How Have XC Bikes Changed? | Modern Vs Retro XC Edition

Si and muddy stuff is an underrated combo. Would love to see him do more MTB content.

Here's another idea for "Old vs. New". Since you guys have a decent 26" bike in your fleet now, how about old vs. new tires? WTB still makes the Velociraptor and Panaracer still makes the Dart and Smoke. It would be interesting to see them go up against more modern tires on the same bike.

It's always good to see the two channels joining forces. Love seeing bikes that contributed to today

Loving the XC content.Great to see Si on the channel having a right blast with Rich!Super fun Guys!

I really enjoy these crossover videos with GMBNxGCN. Not only due to the high quality of the content and the interesting chemistry between the different presenters but also because they help spark interest in different cycling disciplines for people who may not have otherwise been exposed to or chose to watch one of the other Global Cycling channels. Thanks for all the entertaining content, keep up the great work!

This goes to show that older bikes are still extremely capable. One does not need the latest and greatest bike to have fun and safely ride a trail. Obviously newer bikes are faster, but you can still do well on a much older (and lower end) bike.

My first mountin bike was a Saracen Conquest from 1985. It was wide long and slack. Not long after it was made Kona popularised the short steep angled mountain bike. My Saracen was "out of date" very soon yet it went and handles well on rough ground. I find it interesting that in terms of geometry and length maountin bikes have gone back to early set ups. Of course components and suspension have made a huge difference in the last 38 years.

Great to see Si always entertaining , owned that 26 like a boss.
I was thinking watching Si negotiate the downhill bit that his Gravel bike skills will come in handy .
An old school 26 er with an external dropper post would be good.
Funnily enough my Beone 26er still holds my time trial record going uphill which I have been doing since 2010 up a boxhill bridle path.

I always enjoy this crossover videos, be it GCN or GMBN. 15 to 20 yrs ago i got the feeling there was quite a rivality between mtb and roadies but in the recent years all the people I meet tend to be into both, just like me.
When going into the road i generally do around 60+ km and when going mountain biking i do often less but go up and down at bike parks and having a good time.

Love having Si on the channel, great vibes with Rich, and interesting content. Would love to see more

Yes! Si is SO welcome to GMBN, so, please, invite him more often! And Rich, you said you would race in that vintage bike, so, when is that going to happen?

It was great to see that Si could still handle a good trail run. I'm way older than both of you and you would be shocked to see what we used to ride trails with. Try ridding a 1965 Schwinn Sting Ray bike with coaster breaks down fire roads and single track. We all knew to take bailing wire and pliers with us because master links would snap under stress and tying the chain back together was the only way home. I don't think helmets had been invented yet.

I want a test where you take the same bikes, but give the old one a dropper seat post and more modern tires. I would be interesting to see how much difference that would make.

My dad XC raced a no suspension Trek in 1991. I recently revived it as a commuter bike with fat road tyres and it rides brilliantly. Most of the components are original. 3by and bullhorn bars were an education for me though!

Loved every minute of it. We all knew that Si would go slower without proper bar ends. I still have the top of the range Scandium Scott from around the same age as used by Thomas Frischknecht back in the day. If you want to rematch during the festival, let me know. A 26“ MTB might be the fastest option in the car park crit.

Great collaboration GMBN/GCN! Always love a chance to see Si on a MTB!

Love the XC content and mix of GMBN and GCN. Modern XC bikes are starting to look very tempting!

Si is on point with retro xc's replaced with gravel bikes

Would love watching more of these crossover vids, they’re brilliant. I still ride a 26er and absolutely love it…

I have a Yeti ASR from about 2000 stashed away. It's a death trap on modern trails compared to any modern bike. It was scary as hell even compared to when I was riding a Salsa Mamasita in about 2011.

I tried the usual suspects for some time but they do not feel as fast as my 2014 f29, even though they probably are. How it becomes more stable the faster you push is just magic.

When I started watching GMBN it was Simon Richardson, Marc Beaumont, Neil Donahue, and they had Santa Cruz mountain bikes with 27.5 wheels ❤

Very nice comparison! I still ride on Mtb 2012 Kona blast on 26 weels, but my friend have 29 wheels carbon Specialized stumpjumper and his bike is really faster in XC, we compare the same lap and time is 5:30 vs 5:05! Weight of bikes is the same, Modern is really faster! ))

Si needs to come back and do an Enduro race with Rich now that would be awesome. Please bring GCN back for a race on equal bikes

My first real mountain bike was a 1990 or 91 Breezer Thunder, I loved that bike. After years of not riding I bought a Specialized Fused comp 29
I love that bike, it's been a long time since riding my Breezer, but modern bikes are superior by far.

1996 was the first “rear suspension” bike atop a world championship podium. Thomas Frischknecht on the Ritchey Softtail in Cairns, Australia. Only recognized as such after Jerome Chiotti gave up his gold medal after admitting to being on EPO for the race.

Would love to see then try and ride a real late 90's MTB on these trails. Mag21, narrow bars, 3x, and 2.0 tires. Love to see the younger crowd struggle.

Pop a dropper on the retro bike and see how much faster the laps are when they don't feel like they are going to go OTB the whole way 😂

A better discussion than I thought it would be. I think that a roady will drift to a gravel bike and an MTB rider go to a hardtail for less demanding trails.

Rode my 2016 Giant Trance today for the first time in god knows how long after riding modern geometry hardtail and Ebike. Felt like I was perched on top of it. Did a downhill bit I’ve done hundreds of times before and it was terrifying. Bike has gone on eBay and new bike ordered.
I’m too old to be crashing.

Pricing comparison would be interesting 😉

Vontade de voltar a andar, parabéns pelo trabalho.

Omg!!! I loved this! Si, I am thrilled to see you having some fun with the GMBN crew!!! ❤

Good presentation! Would have liked to see an early 2000's vintage full sus. in a comparison, sort of like my 2002 Klein Palomino.

I remember owning a 26 in carbon mtn bike in 2012. It was from Univega and I was so excited to take it out. I took it on a trail once and absolutely hated every second of it. I sold it shortly after. Fast forward 10 years and I went mountain biking on a 29er for the first time and absolutely loved it.

More of this please! Full GCN and GMBN crew perhaps?

Fun comparison. Now I'm really curious how a lightly modified older XC bike would compare. I'm thinking something as simple as taking a bike from about 2005 and fitting a short stem, wide bars, and a dropper post. Might have to size up too for that. Then how would that compare with both a stock 2005 bike and a modern one.

Love this video, very nice challenge🎉 also i love XC bikes, I live in cit and XC bike for commuting is must have for long terms

I still ride a 2005 full suspension Decathlon Rockrider 9.1 (with a bunch of upgrades) and I keep up on group rides just fine.

Bought my 2nd MTB in 2001 and boy, did it have suspension! It was one of the first Gary Fisher 29’er SuperCaliber’s in my country. Yes, that’s Gary Fisher and not Trek. I remember their website had some animations on 29’er vs 26, among which one of them with a cute bear. They were quite ahead of their time I would say. It also made me bike around quite quickly through the woods in my region. Some 23 - 24 km/h on average in a flat area with only some minor bumps which we call ‘hills’. Cruising speed when not going up was around 27-28 km/h on the trails.
Nowadays I’ve got my gravel bike and I would be more or less able to do the same, perhaps even faster… (If I would not have had a few injuries 10 - 15 years ago.) It feels like cycling on skinny tyres and without the suspension it surely becomes tiring much faster. Maybe age helps with that feeling, too… Most importantly though, we’re having fun!
My youngest MTB is from 2013 and more or less a copy of the 2001 SuperCaliber, although with a tad shorter geo. Last year the front wheel got a giant dent in it, because I was steering around a puddle. I’ve sort of retired it and now my bikepacking bike has become my “MTB”. Technically I can still ride the same terrain, albeit with less speed and comfort. But with just as much fun!

Si do have a point, easy stuff I used to love riding on my hardtail 1988 is still fun on my gravel bike and the gnarly stuff I really enjoy on my enduro bike would not be possible on the 1988 XC bike.

We had those narrow bars bc trails were also narrower. They’re are still trails around me where handlebars get caught frequently

I like that they compare something like a 15 year old bike. Makes it way more relevant than stuff from the 90's.They should have found a top-end bike from then though.

The twitchy and nervous rides on the classic XC bike make even the easiest of trails a blast to ride, perfect for the average beginner and veteran regarding smiles per Dollar.

Si raced XC back in the day (2000’s) and was successful and handy shows a good riders skill set always stays no matter what on.

Now take a race level 29er ht, put a shorter stem on it and a lightweight dropper and you have the best of both worlds. Old fashioned zippiness but way more capable. I can guarantee you it’s a blast to ride and makes xc riding fun..even for a retired bmxer.

I think the climbing thing has an obvious solution, DROPPER STEMS !, A stem that works like your seat post, crap you just said it in your video 😂🤣😂🤣🤣 looks like we had the same idea so it's not unrealistic so let's see what the future brings as I would pay good money for just 25mm of adjustment as I change my bars depending on where I'm riding as I don't have the space or the money for two bikes 🤞👊.

I think the history lesson was a bit off. Marin single pivot suspension bikes (suspension designed by British engineer John Whyte) were very popular in the late 90's and early 2000's. And John Lasenby won the British XC Championships on a Marin FS in 1999. So it wasn't all just hardtails 15 years ago, plenty of full sussers around as well.

I believe that maybe three worlds in a row were won on a full suspension pro flex bike in the 1990's back when I lived in Colorado.

Always a fun time when GCN and GMBN cross over. There's a video that needs to be done and that's a challenge video of an XC hard tail vs XC dual suspension. Have them run the same front forks, wheels, tyres and drive train. See which is more capable. I have found on certain things the XC hardtail will beat the dual suspension suspension and vice versa but my two XC bikes are quite different set ups.

Love it!!! I can't believe the sketchy conditions you guys ride on, muddy and wet makes for a slippery ride.

Simon is not bad at all on mountain biking. Some practice would do wonders to him!
And Neil, you are too big on this old 26" bike! Looks like a bmx, hahahaha

Still on my 09 FSR XC, Wife on her Myka, just refurbished a 08 Rocky Mountain ETSX with Fox Talas 32 and Float RL for my 10yo (£180 eBay + 1x drivetrain, headset, paint, contact points and Racing Ralphs).
The old ones are still golden.

Si doing well on the MTB. My XC bike is from 2016 and is pretty bone shaking, down some of the downhill trails at Forest of Dean - think you were on Sheepskull

Take part in a today's XCM (marathon) race with the old 26er XC bike, that would be the real test.

To be fair, Rich looked super comfortable on the Scott.

The new bike is fantastic trail-bike, and I think the old one is less trail and more gravelbike.

Heck yeah. More GCN/GMBN crossovers.

Swap those straight bars with a gravel bar and some gravel type tires on that old geometry hard tail and it will look like and feel like a gravel bike. Dont sell your old hard tails guys. There is still a lot of fun in building and riding those things.

Love these crossover episodes! Like Anna and Mannon sand racing.

Love these crossovers.. more please!

I've got a 2006(?) Carrera Vulcan with 100mm recon race forks on it.... took a local KOM climb on it last September, and that's with Schwalbe "Black Jack" tyres rated for beginners and children lol

My late '90's Marin Team Issue still climbs better than my 2021 Nukeproof Reactor Carbon Elite. The drops are a bit sketchy though with a very long stem and a seat post seized in the tube with my arse higher than my elbows

We've seen GCN do some mountain biking. Are we going to see GMBN folks on roadies and time-trail bikes?

Great fun to watch, I hope you didn't get too cold. It looked cold 🥶

Now i know what to do with my old rusty 26" Rixe MTB without any suspension, bought around 1985 - convert it to a Gravelbike! 😅

Still got my Giant Terrago hardtail from 2012,never part with it,but now ride a Specialized Rockhopper Elite 29", much better bike!

I would love the same but whit a modern xc hardtail added

More GCN riders please! Good vid fellas!

Ah yes the good ol' pre-slack XC. Also known as the modern gravel bike. Jk. Lol
Great vid as always

Add a dropper to the scott scale and its more than capable I still ride a 2007 scale 10 and leave some mates on 29ers for dust on regular trails

Fair play to si for keeping up with enduro wizard rich. 👏 or were these figures real

How about vintage hardtail against a Modern hardtail?

Idea for the next challenge against GCN. Road vs XC and/or Enduro: who's the fittest

2007 bikes had Shimano Dual Control, best invention ever for me!
But not for all

Is 30 or so seconds worth the price difference?

It’s like you purposely choose horrible weather to invite the GCN crew along 🤣🤣🤣

I've a 1993 Scott Team Racing, steel, 3x7, Scott integrated barends, fully rigid sitting in the garage waiting for your next test 😁

The "G" word is not a bad word. 😂 some of us mountain bikers love both disciplines.

Totally agree that gravel bikes are old school mtb,s with curly bars

How the heck did we do that with narrower bars, 50mm of travel, and rim brakes?

put a dropper on the hardtail and it'd be a lot closer.

We all feel like Rich on our bikes but really we all look like Si.

Si's bike would be more competitive with a dropper post.

Si gave perfect explanation for gravel bikes

Funny how 2.1 inch tires are "narrow" for XC :)

The GCN guy should do some enduro with the GMBN guys

So basically, my 2009 Cube hardtail is a gravel bike?! I suppose I’d better grow a beard then!

Great video - really interesting. 😊

old vs new, dont matter if you are having fun!

Brilliant really funny more GCN collab vids please

Enjoyed the competitive banter, good sports

What about the Orbea with drop bars...?

I believe a face-off between Tech giants Doddy and Ollie is way overdue at this point...

How about a proper “retro” comparison with a fully ridged MTB from the late 90s. I had short bars, 120mm stem and no front suspension on my Orange Clockwork and although it meant stopping to qr the seat down we went down some steep knar back in the day!

that old xc bike is still better than my 2010 era xc bike. Just that reba fork alone...give it to me when ur done xD

Si had balls of steel…until he dropped in then, bye bye balls 😂 long live the dropper 🤣

Love that old Scott 26er

Wonderful video guys.

Who can have a bad day when you’re riding bikes through the woods?