Hi everyone, it’s time for my „Longer“ time review. I haven’t put too much mileage into the bike. Currently I’m riding it back to back with my cyclocross-bike, so this is my most recent comparison.
Please keep in mind that my frameset was the very first leaving XMCS and I knew that it might have some issues. With all issues I had Peter was really helpful and I do believe that my feedback went into the further development of the frame.
Quality and problems: As said before I encountered some problems with the seatpost. According to Peter this is a problem of the first gen frameset and is sorted out – I’ll get a new seatpost so there might be an update on that issue… If I’m trying to put it positive: with my particular frameset there isn’t even a hint of seatpost slippage, no matter how much weight I put on top of that (and I've had severe Issues with other bikes in the past - especially my Cannondale Slice that almost that I had to fix with some soda cans). Other than that I was really impressed with the quality I’ve seen. Compared to the other carbon frames in my family (BMC, Ridley, Felt, Scott, Focus) the XMCS GT frameset qualitywise was up there with everyone else. I’d even go so far that it exceeded the Scott and the Ridleys, equals with the Felt. The Focus is a XC-Bike so I’m not too sure about how to compare them – but yeah, my daughter’s Focus Raven will stay my personal benchmark for quality.
It's hard for me to put a finger on what actually was superior on the Raven, because at every point where I’d compare the frames (bearing seats, threads etc) they came up almost equally nice. The two distinct differences are: the seatpost (27.2 round and not stuck on the focus) and that the Focus has internal cabling completely guided (with small carbon tubes) and provides cable exits on the down tube)
Build process: The process was as straight forward as it gets. Every further problems (aside from the seatpost) was due to the components I've chosen, not due to the frame (I hate that Pro aero handlebars…). Screw threads were all completely fine (please keep in mind that my framset wasn’t painted, so I wouldn’t have encountered problems with paint overspray damaging threads – what I believe might have been the problem with bfish’s bottom bracket threads)
Internal cable routing was as straight forward as it gets if it's not guided as it is on the Focus Raven, bearing seats where fine and everything came together quite smooth and easily. The clamp for the Di2-Battery is incredible and probably one of the little things that shows how much thought went into this bike… love it!
Geometry and ride feel: now there was some discussion about the geometry, so I have to state one thing right in the beginning. I am the actual target audience. I came aware of this frame due to the “low reach high stack aero” thread when I actually googled for exactly that. Due to some medical conditions I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of mobility (hips etc). I’m not the youngest anymore and I need a bike that gives me the opportunity to get into an aero position, even though my body isn’t to bendy.
And in that respect the frameset delivers. I can get into a “low” aero position and keep it for longer periods, than on the BMC or my CX bike. I’m able to ride a longer stem (110mm) compared to any other bike I own, even though I still have quite some spacers left to raise the front. The “long” stem helps to get handling very sharp and controlled to the other bikes, and I just don’t notice that the rear triangle might be longer as discussed by voidptr.
I stated in earlier reviews that the bike feels weirdly high to me – and it still does (especially compared to my CX-bike) – but I figured out that this is because I had to switch to 150mm cranks earlier this year. I also switched the cranks on my BMC but since I stopped riding this before injury and therefore there were some months between this and the GT frameset, so I went directly back to the weird sensation I had on the BMC in the beginning. Switching to and from the CX bike with 170mm cranks the GT framset feels extremely high up and this gives me some trust issues with going into corners quickly. I guess that will change the moment I’ll switch the CX to 150mm cranks as well.
As for sizes there might be one gripe: I’d love to have an even smaller size, thinking about very small people.
The look: I've attached to pictures of me riding the bike. The frame looks aero. It looks great. I love it. The screws of the seatpost clamp are changed by now (but I still want to 3d print a carrier for my rear light, this is why I rode the screws like in the pictures for quite a while). Under me it looks ridiculously tiny. Well every bike does since I’m 183 cm and well over 100kg. I still like it. I don’t have too look at it with a Gorilla (me) sitting on top of it too often 😊.
Things I don’t like: As much as I love the bike there’s some things I really don’t like and I hope Peter and XMCS will think about for future bikes (or future iterations of the GT frameset). Most of the gripes don’t actually come from my bike, but from having two kids racing bikes (while growing rapidly).
Seatpost: I’d prefer 27.2 mm round seatposts. My bigger one is on her 2nd seatpost on her current bike, because I had to cut the first one so It’ll go futher into the frame before hitting the bottle cage bosses. One year later the (new) seatpost is 10cm out of the frame and next year I guess we’ll have 5 more cm showing. So for switching around stuff I prefer to be able to just get some more ElitaOne seatposts and be able to exchange quickly between the bikes if necessary. Further: the problem with the stuck seatpost, the seat clamp (one bolt) and that there’s only a setback version all has been discussed and is (going to be) changed by XMCS.
Internal cables only: Yes I know this is an aero bike and of course the cables are supposed to be internal for aero reasons. Yet I absolutely hate going through the headset, stem and the handlebars. While it’s a pain in the back for me (since I’ll have to change the stem and suddenly have to completely change the brake hoses) it’s a absolute no go for the bikes of my kids. I’d love to get them the race frame if it lives up to the standard of my GT frame, but with internal cable routing I just wont go down that route. I’d love to have the option to get the cables and hoses out of the NDS-down tube. My big one grew in her stem length for 4cm and reduced stem height (spacers and turned around stem) by about 3cm during the last 12 months – some because of growing, some because of fitness and skills. So for kids racing internal routing is not an option for my team. I’d love to have the option when ordering or just have a port on the NDS that could be closed up nicely – please Peter consider that for the race frame!
And yes, I do realize that this is less of a problem with wireless groupsets coming up, but to me the rear hose is the deal braker. I don’t want to find a way to stick 10cm excessive hose in the frame since I might need it in the future (could be noisy) and I don’t want to throw the complete hose everytime I have to change something on the setup because I have to cut some centimeters away every time I want to disconnect and reconnect the hose.
Used standards: That’s not so much things I don’t like but things discussed here or around me. Bottom Bracket: T47i is stiffer and more aero than T47ext so to me that’s the obvious choice of those two. But some people have asked for some pressfit standard (especially for the upcoming race frame). Pressfit might be lighter, but with internal routing I’m happy for a threaded version. So I’m on board with that one.
The other thing is the UDH. I like the idea of unification, for some reason I just never grew fond with UDH. To me it feels heavy, clunky and I’ve just had nicer things on other bikes. But I wouldn’t know anything I’d rather have, so I guess it’s okay the way it is…
Disc diameter restrictions: I know there’s not many people sharing that, but being as big as I am (and switching parts between several bikes including MTBs) I’d love to have the opportunity to fit even bigger rotors – 180mm up front. I actually feel that this would fit the target audience (people not being fit enough to ride a long and low race bike) quite well.
So with all of that said, here's my ultimate conclusion:
Would I buy again? YES!
What would I do differently: Cockpit, paintjob (no more cerakote for me). That’s it.
