Deciding on which mountain bike to get yourself can be a tough decision – because of how costly a new bike is you’ll want to make sure you make the right choice. In modern mountain biking, the lines between different types of bikes have started to blur. If you’re thinking of getting a trail bike or a cross country bike, or maybe something in between, but you’re not sure what each of those is exactly, we’ve got you covered – read on below!
What are cross country mountain bikes used for?
When it comes to the design of cross country mountain bikes, the name of the game is efficiency. Cross country bikes need to be efficient in their design so that the XC riders who use them can maximize their ability to ride long distances with lots of pedaling and relatively mild terrain.
Cross country bikes are often used to ride singletrack trails, but they are usually tame compared to many of trails you’d take a trail bike on.
XC mountain bikes are ideal for riders who do a lot of long distance riding, and riders who like to test their endurance on the trails. They’re also the bikes used for cross country racing against others.
If the terrain around you is mostly flat, with smoother paths and gravel trails, and you like riding long distances, you’ll be better suited choosing an XC bike instead of a trail bike.
Related: What is Cross Country Mountain Biking?
What are trail bikes used for?
Where cross country bikes are designed to be ridden fast and over long distances on smoother, flatter terrain, trail bikes are more of a jack of all trades.
Trail bikes aren’t purpose built for any particular riding style, but they are designed to handle just about everything your local trail system will throw at you. While they won’t be as fast as XC bikes, trail bikes can be used to ride cross country trails with no issue.
Trail bikes are usually solid climbers, but also can hold their own through rougher terrain, descending technical trails, and hitting features including small and medium sized jumps and drops.
Not all trail bikes are created equal – some are built for more aggressive riding and can handle harsher and more technical terrain, and some are closer to cross country mountain bikes and not built to handle the rough stuff as well.
Key Differences
Geometry
The geometry of trail bikes is different from that of cross country bikes because they’re designed with different riding styles and trail types in mind.
| XC bike | Trail bike | |
|---|---|---|
| Head tube angle | 68° to 70° | 65° to 67° |
| Seat tube angle | 74° to 75° | 71° to 74° |
| Wheelbase | Shorter | Longer |
XC bike geometry
Cross country mountain bikes have steeper angles, the most important of which is the head tube angle. By having a steeper head angles, XC bikes put you more on top of the front wheel as you grip your handlebars, making it easier to execute tight turns, but reducing stability on steep or fast descents.
The wheelbase of a cross country mountain bike will be shorter than that of a trail bike, which saves weight on the bike and also makes it more nimble and easier to maneuver through tight corners.
They also will have steeper seat tube angles, which gets your weight more forward relative to what you’d have on a typical trail bike. This helps to improve your climbing ability on XC bikes and also helps to accommodate them having a shorter wheelbase.
Related: Salsa Spearfish Review
Trail bike geometry
In contrast to XC bikes, trail bikes are both longer and slacker.
The head tube angles on trail bikes are noticeably less steep than those on XC bikes, which helps to get the front wheel more out in front of the rider. This is particularly helpful when hitting steep descents, improving the bike’s stability and making steep downhills feel less steep.
A typical trail bike’s seat tube angle will also be less steep, positioning your weight further back compared to where you’d be on most XC bikes. This gets your body into a better position for tackling rough terrain and fast descents.
Trail bikes also have longer wheelbases than cross country bikes, which makes them more stable, and slightly less agile. The extra stability is needed in trail bikes to allow them to hit faster descents and rougher terrain, and as a result they are not quite as agile as XC bikes are.
Front Fork
Cross country mountain bikes will most often have a suspension fork, but usually one with shorter travel. Typical XC bikes will usually have forks ranging from 80mm to 120mm of travel. While cross country trails are not perfectly flat, they don’t usually have rough terrain, so shorter travel suspension makes sense for these bikes. Because efficiency is a big concern amongst XC riders, shorter travel suspension is preferred because A) it’s all XC bikes need, and B) it saves weight compared to longer travel forks.
Trail bikes will typically have more travel in the front fork as compared to XC mountain bikes. A typical trail bike can have anywhere from 120mm of travel in its for all the up to 160mm of travel. The front forks that come on most trail bikes fall in the 130mm to 140mm range, but some riders like to add more robust, longer travel suspension on to their trail bikes.
Rear suspension
For both trail bikes and XC bikes, rear suspension is kind of a mixed bag. Trail bikes are much more likely to have full suspension than cross country bikes are, but not all trail bikes come with rear suspension, and not all cross country bikes are hardtails (meaning no rear suspension).
Trail bikes that don’t have rear suspension are not quite as smooth through rougher terrain as ones that do, but they are usually better for climbing.
Cross country mountain bikes often do without a rear shock because of the mellower terrain they’re meant for. While they won’t be quite as smooth when things get bumpy, they’re more efficient to pedal on because they don’t suffer from pedal bob, which saps energy out of your pedal strokes. Also, a rear shock adds extra weight to the bike making it heavier to pedal and potentially slowing you down when going up hills.
The XC bikes that do have rear suspension generally have shorter travel (in the range of 80mm to 110mm) to keep the weight down and the pedal bobbing to a minimum.
Tires
The tires on trail bikes are burlier with more aggressive tread patterns. They are also usually wider tires than those found on an XC bike.
The reason for this is clear – trail bikes need more grip for the more varied terrain they ride on, especially when they’re going faster speeds on descents with twists and turns.
XC bikes usually will have smaller tires with less aggressive tread on them to allow for less rolling resistance. With a smaller footprint than the tires on trail bikes, tires on XC bikes are faster and more efficient, making them the better choice for riders pedaling long distances and who ride on flat terrain.
Weight
Cross country bikes are intended to be as light as possible because they’re generally purpose built to be pedaled over long distances, and being efficient to pedal is one of the most important elements of any high quality XC bike. The typical cross country mountain bike weighs in between 22 lbs and 29 lbs, with higher end, more expensive XC bikes, including those with made with carbon fiber, at the lower end of that range.
Trail bikes tend to be a fair bit heavier because of their need to withstand more of a beating out on the trail. Typically, trail bikes weigh in somewhere between 27lbs and 35lbs, depending on materials, suspension and tires, among other variables.
How to choose between an cross country bike and trail bike
There are a few important things to keep in mind when making your choice between a cross country bike vs trail bike:
What trails and terrain you ride
What trails do you normally ride, or will you be riding? Are they mostly flat, without too many bumps in them? Or are your local trails full of hills?
These are important things to consider. If you’re from hilly area with varied terrain and plan to ride trails with lots of climbs and descents, you’re likely better off going with a trail bike, because it will be more stable on descents and will be much better suited to handling rough terrain you encounter.
If your local trails are all flat and smooth, a cross country bike will serve you better by allowing you to go faster and ride more efficiently.
Your riding style
Your riding style is also important to consider in choosing the right bike for you.
Do you like to shred the hills and have a need for speed on fast descents? You should be considering a trail bike over a cross country MTB if so, and may even want to look into an enduro or downhill bike if that’s mainly how you want to ride.
Also if you like to be a little bit reckless on the trails and ride over obstacles instead of around them, a trail bike will suit you better.
If you’re more concerned with getting fast times on flatter, mellower terrain, you should be looking into cross country bikes that will help you accomplish this. The lighter weight and steeper angles will make an XC bike faster and better for this purpose. If you’re into XC racing, you’ll definitely want a proper XC bike.
Frequently asked questions
There are a few main differences between trail and XC bikes. Trail bikes have slacker geometry and longer wheelbases which make them more stable at high speeds, and improves their ability to handle steep descents and rough terrain. Trail bikes also have longer travel suspension, are more likely to have a rear shock, and have bigger, more aggressive tires.
XC bikes are designed to be a lighter weight to make them faster over smooth terrain and more efficient to pedal long distances.
Yes you can definitely use a trail bike to tackle cross country trails with. It won’t be as efficient and may feel sluggish to pedal for long distances but it will work just fine. Just don’t expect to be as fast as you would on a dedicated cross country mountain bike.
Yes, trail bikes can be ridden on the road, as can cross country bikes. Trail bikes won’t be extremely fast on smooth asphalt surfaces because of their tires which are typically large with knobby tread, creating rolling resistance and making them roll more slowly compared to road bikes (or XC bikes for that matter).
In theory, any bike can be used for aggressive trail riding, but its not recommended that you try to take an XC bike through rough terrain or down fast and bumpy descents. While the skill of the rider will always be more important than the bike they are riding, there is a limit to the types of impacts an XC bike can handle, and you could be risking serious injury by trying to ride one beyond its limit.
Conclusion
Hopefully your choice between a cross country mountain bike and a trail bike has been made a bit easier. Cross country bikes are better for speed and efficiency over long distances, while trail bikes are better at doing a little bit of everything while certainly being more capable over rough and challenging terrain. Whatever your decision, make sure to get a bike suited to your own riding and the types of trails you ride or want to ride.