I love my bike. Stoked to race it again this year. This will be my first full season with it, as my Anthem 29 cracked right before Sea Otter.

2012 Giant XTC
Crossmax 29, with Continental Race King rear and X-King front
Fox F29
Shimano XT, SLX crank
Easton EC70 flat bar, 3T 120 stem
Thomson post, WTB Silverado

 

looking for a bit of info on sizing. Looking to get a composite 1 to replace my cannondale flash.

Being 5ft 11 with 32" leg am i best on a medium or large?

Thanks

 

I am the same size and I ride a large with an 80mm stem with a Thomson setback seatpost. The medium is just a little too cramped for me.

 

Med

 

It all comes down to personal preference. I say medium will fit you best.

 

+1

I'm happy with my medium sized frame and am 5'11" with a 32" inseam too.

 

@ktaylor:
Damn, love your bike, especially the frame colors.

My XTC:

Sram X0 2x10 gripshift
Spyder saddle
Zefiro Race Disc tubeless wheel set
Racing Ralph 2.1
Rotor 26T/40T
XT brakes

Around 10kg (22lbs)

To change:
Seatpost: KCNC ti pro lite
stem, handlebar
(Maybe carbon stem/handlebar combo)

 

5'10.5" with 33" inseam; medium fits a gem.

 

How much can abuse can this carbon frame withstand? Anyone know? I own the xtc 29er 3 (2013) model. It's pretty much a trail bike now after a few upgrades I put on it. Waiting for Fox to send out the float 32 100mm CTD 2014 fork I ordered to my LBS. I wanted 120mm, but Giant said it'll void my warranty so I said forget it and ordered the 100mm.

 

It can't take trail bike abuse. It just isn't made for it.

 

Really? Does that mean I can not ride it off road? I hope you are wrong or Giant will be replacing a frame. Hope I did not pick the wrong 29'er.

 

Also if this bike was designed for XC racing (Which mine is slowly becoming a trail bike). Don't they ride through rough terrain most of the time and going through a bit of rock gardens? It seems their bikes are in 1 piece.

 

Im sure it can take some abuse, but it is an XC race bike. XC hardtails are not meant for drops, they are meant to be light and fast. Im sure it can handle rock gardens and technical riding, but air time is not what an xc hardtail is for. If you wanted a trail bike, you should have gotten at least an anthem with a 120 mm fork or a hard tail designed around a 120 fork.

 

Well that's perfect anyways, I'm never in the air anyhow. But in all honesty, if the bike can't handle a drop like getting off a sidewalk to the road without breaking... Then this bike is a fail in my books. But I'm sure that's not the case. I've seen this bike go through some abuse going downhill at the local trails I gone to and saw no issues. Again I would see an issue if the bike were to take a big jump where it's not designed for it. You can't baby the bike though. Yes it's an XC style bike, but isn't XC also known for trail riding as well...

 

Just got off the phone with Giant. He said the bike is capable of some abuse. He then went into detail stating that he even jumped a small set of stairs maybe 4-5 steps near the shop. He landed fine with no problem. What he said to me was of course you need to be experienced on how to land properly with good forks to absorb the landing. He did mention that he does not recommend it, but that's what he does and his bike hasn't snapped where the headtube is. Throughout the conversation I had with him, he mentions if my frame was carbon or aluminum. The moment I said I own the composite 3 model of the XTC 29er, his voice lit up and said "well then you're fine, carbon is way stronger than aluminum. If the frame where to reach it's limit and snap from a drop you'd notice instantly. Aluminum would take some time until when it breaks and impales you. We test our frames to make sure it takes a lot for the frame to break. As for carbon, again it's real strong more so stronger than aluminum. I weigh 210lbs, how much do you weigh? (I responded with 180lbs but summer I'll be 165lbs. He then goes oh you're fine!"

Anyhow, he did say going through rock gardens and lifting off sidewalks or small bumps where both wheels are few inches off the ground is fine. He even did mention he landed hard on his front wheel first going off a sidewalk and the frame didn't break. At the end of the conversation I said I was glad I don't have to 'baby the bike'. He goes nah from a rider myself, don't worry the bike can take some abuse, just remember it's a cross country trail bike. I responded with, don't worry all I do is ride at the Don Valley Trails, I'm sure there's no 'mountains' there to jump off haha.

Our conversation is more so a reference, but it's good to see someone who owns a XTC bike doesn't baby it.

 

I was thinking you were meaning more like 3-4 foot drops and whatnot. The bike should be fine for your intended use. Here in WV, most of our trails are filled with rock gardens and other technical features and many of the XC riders here ride carbon hardtails so you should be fine. XC and trail are about the same thing but now that there are one hundred different categories of cycling its hard to tell if someone means AM by riding trail or just regular every day XC riding.

 

No worries. Eventually I'll buy a AM style bike with more travel down the road when I become more experienced. For the time being all the trails I do ride is cross country style with very little drops. The highest I may of lifted my bike off the ground was a foot high I would assume. That was due to roots coming out of the ground during the trail ride. I landed the bike on both wheels and carried on wards. Very impressed with this bike. Can't wait for the float 32 100mm CTD (2014) I ordered from Fox to come in. It's replacing the Recon TK gold that came with the bike

 

Don't ask a question if you don't want the answer. You said trail bike abuse. Not, a bit of abuse. The answer is no. The XTC is a xc mountain bike. It can handle trails and obstacles just fine but not crossing over into the category of a trail bike.

 

Oh please. Just stop with all of these minute categories. It's XC not trail - wtf? Where do you think XC takes place? On trails of course.

XC racing:

All hit at speeds faster than you could imagine.

 

Oh no he went airborne... lol

 

You do realize that "trail" is a type of mountain bike. A bike which an XTC is not. I will stop trying to help you out here since it's obvious you're just going to shoot from the hip on this one. Keep in mind, I sell these bikes. I've seen what they can and can't handle.

 

I'm putting a Fox Talas 120mm fork on my xtc next week. You think the 20mm is safe? It shouldn't stress the frame would it?

 

It will ride fine and should slacken the bike out nicely. Just keep in mind, it will void your warranty.

 

This is what they responded with when I asked if I was able to put a 120mm fork on my xtc bike. This was through Facebook.

 

Can anybody comment on the geometry of the XTC? I'm looking for a new XC/trail hardtail and have been offered one in trade for my Rush. Previously, I had a scott scale which I LOVED, but it's faded from memory a bit. My big concern is the head angle, which is 2* steeper on the XTC.

 

The XTC is 71.5 which is great for climbing, racing and if you like flowing singletrack; however its a handful on technical descents and anything real steep or long duration downhills. I ride a large and it came stock with a 110 mm stem and flat bar, I put a 100 mm and a 3/4" rise bar with my Ergo grips and that helped. I tend to ride a lot of combination rides where its flowy, fireroads and technical trails so I am going with something a little less step on my next bike and will be selling the XTC soon.

 

Thanks for that!

Most of my trails are short and punchy, ups and downs, tight NE singletrack, so the steeper HA could work. We don't have a lot of flow, most of it is constantly technical, pick your path sort of stuff.

 

2013 Giant XTC Composite 1
Fox CTD fork (stock)
Full XX1 drivetrain
Roval Carbon Control rims
DT Swiss 135X10mm rear axle conversion
Giant Connect SLR carbon 80mm stem
Raceface Next Carbon 720mm flat bars
ESI Chunky grips
KS Lev Ti 125mm drop post
Fizik Tundra 2 saddle (stock)
Avid Elixir 7 Trail brakes
Ashima AiNeon 160mm Rotors with Ti bolts
Shimano 540 pedals
Specialized Ground Control front tire (tubeless)
Specialized Fastrak Control rear tire (tubeless)

 

Nice setup how much does it weight?

 

Here`s mine. About a year and a half old now.

Size small
Fox Float 29 Kashima
Stan's Crest, Hope Pro II Evo, DT Comp Spokes
1x10 XTR w/ Raceface 34t narrow wide ring
Thomson Masterpiece post, Elite stem
Enve Sweep bar
ESI Grips
Fizik Tundra saddle
XTR pedals
Conti X-King 2.2 Protection, running tubeless

Running the fork remote under the bar in place of the front shifter. Pulled the decals off the rims, looks much better now. Also running a non shadow plus rear derailleur, had no problems with it.

 

My new (to me) 2012 XTC Comp 0

Love at first ride. Upgraded the handlebars to my old carbon ones, swapped out saddle for more cushion. New captain and purgatory tubeless just put on. Ready to get dirty!

 

Check and clean the rear derailleur hanger/bolts/dropouts.
Mine were dirty and caused creaking. Once everything was clean it was fine.

 

XTC Composite Weight loss

So how can I dump some weight? I see carbon framed bikes in magazines that are up to 4 lbs lighter. Yes, I realize that the XTC Composite is not a 2 lb frame. Even if it is a portly 3.5 lbs, I don't see how I can get from 24 to say 22.

I know the stock SRAM S1000 crankset is a brick at 900+ grams. Going to a Next SL double should save 300+ grams.

Avid Elixir 1 brakes are over 400g each, so that could save 140 ish grams

What else?
I purposely dumped the Rocket Rons. Yes, light but... not too confidence inspiring.

2013 XTC Composite size Med.
Industry Nine Trail 24 wheels, tubeless
Ritchey WCS Carbon Trail seat post
Raceface SixC handlebar
Thomson 70mm stem
WTB Silverado Pro Saddle
ESI Grips
Ritchey WCS Paradigm Mountain Pedals
Nobby Nic front
Maxxis Ignitor rear tire
Elite Custom Race bottle cage