius 700 tuned plus, 130 back 140 front , .I don't need anything else in the mountains!!
I ride a ORBEA Laufey H10 (HT with 140 mm travel front), on 29" wheels with a pair of 2,6 inch wide tires. It is a trail bike for sure and a hell lot of fun. On the downside - not forgiving on your body. After two days of hard trail riding I feel as if I were on a rodeo riding a bull all day instead.
I've made my XC-ish cheap HT more trail-friendly by fitting a longer fork, wider bars, better wheels with trail/enduro tires and a dropper post - you say I should call it a "down country" now? If I put a rigid fork, light tires and drop bars there - will it magically transform it into a gravel bike?
What bike you got? And what fork have you installed onto it?
What bike have you got and what fork have you installed?
@@doriansolomon-miller187 I don't think it matters that much, but if you're curious it's a Rockrider ST560 that was on sale at my local Decathlon store and I swapped the original fork (100 mm Rockshox 30) for a 120 mm Reba.
Nope you've created an "Agro Hardtail" (how many sub genres can the marketing departments come up with!! 🤣)
@@simonmac4291 not agro, totally in the down country range ;) There is a great online community “Hardcore Hardtail” where people will tell you your bike is only hard-core if it’s 160 mm travel. luckily my Santa Cruz Chameleon is a 160 mm travel mullet single speed. I have a rigid carbon fork sitting in my closet in case I ever want to make it a gravel bike;)
Make an experiment: what`s faster, an XC bike with trail/enduro tires or trail/enduro bike with XC tires.
depends where you ride them
„Radness is likely to increase“ - The Don
I guess for my weight, the thin SID would also make a difference. My do-it-all bike is a slightly beefed up trail bike with 160mm/142mm and I have a second set of wheels with different tires.
What if you have both! I been riding a Devinci Marshall trail bike with 150/130mm travel for a year and I'm selling my hardtail and getting a Kona Hei Hei with 100/120mm travel for next season. The down country rig for longer less aggressive days and the trail bike for more rowdy riding.
trail bike for lifeee
I think bike manufacturers are playing the same marketing trick to the MTB crowd. Same as what they’re doing with gravel for roadies.
It’s funny that a 4 year old all mountain bike now has a similar geometry as a downcountry.
Also funny: I like how he’s like “just get a pair of wheels”.
I mean, come on. Carbon wheelsets are about 1k.
However, I know some folks who fit the downcountry category based on their riding style. So great the category exists, but given all the categories we have it’s not easy for newbies to decide.
I have a 21 specialized epic evo with 120/100. I only have one bike so I ride it on the road, xc, trail and gentle downhill. It can feel under tyred sometimes, running out of front end grip so I am thinking of putting a ‘butcher’ on the front to replace the ground control. A second set of trail specific wheels and tyres is another option and cheaper than a second bike. Where I ride some of the fastest trail times were set on xc bikes but the riders are in another league altogether to mere mortals like me.
Neil said 1194 WB for the Obrea, displayed is 1129WB (the Canyon's Spec)
My first bike I built was a down-cointry bike close to 15y ears ago a Klein Palomino with a Manitou Minute (100mm/130mm)
My new build is a '14 Trek Superfly FS with a Rockshox Revelation (110mm/150mm travel)
I've been mountain biking since the early 90's and I never heard of a down country bike until this week.
There was not enough good technology back then. Or maybe the riders were less p*ssies than now. They shredded everything on a rigid bike with cantis. Yeah!
Plenty of great info pal well done
Downcountry?! Come on, it's just a bit more capable xc
There is one good thing about it. You don't need to buy a XC bike and change those components on your own.
@@themoss7115 I agree. So called downcountry is better version of xc.
Yes, it's just a more capable XC bike. We all want different things out of a bike and this area of the market has been quite confusing for some time now. Hopefully, it will help people make better decisions when purchasing bikes. Doddy over on GMBN Tech talked about it in some detail here 👉 gmbn.tech/show190
In my definition a downcountry bike is an xc bike with xc geo and trail components fit on, in other words, a modified rig that is absolutely stretching the bike to its limits.
What is XC geo these days? The new Scott Spark RC had 120mm front and rear, a 67* head angle and runs 2.35” tires from the factory. That’s their XC race bike…
@@chiefsilverback yeah they are pretty much now what were formerly known as short travel trail bikes. That is the evolution of bikes afterall. If we consider 130mm+ travel and low stack bikes with rather steep HTA (69-67) we could possibly group them as XC geo but that range is a bit large.
Can you guys please do some review or look at the new Canyon Spectral 125?!
The only trouble I have is when I am doing jumps on my 2013 Giant Anthem X29er is because I weigh 126kg it bottoms out on bigger jumps. I am thinking a trail bike might be better with 140mm travel than the current 100mm travel I have. I have had the forks completely serviced and refurbished this year and got the bike shop to set the bike up a bit better for me and I do love it but it might be time for another bike.
losing 20kg would be cheaper than buying a new bike
@@darkki94 true but who doesn't want a new bike in their collection? 🤪
@@junka1975 true , but new bikes are hella expensive, for me in my country even what is considered an entry level hard tail is out of reach for most people, let alone full sus which cost as much or more as the average car you see on the streets.
@@darkki94 Don't worry, it's the same for me, to save any money you have to chose what you can go without. No reason why you can't have fun on a budget bike though.
You explained what fork and shock on the canyon, but just the travel on the Orbea? What are the specs?
I recently switched from a XC bike to a trail bike for the reason that it is way more versatile. I could even do the occasional bikepark trip with it without the fear of getting two unicycles. I guess even a DC bike would never be meant to get a lot of air time 😜 to keep the efficiency I chose some tires boarding the line to XC tires and I am happy with it so far ( MAXXIS Rekon and Forecaster )
Nobody I know who has a DC or XC bike has it as their only bike. We all have longer travel bikes for general riding. We just pick the shorter travel bikes for certain trail systems.
I'm not sure how your DC bike ended up so heavy with those weenie xc tires, but I'd consider that an xc bike for only the smoothest of trails.
I have a trail bike and it will do whatever i make it do. You really Don't need multiple bikes for this and for that just buy one that you like and fits you properly and take it everywhere it will do more than you probably can.
Its going weird now with those bikes.The Top Fuel 8 2022 Is now with 66 degree head tube angle. 120mm front and rear, and 2.4 xr4 trail tires.Its now heavier then a Fuel ex 8 2021 with 140mm fork and 2.6 xr4 tires.
this, always exciting
Simple, unless you're racing xc, get a trail bike
@fernando ronaldo haha ok boss
This Canyon Lux , with this geometry , HA 69.5° , fork travel 110mm , rear 100mm, I don't call it a downcountry , I call it an XC bike
Is down country the new all mountain ? Or is that down trail or enduro lite ? All mountain made a lot of sense to me .... and now struggling to work out what my next bike should be as enduro seems probably a little too much but some trail bikes seem a little lacking for my needs. Ah well better start trying some
Categories of MTB are like sub-genres of metal. Classic metal, thrash metal, doom metal, death metal...it's still all metal. All good fun.
To be honest, there is a big difference between some of the metal sub-genres... To the point that I like some of them most of the time and can't stand others almost ever.
@@irfuel and metal is a sub-genre of music.
@@256shadesofgrey Yip, and I can't stand riding city bikes, bmx or hybrids if I'm honest.
@@elrictdb Those are not sub-genres of MTBs though ;-)
"Radness is likely to increase" That's now my mountain biking motto.
Hi, can we say lux is the best climbing bike in full models?
Beautiful bikes, I want to have a bike of this
Basically a cross country bike just now has more travel than the old days where 80 to 100mm was standard now 120mm is standard, slacker angles of course .
But we all used to put wider bars shorter stems and bigger tyres on these bikes anyway so the downcountry tag means nothing really still a cross country bike
The real difference is the dropper post. That makes it for totally different riding experience.
We already had All-Mountain for the bikes between trail and Enduro and now we’re just calling All-Mountain bikes trail bikes because we’re calling trail bikes downcountry bikes. It’s nonsense
I prefer taking trail/enduro bikes and making them lighter and running less sag. You get the benefit of long travel in a lighter and quicker package.
We all upgrade our bikes , my 2013 Scott scale 930 i recently sold had 2.4 tires, stans rims ,different seat ,grips .flopped the stem , it was my back up trail bike if the Stance wasn't able to go .didnt know it was down country, which is a terrible name
What is the difference between down country and cross country?
Saw a kiddy ride a redline 340 bmx down a dh course about 15 years ago, and he did it in Asda George shorts and t shirt, may have had reebok classics on too but can’t remember. Just buy a bike you like and ride it how/where you like, there’s more subdivisions in mtb than rock music now…….
That Orbea Trailbike is sweet.
I just bought a downhill bike and i do everything with it and i will never not have enough suspension :) easiest solution ever
Even climbs? 😮
@@Brodiesfunction hahah no i'm not that crazy i usually do short jump trails or downhill tracks and i push the bike up sadly :( but since i live in belgium the tracks are like max 500m long so the climbs are usually not that long
If a bike has not much grip on their tires, well just simply swap them tires out with grippy ones...btw I didn't get the fashion trendy bs part thou, all that POC stuff is super expensive 🤦♂️
Definitely Trail bike. If the suspension is boggy add some psi and adjust rebound. Like to jump a bit too.
Maybe time to compare a 120mm short travel trail bike to a 110(f+_r) or 120mm(110r) xc/dc bike.
I just want milk that tastes like real milk.
What even is real milk? How you ever had cow milk straight from the cow ? It tastes nothing like the stuff you buy and in my opinion it is pretty nasty:)
Why? Milk is for calf's..
Aussie?
@@Yourfriendwasmagnificent You got it :D
How is a _down country_ different from a 10 year old trail like the merida one twenty? ( besides 10 and 20mm longer travel and heavier 1-2kg)
How does that Canyon differ from an XC bike then?
I`d better win the Orbea competition cause I just have a Carver Hardtail and no Fully. Thanks :))
Can you tell me where this is your riding. Looks somewhere local to me
Good luck getting a bike in stock right now.
So, if i have a XC-hardtail and want to get another bike. What should i get, down country or trail?
I ride in the forrest on tracks with both smother gravel and techincal climbs and decents.
Im 2m tall (6,7) so om limited to a few manufacturers like Trek and Specialized
what if the down country tires use the trail/enduro tires ?
The basic spectrum should be left alone: XC - trail - downhill. Of course it's too late for that as the industry has managed squeeze "enduro" between trail and downhill, and now it appears that they want to do the same with "down country". Anyone who does enough research to find the style of riding they prefer should be able to start with a basic platform and modify it to best suit their particular needs. If manufacturers want to be helpful, they should make it easier and more economical for buyers to customize the models that are already available
There was a time when a mountain bike was that, a mountain bike.
Then the manufacturers wanted to make more money, and have introduced a confusing amount of types, in the hope that consumers would simply buy several different versions of similar bikes, ridiculous.
Gone are the days of versatile mountain bikes to manufacturers I think 🤔
@@Brodiesfunction true, although their marketing is wasted on me I still ride a hard tail which is quite a few years old😂😂
I’ve got a LUX with 2.35 nobbs and call it my CX bike with big tires. Sorry I’m not buying into all these new subcategories, it hurts my head.