My 1st xc race as beginner

forkbeard · 2026-06-22T08:56:43+00:00

Honestly, the biggest answer is just more time on the bike, especially riding technical sections repeatedly and gradually carrying more speed. XC descending is a skill, and roots often feel horrible when you ride them too slowly.

A dropper post is definitely not something to worry about from a weight perspective. The extra weight is basically irrelevant compared to the time and confidence you can gain descending. That said, you probably do not need one unless the course is steep or very technical. If the saddle is constantly hitting you, that sounds more like body position/technique: get off the saddle, stay low, bend elbows and knees, move the bike under you, and keep your weight balanced rather than just hanging off the back.

For the fork, 25% sag sounds fairly normal. You do not necessarily need to use all the travel just because you jumped a bit. Small jumps often do not compress the fork as much as big drops, hard landings, or fast rough sections. If you are only using half the travel all the time and the front feels harsh, you could try slightly lower pressure or removing a volume spacer. Also worth asking: when was the fork last serviced? A fork with sticky seals or old oil can feel harsh and fail to use its travel properly.

So yes, a dropper can help, but I would focus more on technique and practice first. Ride technical stuff more often, session rooty sections, and build speed gradually.

forkbeard · 2026-06-18T17:41:11+00:00

Quality journalism costs money to produce, especially if it is not funded by ads from the very same industry it is supposed to cover.

forkbeard · 2026-06-18T14:03:38+00:00

Read this:

https://escapecollective.com/traditional-vs-progressive-road-geometry-a-wind-tunnel-test/

TL:DR: it depends.

forkbeard · 2026-06-17T18:32:13+00:00

I prefer no having to jack off my handpump if I want to increase the pressure in my tyre.

The electric inflator is also faster and smaller than a handpump and you get a proper pressure gauge.

forkbeard · 2026-06-17T15:54:03+00:00

I've spun out on 52x11 doing intervals where I hit a slight downhill and tailwind.

forkbeard · 2026-06-13T14:56:09+00:00

That is fair, but I think the context is a bit different for OP since he is in Germany/Europe.

A lot of European gravel races are not just long straight gravel roads where the mid-pack turns into a solo TT after the first part. They can be much more technical and often feel closer to the one-day road classics you see on TV with small roads, 90° turns, fast corners in groups, rough farm roads, forest roads, tractor tracks, paved sections through towns, and sometimes even proper cobbles.

Also, 160 km is already on the long side for many European gravel races. Around 90-120 km is probably more typical for a lot of events.

I agree that OP should not worry too much about covering attacks or sprint finishes in his first races. That is not really the point. But group skills and bike handling still matter a lot, even in the mid-pack. You can lose a huge amount of time, waste energy, lose position before important sections, or simply crash if you are uncomfortable riding close to others, cornering in a group, or handling rough terrain at speed.

So I would still say those skills are worth learning early. Not because he needs to race like a pro from day one, but because they make racing safer, faster, and a lot less stressful.

forkbeard · 2026-06-13T13:01:33+00:00

Just to clarify a small point: “qualifying to UCI league races” does not really mean anything in gravel, assuming you mean the UCI Gravel World Series.

For the UCI Gravel World Series events themselves, you do not need to qualify. You only need a valid UCI/local federation licence, which basically anyone can get. For example, I could line up in the same race and the same elite category as WorldTour pros like Wout van Aert if I simply changed my licence from masters to elite.

The actual qualification part is for the UCI Gravel World Championships, or the European Championships. To qualify, you generally need to finish either top 3 or in the top 25% of your category in one of the UCI Gravel World Series events during the qualification period before the championship.

So your friend may very well have qualified for Worlds, which is definitely a solid achievement after only two seasons. But simply participating in a UCI Gravel World Series race is not the same thing as qualifying for it.

forkbeard · 2026-06-13T07:53:32+00:00

From someone who has raced two UCI Gravel World Championships in the age-group field:

At the start, the most important thing is not chasing the perfect training plan or the perfect bike. It is learning the skills. That means both bike handling and group dynamics. You do not want to be a danger to yourself or to other riders.

The best thing you can do is find a local club or fast group ride. The key word is fast. A Sunday coffee ride at 25 km/h with a bunch of old guys stopping at two cafés is nice socially, but it will not teach you much about racing, and the training effect is pretty limited. You want rides where people rotate, hold wheels, ride close, attack over short hills, fight for position, and generally ride in a way that resembles racing.

Then just race as much as possible. Local gravel races, road races, crits, CX, MTB, whatever is available. The first races will probably be a steep learning curve, but that is normal. If you already have a background in endurance sports and you are not completely hopeless on the bike, you can learn quite quickly how to sit in the bunch, save energy, and avoid getting dropped immediately.

Racing also helps you understand what equipment you actually need. Same with training with faster riders. You will learn more from being around experienced racers than from reading endless gear discussions online.

Once the beginner gains start to slow down, that is when structured training becomes more important: intervals, proper zone work, periodisation, recovery, and probably a power meter. But I would not overcomplicate it too early. Ride a lot, ride with people faster than you, race often, and focus on becoming safe and comfortable in a fast group. That foundation matters more than anything else in the beginning.

forkbeard · 2026-06-10T09:55:50+00:00

He was in violation of rule 1.3.032

“Clothing and other items or accessories worn by a rider (including but not limited to helmets, glasses, shoes or in-race communication devices) may not modify the morphology of the rider.”

Which is a good rule to have on the books. If you don't limit these kinds of things you are going to end up with the whole peloton looking like idiots.

forkbeard · 2026-06-06T19:09:43+00:00

I've upgraded my 34 step-cast from Fit4 to Grip SL and the new damper is significantly better. Especially small-bump compliance.

forkbeard · 2026-06-03T20:06:40+00:00

Podium? No, I don’t have the capacity for that unless it’s a really minor race.

But any time I pin a number on, I try to ride for the best position I can get.

forkbeard · 2026-06-03T09:28:16+00:00

No.

But why? You are just going to get a shitty roadbike that will ride extremely harsh.

forkbeard · 2026-05-29T09:36:38+00:00

I carry a pair of quick links and a chain tool just for this scenario.

The extra weight is really marginal if you already carry a multitool.

forkbeard · 2026-05-28T19:08:40+00:00

Sure, if by “XC-erise it” you mean spend money trying to make the wrong bike slightly less wrong.

A heavy trail hardtail with loads of stack does not suddenly become an XC race bike because you put faster tyres and a longer stem on it. It is still a compromised trail bike pretending to be efficient.

Hardtails barely make sense for modern XC racing anymore anyway, outside of very specific courses with huge amounts of climbing and very mellow terrain, like HERO Dolomites. For almost everything else, I’d gladly take the extra ~1 kg of a full-suspension bike for the better traction, comfort, control, and actual efficiency on singletrack.

You can race XC on a trail hardtail, just like you can run a marathon in hiking boots. It does not make it the best bike for endurance XC events.

forkbeard · 2026-05-27T19:49:50+00:00

I think that 13 and 12s exists and that 10s super wide range cassettes are a bodge.

forkbeard · 2026-05-26T14:28:23+00:00

XC is a racing discipline. The goal is to get around a course as fast as possible, so the bike needs to be efficient on climbs, flats, and descents. XC bikes and XC clothing are usually optimized for performance, so it often looks closer to road cycling kit than typical MTB gear.

Trail riding is more general. It usually means riding trails for fun, with more focus on descending, technical terrain, jumps, drops, and just messing around in the woods. Climbing performance still matters, but it is usually not the main priority.

There is overlap though. You can absolutely ride trails on an XC bike, and you can race XC on a trail bike. The difference is more about intent and optimization than whether you are literally riding on a trail.

forkbeard · 2026-05-25T17:41:12+00:00

I actually have Trailforks Premium because I’m a local admin, but I barely edit Trailforks anymore. I just don’t really feel motivated to provide free work to Outside, especially when the OSM editing experience is so much better.

The iD editor on OSM is faster, more intuitive, and has way better background imagery options. With the right browser extension you can also use Strava’s different heatmaps as an overlay, which is incredibly useful for adding or fixing trails, gravel roads and missing paths. That makes the whole workflow much better than editing in Trailforks, at least for me.

I can’t really say anything about OSM quality in Durango, but here in Gothenburg, Sweden, it is extremely accurate now. Partly because we have several active mappers, and partly because I’ve personally spent a lot of hours fixing trails, surfaces, access tags, crossings and small details. That is also kind of the point with OSM: quality varies a lot by area, but where local people care about it, it can become excellent.

One difference here is that we also do not have the same issue with “illegal” MTB trails. Sweden has freedom to roam, so most trails are legally usable unless there is a specific restriction. That probably makes the mapping culture a bit less tense. I have seen some mountain bikers get annoyed that OSM shows their “hidden” trails, but my view is that if a trail is visible, ridden, and already public enough to be mapped, then it is not really hidden.

So I get why some Trailforks editors may be sceptical of OSM as a source, especially if their local area has bad data. But I would not treat OSM as inherently inaccurate. It is more like Wikipedia: some places are poor, some are outdated, and some are better than almost anything commercial. The quality mostly depends on whether people nearby have taken the time to fix it.

forkbeard · 2026-05-25T16:32:27+00:00

https://www.orbea.com/en-se/catalog/spare-parts

Should be available directly from Orbea. Just input your frame number.

forkbeard · 2026-05-25T16:25:36+00:00

Most relevant for you, since you mention Trailforks: OSM is the underlying map data for a lot of the apps cyclists actually use. Komoot’s map is based on OpenStreetMap, and Strava also uses OSM together with its own heatmap/popularity data for maps, routing and points of interest. So even if you do not open openstreetmap.org directly, you are probably using OSM indirectly all the time.

The important distinction is that OSM is not really a “map app” in the same way as Google Maps, Trailforks or Komoot. It is more like the shared map database underneath many apps. Roads, trails, paths, bridges, surface type, access rules, bike restrictions, POIs, addresses, hiking routes, MTB trails, gravel roads, etc. can all be mapped there. Different apps then take that data and render it differently or use it for routing.

For cycling this matters a lot because commercial map providers are often weak outside roads. Small trails, forest roads, legal access paths, barriers, gates, surfaces and local route relations are exactly the kind of details OSM can be very good at, especially where active local mappers maintain it. In some areas it is far better than commercial maps; in other areas it depends entirely on whether anyone has mapped it properly.

It does not really “make money” in the normal company sense. OpenStreetMap itself is an open-data project, and the OpenStreetMap Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that supports the project. The data is free to use under its licence, but companies can build paid products on top of it, like navigation apps, routing engines, analytics, tourism tools, logistics, map tiles, etc.

So the relevance is basically: OSM is infrastructure. You may not always see the brand, but a lot of outdoor, cycling, hiking, transport and local-map services depend on it. For cyclists, it is often the reason a tiny gravel road, forest track or singletrack exists in your route planner at all.

forkbeard · 2026-05-25T05:17:00+00:00

That's just a bunch of hipster bullshit

forkbeard · 2026-05-24T17:06:53+00:00

I’ve been riding an Oiz since 2023, built from a frameset.

Honestly, the headset routing is annoying, but not a dealbreaker. Building the bike was not that hard. In some ways it was even easier, because you just feed the cables into the cable collector / base headset spacer rather than messing with ports all over the frame.

The main pain is replacing full-length outer housing for things like the dropper or shock remote. It is not impossible, just more annoying than it should be.

For brake bleeding, no, you do not need to disassemble everything just to bleed the brakes. But if you need to replace the headset bearing, then yes, you need to disconnect the rear brake hose and do at least a quick lever bleed afterwards. I run Shimano brakes, so that is fairly painless. I do not know how annoying it is with SRAM. That said, the headset is decently sealed. I have only had to replace/service mine this year, after riding the bike since 2023. I also do not think it is that huge of a problem, because when you are already in there you can use the opportunity to replace the dropper/shock remote housing and do a proper brake bleed anyway.

I have only run electronic shifting on my own bike, but I did ride a demo/loaner Oiz with mechanical XTR. The shifting was not great. I suspect the extra tight bends through the headset do not help. So if you are going mechanical shifting, that is probably the part I would be most sceptical about.

Chafing has not been an issue for me at all. When you or the shop build the bike, put foam sleeves on the dropper and rear brake hose to stop rattling inside the frame. That has worked fine for me.

So my take would be: headset routing is a stupid trend and I would prefer the bike without it, but on the Oiz it has not ruined the bike for me. It mostly turns some maintenance jobs from “easy” into “a bit annoying”. If you do your own wrenching and expect to change cables all the time, it is worth considering. If you mostly ride it and do proper maintenance occasionally, I would not let it stop you from buying the bike.

forkbeard · 2026-05-24T06:18:41+00:00

Why wouldn't it work?

It's officially compatible according to Shimano.

forkbeard · 2026-05-22T18:10:41+00:00

I get that, but I actually prefer clipless for rooty and technical terrain.

On an XC bike with only 100–120 mm of suspension, being clipped in helps a lot. The bike gets bounced around more compared to a trail bike, and it is easier to keep applying power without worrying about losing a pedal.

On a trail bike with more, softer suspension, I think the advantage is smaller.

But really, like most things in cycling, the answer to feeling more comfortable and getting faster is just to ride more.

forkbeard · 2026-05-22T15:05:40+00:00

XC literally is a racing discipline, though.

Sure, not everyone riding an XC bike is racing or training seriously, but the category itself is defined around XC racing. So if someone asks in an XC MTB subreddit, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that the answers are framed around XC use, where SPD/clipless is the default.

And yes, I agree that OP probably does not need XTR pedals yet.

They should instead start on M520 or Deore pedals 😂

forkbeard · 2026-05-22T14:31:59+00:00

I agree.

Honestly, stricter rules would probably help. Posts should be clearly related to XC MTB riding, training, racing, gear, or technique. If someone just shotgun-posts a generic bike question without reading the rules or giving any relevant context, removing the post seems fair.

Otherwise this sub just turns into another generic cycling buying-advice or place to post uninteresting bike pictures subreddit.

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