Bike Build Stories: In a new series of articles we will present a custom build of an XC hardtail over the next few days and weeks. Of course it should be easy, of course. But we also attach great importance to the fact that the bike performs well even without a start number - you can read below what we thought about it.
In the future you will find bike build stories on Velomotion at regular intervals - we build a wide variety of bikes from individual components - from enduro and XC race files to gravel bikes and racing bikes. Each setup gets a series of articles from us, in which we first present the concept and the idea behind the setup, followed by a total of seven articles in which we present the individual components and finally, of course, a detailed test of the finished bike.
In this structure, it should be a very classic cross-country hardtail - a category of mountain bikes that is often overshadowed by gravity bikes, which are so well-known in the media, although marathons and XC races are enjoying ever-increasing popularity.
At first, of course, there was the crucial question: fully or hardtail? Even the pros rarely agree here, they often switch between the types of bikes depending on the route, and the field of riders rarely has the same opinion. We chose a hardtail because on the one hand it simply embodies the spirit of a powerful MTB, but on the other hand it is still an attractive option for many amateurs due to the low maintenance.
Without wanting to reveal too much, it was important to us to build a fast bike that could still be used universally. In the first step, we would therefore like to introduce you to the heart of our structure: the frame. Here we chose the Giant XtC Advanced - you can find out more about this in our detailed presentation.