I'm on my 3rd frame since I bought it a few years ago, it was a Fisher X-Cal. Had two break but were replaced by Trek. Long story short I've changed or replaced almost everything on it sometimes more than once. I love the frame and even with the two frame breaks I would buy again.
Currently its set up with Hope hubs and Stan's Arch rims. Using a 10mm QR axle in back which stiffened the rear up. Still have the orig. Fox Float but changed the lowers to get a 15mm axle. XT cranks (2x10) with X9 r.der. and XO shifters. TI seat post, Easton carbon bars and stem.
Ride it daily and still very happy!!

 

Rims. My bro-in-law went tubeless with bontrager rhythm elite TLR rims. Says it feels like a different bike. After a bikepacking trip on Tahoe Rim Trail they were tru as new.
Me...I love my Stans rims on my steel 29.
Rims are a pricey upgrade but you will notice the difference immediately.
Think rotational weight... Cassette, cranks, chain

 

Biggest upgrades for me was getting the LightBicycle carbon rims with hope hubs and Thunder Burt in back and Racing Ralf in front. Changed out my cassette to a XTR with a 42t one up mod and a 34 tooth Absolute Black chainring with XX1 cranks. Also changed out my seat to a 35 dollar chinese carbon saddle, ritchey aluminum seat post, ritchey 70mm stem and EC90 625mm bars, and last but not least, got rid of my stock Elxer 1s which were complete garbage and installed the xt brakes with Ashima Airrotors.

Bike at stock weighed in at 28.5lbs, I'm now down to 21.8lbs. Totally different bike and climbs and descends like no other!!! I'm finally on the most difficult trails in my area riding without dismounting and time trialing myself on others.

 

Long story short I went riding a weeks ago and got into an accident which destroyed my front wheel. My new stance flow hope hubs wheelset should be coming in this week. I also found on Craigslist A Niner Rdio carbon fiber seatpost and I am looking to upgrade the handlebars and seat as well.

 

i Got my GF the Trek Skye SLX and it is almost an equally equipped bike to the X-8. Neither of us liked those X5 shifters (assuming thats what you have) so they were the first upgrade we made. We went with the X0 grip shifts and those are pretty nice!! Now I'm not saying you should go grip shift, but i would definitely go X9 or better trigger on that last shifter you got!

 

My wheels finally came in this week! Already put the rotor on but need to put tires and cassette on wheels. The Stans Flow with hope pro hubs look great on the xcaliber.

 

I have the 2014 X-Cal 8 and have replaced the RS XC32 to a Reba RL ($269 deal on Amazon). Seat and pedals were swapped immediately. I'd like to get the same wheelset as you did but I've also got Trek Care+ so I'm not sure if I should just let these wheels die for a while. I weight 230lbs so I'm not sre if LB rims would be up to the task with the rocky area I'm in.

 

Which seat did you end up with?

I have the same exact bike and I cannot stand the stock saddle.

 

I also way 230lb. My front wheel cracked and tacoed on me a few weeks ago. The stock Bontrager are weak and heavy! I recommend switching over to some stronger lighter wheels. I also switched the pedals to crankbrothers candy 3's and got a niner rdo Seatpost recently. Looking to get the matching rdo handlebars eventually. I wanna upgrade the seat but still trying to decide on a worthy saddle.

 

The seat was the best upgrade I ever made. I got a WTB PureV Race, no more feeling like I'd been in a prison shower after a ride. Is the seatpost, handlebars and stem that heavy? I'm running Forte Transfer flats and 5ten shoes.

 

Yea as far as handlebars and Seatpost they are pretty heavy. Stem is pretty light already. Seatpost alone was a 200g weight loss

 

Did you get the rear wheel too? That's the exact wheel combo I want to get for my bike!

 

Yea I just haven't put it on. Gotta take off cassette and haven't had time.

 

On that bike, I'd upgrade rims and fork before anything else for the most noticeable differences.

 

Yeah the fork upgrade has been great. For about $100 you can upgrade the XC32 to SoloAir. At 230 lbs that would be a great thing. I'm running about 100psi in my Reba.

In the general forum opinion are the hubs OK for a rim upgrade or should the entire wheelset be replaced?

 

Bike looks great with the Flow front wheel! Show us a pic when you put the rear on!

 

I'm looking to get some bars with some more rise. My '14 X-Caliber 8 comes with 3 spacers on the stem, can I add 1 more to get some more rise without getting new bars?

 

You can move any spacer currently above the stem and put it under for more bar height.

 

my bike !

 

What travel fork is this? Looking to put a 120mm on my x cal

 

Besides the new forks and brakes what have you done? What model xcaliber you have?

 

Here's some pics of the bike with the wheels, rotors, and skewers on. The Wheelset was a great choice and the bike weighs around 28.6lbs.

 

Robert, your pics look like Florida so I doubt if you have many hills but have you wished for a smaller front ring when climbing? Do you still have the 9 spotted cassette?

 

What exactly do you mean by smaller front ring? I still have the factory 9 speed cassette. Thinking of a 10 speed in the future.

 

He was referring to your 36T front chainring.

I run a 30T which is just two more teeth than a stock 28 granny gear. Climbs here in Arkansas on many trails can be very prolonged and I value my knees that already ache at 23 years old.

Not to say that a 36T is a bad choice or anything! Just not for me! I never find myself running out of gears to blast down hills so the climbing ability is a bonus.

 

I think a smaller ring would be better in some cases but for me it works.

 

Cool, I was just wondering if you found the range of gears adequate for climbing. Anyone have suggestions for handlebar width? I'm looking at some carbon bars.

 

Handlebar width is a cockpit thing, only u can decide that. But if ur completely unsure, go on the longer side as u can cut them down if their too wide.
Sent from my Nokia Stupid Phone using Tapatalk

 

After you mentioned it to me, I went to the lbs and got them to exchange the 36t for a 34t. Way better! Feels like there's an extra gear I was missing from before.

 

Here's my Trek X-Caliber 2013 in all it's glory with full upgrades:

Stock weight was 28.5lbs without pedals. Right now with pedals it's a little over 23 and could easily drop another 1.5 if I decided to get rid of the 42t mod, dropper, and invest in a XX casette, lighter rotors, switching out the tires, getting a lighter seat, etc.

The only thing left on this bike stock is frame, headset, fork, bb and that's it.

 

23lbs! What exact upgrades have you made? And what size frame do you have?