Is A Modern XC Bike Faster Than A 10 Year Old Downhill Bike?

Has downhill progressed so far that bikes which were winning races back in the day, now considered old, obsolete, and out of date, or can they still cut it against bikes of a modern era? What about a bike that's completely opposite? Back in the day, when I was racing downhill, a bike, well, not too dissimilar to this, was the thing to have. Behold, its glory. No, it's a Nukeproof Scout, but look, rock shop boxers, 200 mil travel, fancy disc brakes. This was quite literally a race-winning bike. However, fast forward on over a decade in time, and that bike's probably not going to cut it with most modern downhill bikes, but surely, it's got to be quicker than a cross-country bike, hasn't it? Before we bust out the stopwatch then, because let's face it, the times don't lie when it comes to finding out which one is going to be quicker, let's dive a little deeper into the past and the present. Downhill bikes back in the day ran on 26-inch wheels. They had a similar amount of travel as they do now, around 200 mil, but they were shorter in the reach, shorter in the wheelbase, and all around much more compact. Having said that, this bike does have the same head angle on it as a modern-day Santa Cruz V10, at a claimed 63 degrees. Similarities, but more specifically to this bike, it has a reach of 390 mil, a wheelbase of 1,196 mil, and a stack of 602. I know what you're thinking, Rich, that doesn't really mean much to me. You'd be right, but back in the day, for downhill, those were some pretty solid numbers. However, like I said, the times don't lie, so let's put a run in, and then come back up and see how that fares against the modern XC bike. That then is the first run done, the timed run on the downhill bike, and the time was 3 minutes, 36 seconds. Not a bad time, not a bad time at all. However, let's head back to the top, let's get the van loaded on the uplift, and go have a look at the modern XC bike and put a run in on that. This then is a modern-day cross-country bike, my Canyon Luxe Trail. Nothing really like its predecessors of a similar age to what the downhill bike is, yet it is still fast, light, and agile, designed to crush uphills, but nowadays, downhills as well. Full carbon fiber, lightweight, exceedingly strong compared to what they used to be, but how does the geometry stack up, especially against our Nukeproof Scalp? As I previously said then, the downhill bike's got a reach of 390 mil, whereas the Canyon Luxe has a whopping reach of 480 mil. The head angle is where things are also hugely different, with a 63 degree on the downhill bike and a 67, so far steeper, on the XC bike. The stack is 602 on the downhill, whilst it's 612 on the XC bike, and the wheelbase as well, it's longer on the XC bike at 1206, and as I said, it was 1196 on the downhill bike. What do all these numbers mean? A steeper head angle by a whopping four degrees to the XC bike here is going to give it a much sharper, much more lively feel at the front end, if you like, because it's so much steeper. It doesn't put that front wheel out in front of you. However, having said that, the longer reach and the longer wheelbase of this bike, well, first step, it's going to make it feel very sturdy at high speed in comparison. It's going to be much longer, much more stable, especially with the big 29-inch wheels. The longer reach is essentially going to give me a bit more room for maneuver within the middle of the bike. Instead of being squished in here, almost 10 centimeters longer, it means I can stay central within the bike a lot better. When it comes to the stack height, this is 10 mil higher, so it's actually putting the front end of the bike slightly higher up than what it does on the downhill bike, despite the downhill bike having eight inches of travel at the front, compared to having five inches of travel on this one, so a huge difference there. Obviously, we've got much larger wheels on this compared to the 26s on the downhill bike, but the 29-inch wheels plus the travel still outstacks, if you like, the 26-inch wheels and the eight inches of travel on the downhill bike, so essentially putting the front end slightly higher of this. Higher front end, well, that should mean it's better on the steeper stuff, right? Well, there's only one way to find out, to the start line. Now, the runs are done. Some wild times we've definitely had. Before we reveal those times, why not give the channel a little like and click that subscribe button to help give us the support that we like and love to see from you guys to help bring you daily content, but the times. The Nukeproof Scalp, three minutes, 36 seconds, not bad, a respectable time from an old downhill bike. The cross-country bike, drum roll please, three minutes, 30, four seconds. How close was that? Now, I know you'll be going, Rich, it's fixed. You rigged it one, but it was genuinely that close and here's why. Let's start with the downhill bike and the run. Now, the runs here that I've chosen are my go-to test runs for any kind of downhill type stuff that we do. In fact, the recent video I did with Owen where he tried to make me and succeeded to go faster was on these very tracks. They're three black runs of Bike Park Wales all linked together. It starts off fairly flat at the top, few jumps, then weave through the woods and get steeper and rougher as it goes on. The three minutes, 36 at this did, I think, basically was governed, if you like, by the top section. It really did feel sluggish on the slower stuff. It didn't have that acceleration and that ability to roll over stuff. As the track got on, it got more comfortable to ride, it was more stable. I did feel very crunched up on it. That was its pitfalls there. Maybe if there was a bigger size, that might be the one for me, but just the fact that I was very squished on it. The 26-inch wheels as well, you notice, fell in a lot of the holes. It was hard going, but the additional suspension did feel nice and smooth, especially on the latter part of the track, that deep navigation section where it's just really big, horrible rocks. It felt good. It had good strong brakes. As I said, it was a downhill bike. It rode like a downhill bike, but the XC bike pipped it. Where did the XC bike pip it? You're screaming it from the rooftops, I know. How did this go two seconds quicker than that back there? Well, I tell you what, it was very uncomfortable to ride. I was on the limit the whole way down. That's the problem. That's the main difference. That, on a longer, rougher track, in fact, just a rougher track, not even longer, would definitely be faster. This gained all of its time on the top section. The bigger wheels and the roomier bike meant that I could actually get on the gas, I could pedal, and I could really get that power down over the downhill bike. The downhill bike was just really sluggish up there, unfortunately. That and the faster rolling tires, I think, really made a difference. The problem was, as soon as I dropped into that next section, cold, not dull, and then into deep navigation, the last bit, it was horrendous. It was really hard to ride. That's through no fault of the bike, of course. It's not designed for that really gnarly downhill. The smaller travel, the really stiff frame and wheel combo meant that I was feeling all the vibrations. I had cramps starting to come in the cast because you're there perched on these tiny pedals. It is a cross-country bike. I haven't changed it in any way other than stock how I have my XC bikes. I think that, at the top, is where it just pipped a couple of those seconds, which really did surprise me. I don't know about you guys and girls out there. Like I said, I think on a different track, we may have to revisit this, a proper downhill track. I think it could be really close. In fact, I don't. I actually genuinely think the downhill bike would be faster, but did you call it? Let me know in the comments down below. Which do you think was going to be faster? Do you think we should maybe revisit this on a different kind of track, maybe a national or something like that? No, maybe not. Anyway, let me know in the comments down below. It's been an absolute pleasure today, people. I'll catch you next time.