Weaknesses: Brakes have been very noisy since purchase. Wheels.
Bottom Line:
This bike has had the most issues from the factory that I have ever experienced and the shop has not been very interested in repairing. They tell me that Trek is difficult to work with when it comes to warranty. My first and last Trek product.
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Submitted by
Sunny
a Weekend Warrior
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2012
Strengths: Climbs very well, descending steadily, i am surprise and impressed with the great geometry.
Weaknesses: Original complete bike weight is 12.5kg, after some upgrading manage to bring it down to 11kg, is still heavier compare to my Trek 9.9Elite SSL (9.4kg) but i am not complaining as i want to test out how the 29er feels.
Bottom Line:
Overall the X-caliber is impressive, value for money, i just love this 29er...will be great to own the OCLV frame. (Upgraded to X0 drivetrain and Shimano XT brake, ZTR Crest wheelset with 12o'clock hub). To all the 26ers cyclist, do get this 29er bike and you'll be amazed.
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Submitted by
chasty
a Weekend Warrior
Date Reviewed: December 5, 2012
Strengths: Handling, fork, rides fast, good geometry
When all is good, this bike glides over the single track and fire roads and handles well for a 29er. Gives you good traction for uphills and zips downhill without instability or unnecessary drag.
Overall a very good deal and a good bike, but not without some factory decided oddities, such as the weak grips and the oddly long stock handlebar, which I can't fathom anyone not needing to cut down.
Like others have noted, there seems to be a problem with the wheels for this bike. My rear (where the hardtail exposes the problem) already had a couple spoke loss issues in the first months, and in a recent couple weekends of fast, non-technical single track riding the wheel has basically come apart at the spokes. It's getting warranteed out, so hopefully the next one won't exhibit this issue.
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Submitted by
Darin Sims
Date Reviewed: December 5, 2012
Strengths: Good value. Good components.
Weaknesses: Wheels.
Bottom Line:
I ride the X-Caliber on a medium-level difficulty flow trail a couple of times per week. There are a couple of rock gardens, and because it is located on a mountain, there are sections that are generally rocky. Perhaps because of this I have been experiencing broken spokes on my rear wheel every third ride or so. I have probably replaced 12-15 spokes in the 5 months since I bought the bike, and it occurs on both the drive side and the brake side of the wheel. I am 6'1" and 178 pounds, which may be a factor. I think, though, that the wheelset is under-gunned for the bike. It being a hardtail a stouter wheel may be in order. Other than that I have no complaints about the bike. The components work smoothly and other than being a little on the heavy side it does everything I want it to do. I will probably replace the wheelset or trade it in for a full suspension. It is probably a matter of time before I get stranded on a trail somewhere.
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Submitted by
Arstran
Date Reviewed: November 24, 2012
Strengths: Fork and drivetrain
Weaknesses: Deore wheelset and no tapered headtube
Bottom Line:
This is my second 29er hardtail but my first that is a good quality. The Reba RL fork is really nice and the rest of the componentry is pretty much mid-level. My only real complaint is the wheelset, I broke the freehub on just the fourth ride but I took it to a local Trek dealer and they replaced it free of charge under warranty. Also, for some reason Trek set this bike up with a 3x10 drivetrain which I had immediately changed to a 2x10 with all Sram X7 components.
Bike Setup: 2x10 drivetrain with crank brothers accessories
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Submitted by
jpalkowetz
Date Reviewed: October 15, 2012
Strengths: big wheels great idea
Weaknesses: keeps breaking spokes, even got new rear wheel, spokes break all the time. Seat just broke while ridding to trail, avid 3 brakes vibrate horribly, replaced pads and rotors that helped but need constant adjustment. Overall the bike is very unreliable.
Bottom Line:
I am so disappointed with this bike and Trek's frame warranty on another Trek bike that I will not purchase another Trek product and I am changing to a different lbs. I have owned Treks for nearly 30 years. The overall quality has become very poor and the warranty is meaningless on frames and repeat problems.
Strengths: The Reba front fork is excellent, SRAM drivetrain is more than enough, juicy threes seem to perform nice. ( a little squeaky but all disc breaks are). I think for the money your getting a great hard tail that is very upgradable.
Weaknesses: Reading other reviews I would say the stand over height for me seems a bit tall. Other than that none.
Bottom Line:
I purchased this bike as my first 29ner hard tail. Decided to go to this level of a bike just to get out of the crappy sun tour forks they put on everything thing these days. Extremely pleased with my decision. I purchased a Trek 4500 first and blew up the front shocks in 2 weeks, warrentied them out, and they came back blown so decied to return the bike and go with this xcal on closeout. Technical stuff seemed to handle great, single track it flys down, and my buddy's on the 26 inch wheels have to jump stuff I can just plow through. Just riding around town was fun too, I have now purchased a road bike for that, but sine have 29 inch wheels and 30 gears it worked well on some hills. I constantly have been upgrading this bike and love it, if a hard tail is what you want this is a great bike! I do have the 2011 model I like the paint scheme way better.
Bike Setup: Trek X Cal, wtb pure 5 seat, Thomson elite seatpost, Raceface atlas bars, ODI lock on grips, truvative hussfelt 40mm stem, easton Haven alloy 29 wheelset.
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Submitted by
MB
a All Mountain Rider
Date Reviewed: August 25, 2012
Strengths: Light weight, climbs well, handles great on the trail.
Weaknesses: Bottom bracket has fallen apart twice. Second time back to shop and they rebuilt the BB under warranty. Kudos to Bike Gallery, Lake Oswego, OR for quick fix but they told me the bearings were packed wrong and a plate was completely missing. Not good for a $1400 bike that is less than 5 mos. old.
All bolts on rear rotor with the exception of one fell out. Rotor was nearly hanging on. Only found out as their was a slight noise. Checked front rotor and bolts hadn't fallen out but were all loose. Whoever was on quality control at the Chinese factory must have been asleep. Unacceptable issues with BB and loose rotor bolts.
Front end also creaks and breaks squeak consistently. These aren't major issues but pesky nonetheless.
Bottom Line:
Overall a good bike, but the lack of quality control is a major turn off. If you decide to purchase pay attention to a loose BB - it can go from just a little wobble to a shredded BB quickly. Also make sure to check and torque the rotor bolts (and possibly other bolts) lest your brakes fail. Should have spent more and bought a bike made in America.
Strengths: Decent components for the price
Reba fork is great
23" frame is perfect for a clyde
Weaknesses: Noisy brakes
Saddle
High Standover height
Bottom Line:
This is my first foray into what most would consider an entry level race 29er, but not my first bike. I'm a big guy at 6'6, 230 lbs and the frame of this bike is definitely big enough. I no longer feel like a circus clown on a tiny bike. Also, while not quite as nimble as a 26", especially in tight switchbacks, this bike has been a blast on single track and technical stuff. I guess the biggest complement I can say about this rig is that I always can't wait to get back on and ride.
I've replaced the crappy saddle with a bontrager evoke r(much better) and the grips with ODI rogues(big improvement). I consider both of these things to be personal preference items, so I can't really hold it against the trek. The one negative thing, for me at least, is the standover height. Even at 6'6" I can BARELY stand flat footed off the saddle...I wish the top tube slanted a little more. I've definitely had a few less then comfortable moments when hopping off the saddle in a hurry.
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Submitted by
Ben Akers
a Weekend Warrior
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2012
Strengths: It's a 29'er
Weaknesses: Like many on this review forum I have a cracked frame at the weld by the seatpost. This is clearly a major flaw with these bikes. I brought my x-cal to the lbs knowing it was under lifetime warranty so was not very worried about it. This had been my second trek mtn bike and made the purchase new for the warranty. The lbs told me it would prob be a few weeks and trek would be responsible to send any necessary parts for the changeover as they may need to send the newer frame which may not be totally compatible. I said great, call me when it's ready! 3 weeks later I get a call from the lbs that my bike is about done and it will be $505.00 to pick it up as they will need to put a new crank, headset, on and a few other parts. Needless to say I was a bit shocked and dismayed. They said I could call the trek customer service dept if I had any questions but trek had told them the compatibility was my problem not theirs. I said you have got to be kidding me, so I called trek hoping for the best, WRONG!! They were a holes, told me customers were happy to get new frame even if it costs them alot to get fixed in parts. I told them I did not want a new frame, but mine was cracked and would expect the warranty to cover whatever it takes to make the new frame work because yours is a defect as clearly alot of people are having problems with this exact crack. I then told him what the lbs shop said about trek sending whatever is needed, the trek guy told me to get them to pay for it then! I said what, why would they pay for your defective frame parts to make my bike whole? he said because they told you it was covered, at this point I clearly decided I was getting nowhere with this guy and decided to think about what to do about it. Any ideas anyone, anybody had this problem? Buyer beware, their warranty is not what they claim.
Bottom Line:
Do not ever ever buy a trek bike!!!!!!!!!!!
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Submitted by
Rock_Garden
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia
Date Reviewed: January 15, 2012
Strengths: Handling
Component spec - Sram drivetrain and Fox fork
Came ready for tubeless (Do it, its amazing) and a strong wheelset
Lot of bike for the money
Lifetime warranty that you WILL use
Weaknesses: Needs more than 80mm travel. 100 would be ideal.
Very harsh frame
Frame weld quality issues
At just over 27 lbs its a tad porky
Mine is red, its ugly
Bottom Line:
This review is for a 2009 model, so things may have changed since GF was absorbed entirely by Trek. The frame has a lifetime warranty to the original owner which is a good thing for me. My frame cracked at the seat tube to top tube weld. It is currently being handled by my LBS who said they see this quite often. So far so good, Trek is replacing the frame and all is well.
You can tell Fisher spent a ton of time figuring out the G2 geometry. The bike is almost as nimble as my old 26er was. It took a bit to get used to the G2 geometry, as you're stretched out over the top tube a bit more than other bikes. It's harder to get weight back on descents, you more or less sit inside the bike instead of hanging off the back. Once you get used to that you're OK though. It rolls over just about anything you throw at it. Picked a bad line up that rocky climb? No problem, the big wheels roll you right to the top. Climbing traction is through the roof ;) Descents are just delicious now that I changed out the stock Bonty XDX tires for some stickier Specialized ones and went tubeless. I strongly suggest a tubeless setup, it'll soften the strangely harsh nature of the frame's rear end. None of my Cannondales ever had a rear this harsh. It's a bit sluggish to accelerate, mostly due to the heavy wheels.
Parts spec is pretty decent. The Sram X7/X9 setup works very well. Stock saddle was an a** hatchet so I changed it out ASAP. Recommend changing the grips to something with more meat. I now have ODI lock-on Rogue's and they're worlds better than the stock Bonty ones. The wheelset on the 2009 model is bomb proof, but heavy. I haven't trued the wheels in 2 years and I beat the hell out of my bikes (granted I'm a bit lighter than some other people). As parts break you can upgrade them to better ones. I'd suggest the crankset and rear cogs as the first real upgrades to do. I switched to a Sram X9 rear when my X7 grenaded, and it has been a moderate increase in performance. The Fox fork is great but takes a few rides to find the sweet spot. Once you find it, the fork is very plush.
All in all a fun bike, but only 3 chilis for overall because if you're reading this review you're probably considering buying a used one, and the lifetime warranty won't apply to you. And the red/silver paint looks stupid.
Similar Products Used: A bunch of top end Cannondale 26er hardtails and a Trek 4300.
Bike Setup: Sram X9 rear, Sram 980 cassette, Eggbeater 2's, ODI Rogue grips, Selle Italia Flite Gel saddle, Specialized Captain Control 2.2 tubeless tires.
Strengths: Smooth ride, not light, but not heavy. Looks sweet
Weaknesses: Avid 3's
Bottom Line:
After a year on this bike it has not let me down. Bought it as left over stock from the previous year. Yes I have swaped some parts since I bought it, but who doesn't.
The only issues I have had was with the crazy sweep bars and the stock Bontrager wheels and the Juicy 3's. Just couldn't keep the wheels true and the position the stock bars put my hands at sucked! At 6'1" and 200 lbs I am a large rider and I have found some wheels just don't hold up.The Stan's rims I built up with X9 hubs and they have been fantastic thus far. If you've had Juicy 3's you know why I dumped them.
The Bike climbs great and is stable at speed. Not having had a 29 before I really enjoy the ride above any of my previous 26ers. Yes a 26 handles real technical stuff better, but the 29 is superior at everything else. On my normal speed run I surpassed my best times on any of my 26ers in short order and this bike is over a pound heavier then my last 26. Bike was a great value and not sure after riding other 29ers that I'd trade it in. If you like hardtails these are a nice ride.
All in all very happy!!
Similar Products Used: Numerous 26ers from Fishers, Speacialized and Klien.
Bike Setup: Stock, but dumped the Juicy's for XT's and went to a 180 disc up front. Also upgraded wheels to Stan's Arch. Added Easton riser bars and a nice Thomson post with a Fizik saddle. Have used several different tires and currently using Maxxis Ignitor rear and a WTB Prowler up front.
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Submitted by
Baxter82
a Weekend Warrior
from Georgia
Weaknesses: low end hydros, crappy bars, and grips.
Bottom Line:
This is a good 29er for an intermediate rider not ready to drop the super big bucks on a full squish, but who still wants a high performance machine. All in all im satisfied, but like i said before it would be worth your while to swap the brakes for some bb7's or some higher end brakes. I have a major "turkey warble" issue with them. It may be the pads but Idk. Let the good times roll : )
Similar Products Used: none (its my first real bike)
Bike Setup: stock, but i have aspirations to swap the brakes for some elixir 7's...
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Submitted by
kchan021
a Cross Country Rider
from NE Georgia, USA
Date Reviewed: August 25, 2011
Strengths: Light.. smooth.. big upgrade vs. my Marlin!
Weaknesses: Stock handlebars are too long. Almost hit a tree! Will have it cut. The stock grips are paper thin. Hurts. Shifter does not have a dial to tell you what gear your on
Bottom Line:
Just picked up my 2012 model and used it for a day and rode 8.5 miles.. and so far so darn good. Smooth; light. Brakes stop on a dime. My 3rd Trek/ GF so I believe in them! Seems to climb easier and smoother. Makes me a better rider after 8.5 miles!
Weaknesses: None really although i will probably change the tires at some point. Not sure i like the swept back bars much and ill probably change these for a low riser as well at some point.
Bottom Line:
I normaly have real problems getting a bike to fit and then trouble finding one that fits to ride like i want it to. But this baby fits like a glove (after inclusion of above noted post) and rides like bute. It has a really nice floaty feel, glides uphill like a demon and is capable on the downhill stuf -- i was riding it down v steep very flinty loose stuff at reasonable speed yesterday and it pissed it. All in all a very capable steed at £225 notes off the list price. Not sure why you would want to spend more but thats just me. Anyroad its early days for such a positive review but my years of riding both good and bad bikes tell me that this ones a keeper.
