Cross-country (XC)

Key facts

Bike types

MTB

Typical travel

100–120 mm

Wheel size

29″

Terrain

climbs, fast singletrack, short technical descents

Protection

Light

Racing

UCI XCO World Cup; Olympic since 1996

Race formats

• XCO — Olympic. Laps of a 4–5 km course, about 80–90 minutes for elite riders.
• XCC — short track. About 20 minutes of laps on a short circuit, flat out from the start.
• XCM — marathon. One long loop of 60 km or more.
• XCE — eliminator. Four riders at a time on a very short course, knock-out rounds.

The bike

A hardtail or a full-suspension bike with 100–120 mm of travel, 29′′ wheels, fast-rolling tyres and as little weight as possible. Modern courses are rockier and steeper than they used to be, so dropper posts and slacker geometry have arrived in XC too.

On Bikeyard

Climbs are where cross-country is won: ride the segments of your local trails and watch your times on the climbs come down.

Related articles

• Hardtail — A mountain bike with a suspension fork and a rigid rear end: light, simple, cheap to keep running — and the bike that teaches you to ride well.
• Drivetrain — Everything that turns your legs into forward motion: cranks, chainring, chain, cassette, derailleur and shifter. A modern mountain bike runs one chainring and twelve sprockets — 1×12.
• Trail riding — The most common way to ride a mountain bike: loops that climb under your own power and descend the good stuff, on one bike that does a bit of everything.
• Gravel — Long rides on unpaved roads and easy trails on drop-bar bikes with wide tyres. Somewhere between road cycling and mountain biking — and the reason many riders discover dirt.
• Mountain bike helmet — An open-face helmet made for trails: deeper at the back and sides than a road helmet, with a visor and plenty of vents. The one piece of gear no ride goes without.
• Technical climbing — Getting up steep, rooty or rocky climbs without putting a foot down. It takes the right gear before the hard part, weight over the front and smooth, patient pedalling.
• Frame geometry — The angles and lengths that decide how a bike rides: stable or nimble, easy to climb or eager to descend. Every model publishes them in a geometry chart.
• Suspension travel — How far a wheel can move on its suspension, in millimetres — the first number in any mountain bike's description. More travel absorbs bigger hits; less travel pedals and weighs less.
• Singletrack — A narrow trail, about as wide as one bike, winding through the terrain. The heart of mountain biking: most of the riding worth driving to is singletrack.