Giant XTC Composite

Giant has long been making the efficient cross-country hard tail, and they have been doing a damn good job too. Their XTC legacy has been created by an excellent blend of geometry and build quality to suit the enthusiast right through to the hard-core cross country racer. Typically, Giant has based these race bred bikes on an aluminium frame that has been heat treated and butted to give a stiff and responsive ride. As an owner of last years XTC frame, I was keen to try the new XTC composite, which boasts the same proven geometry, only this time based on a completely carbon structure.

The Ride

The first thing I noticed as I rode the new XTC Composite was the smoothness of the ride. Although sitting in the saddle felt identical to my current XTC-2 the way in which the carbon frame handled the terrain was quite different. The carbon is made from a blend of T-1000 and T-800 fibers. While this techno babble might not seem significant, all it means is that it uses a blend of high strength and high stiffness fibers, hopefully to retain properties of both. (Usually the high modulus fibers don't carry the same strength as the higher strength fibers.) To increase the overall strength and integrity of the carbon, Giant has also used newer processes in layering the carbon with pre-pregnated sheets with nano epoxy resins. This helps create a low void denser frame structure that maintains impact strength and overall stiffness.

While riding through the rougher sections, the vibrations are noticeably dampened. This also helps a lot in the faster sections over loose rocks and gravel where normally you would be rattled to pieces. It almost seemed to glide over these sections, making it much less tiring on those longer rides. The responsiveness of the frame while sprinting up the hills was not quite what the old aluminium frame was, but this was definitely overshadowed by the comfort of the carbon. The CrossMax SL wheelset by Mavic, living up to the race heritage it has, also helps make the bike easy to handle, with more than acceptable acceleration and cornering.

I had never used the new SRAM XO shifters before this ride. May I say it will take me some convincing to go back to my trusty old Shimano I've used for years. The crispness of the shifting is unbelievable. The 1.1 pulling ratio meant that after adjustment out of the box, it needed one more adjustment after those first couple rides, and that was it. Much more precise. The combination of XO with the Race Face Deus crank set not only looks the part, but I never had any troubles shifting or with chain suck, even while shifting under heavy loads. The Juicy 7 hydraulic brakes by Avid also live up their high expectation, but they did take a bit to wear in. Fox has built a sturdy reputation about its forks since it started manufacturing around the beginning of this decade, and their top of the range F100X behaves in ways you never thought a fork could, but always thought a fork should. It uses all 100mm of travel (if it doesn't then the setup is wrong) and its automatic lockout (yes, it really works) enables a completely rigid sprint up that big hill turn into a comfortable downhill section occur without the flick of a switch or even a turn of a dial.

The rest of the package is complete with a full EA70 stem, handlebar, and seat post set, lock-on grips, WTB Rocket V Ti saddle, and Hutchinson Pythons. While the Pythons were great for hardpack, I soon upgraded to a set of Schwalbe Jimmys to get that grip on the corners. The only other upgrades I would recommend would be a better chain than the stock Deore chain to prevent a premature front chain ring and cassette replacement. I also fit my trusty Time ATAC Carbon pedals which always do the job more than sufficiently.

Conclusion

Overall, for $4,999, you couldn't ask for much better value. It is spec'd very reasonably, and with the new carbon frame you can't look back. For the racer who is looking for that fast bike, but doesn't want that super harsh feel of those top quality aluminium frames, look no further. At first, I was a bit scared of crashing the bike (we have all heard those carbon stories) but to be honest, I did have a few bingles on the thing. Hey, if you don't crash, you're not trying hard enough, right? It hit a few rocks. At high speed. I injured myself. Bike is fine, bar a couple scratches. For those enthusiasts looking for a top quality bike, will you notice the carbon difference? Yeh, all those people will be looking at you and your new carbon machine, and yes your bum will be loving it.

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