I’m thinking of trying something new after running and racing standard triathlons. I’m not really interested in Tough Mudders or Spartan races but think getting outside and muddy sounds fun.
What can you tell me about Xterra?
What’s the best type of mountain bike for racing and what’s a good price point?
What would be a good event format to try out first?
Thanks!
Quick search would have lots of info for you. 10 second summary probably would say… full boing (suspension)29er for a bike. Probably need to spend between $2-3K, MTB triathlons are way more laid back and friendly than the road style,They are huge fun. Look on Xterra Planet website for calendar. Depends on where you live they may be huge climbing at altitude or reasonably flat at 100 feet above sealevel. In your backyard or In a remote place in the South Pacific.
I would suggest a couple fairly local events and a big road trip after you get hooked. They are all fun and can be as hard as you want to go. Or just putt around the course and have a good time. No one sucks in MTB triathlon and for the most part the world barely sees your subpar driving skills.
Make sure you get an XC bike, and not a trail bike that’s heavier, with more suspension. Racing a trail bike will be a chore
Like the previous post, find a local small race, but think about one of the bigger races where you can watch the pros.
Go for it! They are super fun and fast…last year I did all the national events, including a couple of the epic series. Got my ticket to maui…most are not to technical and don’t require a ton of xc skills. I use a hard trail 29er…and wouldn’t use any thing else
Get a bike, and ride the crap out of it BEFORE you start doing races. Get out there and ride with some mountain bikers and get good at riding before you try. There’s nothing worse than doing an Xterra and seeing people dismount to go over logs and other super simple technical stuff.
Get a bike, and ride the crap out of it BEFORE you start doing races. Get out there and ride with some mountain bikers and get good at riding before you try. There’s nothing worse than doing an Xterra and seeing people dismount to go over logs and other super simple technical stuff.
LOL I’ve eaten it quite a few times trying to go over logs and doing simple technical stuff… I did better using a trail bike versus my xc bike.
Impossible to answer correctly without knowing where you’ll be riding. Also are you serious about learning to ride a mountain bike or just going to tool around? Tire set up is the single most important factor, a cheap Hardtail with correct wheel & tire set up could work for an xterra, although you’d soon get tired of the weight.
Thanks everyone.
Some more background and questions. I live in the Triangle region of North Carolina and have easy access to the 750 acre Carolina North property as well as Umstead State Park and if I want to drive, lots of other places to get a good ride in. One of the reasons I’m thinking Xterra is so I can train socially with a group of friends from my local gym who are all mountain bikers. After all the solitary training for IM, I’m dying for some damn company! Those guys ride all winter so I could tag along and re-learn trail riding before hitting Xterra next summer.
I’ll obviously find a shop and get fit, but I ride a 51 Cervelo, so medium or small? This will help me waste endless hours on Craigslist and Ebay looking at used rides.
So hardtail over full suspension? At least for now I have no plans for the Leadville 100, so I’m assuming the lightest mtb I can afford is the way to go?
Has anyone raced Xterra in NC or SC and if so, which races and any recommendations?
Thanks again.
Thanks everyone.
Some more background and questions. I live in the Triangle region of North Carolina and have easy access to the 750 acre Carolina North property as well as Umstead State Park and if I want to drive, lots of other places to get a good ride in. One of the reasons I’m thinking Xterra is so I can train socially with a group of friends from my local gym who are all mountain bikers. After all the solitary training for IM, I’m dying for some damn company! Those guys ride all winter so I could tag along and re-learn trail riding before hitting Xterra next summer.
I’ll obviously find a shop and get fit, but I ride a 51 Cervelo, so medium or small? This will help me waste endless hours on Craigslist and Ebay looking at used rides.
So hardtail over full suspension? At least for now I have no plans for the Leadville 100, so I’m assuming the lightest mtb I can afford is the way to go?
Has anyone raced Xterra in NC or SC and if so, which races and any recommendations?
Thanks again.
There is an XTERRA at the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. Definately worth checking out.
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Welcome to the XTERRA tribe,
Check out trianglemtb.com, it has everything you need to know about mountain biking in the triangle. I’d recommend starting out at easier trails like Crabtree and CNF, then working towards Beaver Dam and the true gem of the triangle, New Light. I really miss the triangle, it is an off-road running/biking oasis!
A HT 29er will give you the best bang for your buck, and works great on the majority of XTERRA courses. Lean on your local bike shop to determine the right frame size, it could vary by the brand.
NC used to have two fantastic races at Smith Lake and Uwharrie national forest, last year I think they only had the race in Charlotte. I’d highly recommend the XTERRA East Champs a few hours north in Richmond, VA. Check out series schedule on xterraplanet in a few months to find more races in or near NC.
Also, it looks like you’re already on board, but here is an article I wrote for chitribloggers that might convince your friends at the gym to join you on the XTERRA circuit.
See you on the race course.
Welcome aboard. Search this forum for xterra and you will find a ton of info on bike suggestions.
Xterra Whitewater is a good race. Usually a different format from the straight s/b/r. They have had a couple years of bad weather so are due for awesome conditions next year.
Xterra Tsali is another fun one. Super fast and different in that its s/r/b. Gives us bad swimmers/good bikers a chance to get in better position for the singletrack.
A bit further south are Hickory Knob and Ft Yargo in GA. Never have done Hickory Knob, but Ft Yargo is a great venue and attracts a good field.
Xterra SE championships in Pelham, AL is definitely worth the drive.
i live in raleigh and recently got a mountain bike. i’ve only got 300 miles on the mtb but i have had a blast. i can actually ride out my door to umstead and then on to crabtree (i spent about 5 hours of this weekend riding around here). it really might be the most fun you can have on a bike.
anyway, i was thinking i might try the xterra tsali or the one at the white water center. can you (or anyone else on the thread) give me maybe a better description of what the riding is like for either of these events? I guess it would be helpful, as a newb (and i assume for the OP also), if you could compare it to what we have around here. this would help me get an idea of what i might be getting myself into.
Get some MTB skills (including trail etiqutte). As a long-time MTB racer I can say the majority of Xterra MTB riders absolutely suck on the trail. Little bit of sand. They fall. They can never climb without washing out. They ride the brakes down the hills. Finally, they don’t know how to let faster riders pass. I’ve had to litterally elbow my way past riders who refused to let me by. My normal “let me pass when you feel safe” didn’t work because the only way they felt safe was on a dirt road not a single track.
Xterra’s are much higher intensity than even a sprint triathlon. Prepare for that. Also scope out the trail run so you can be prepared for steep hills or other obstacles.
Been forever since I rode Tsali, so I’m prob not the best to comment on that. I seem to remember it being super fast with a few climbs and fast descents - so maybe a little more intense cardio wise that the triangle, but less technical if I remember correctly.
Whitewater trails are sim to the triangle. The green loop would be like the easier Crabtree trails, and the other loops have more characteristics of 286 and rocky road. It’s not a bad day trip to go out there from the triangle and check them out either.
As other have said, check out the East Championship in Richmond as it’s just as close as Charlotte, and a whole lot closer than Tsali.
Keep your eye open for demo days in the triangle region where you can demo bikes to hash out whether a S or M is the way to go. I’m pretty sure Niner was out a the Preserve last summer. Other option is to demo a bike from a LBS…I’m pretty sure most of the specialized dealers demo bikes for a reasonable fee.
If you’re just getting into MTBing, don’t fret about the bike as much since I almost guarantee you’ll want to upgrade later, and better to start off too cheap than too expensive and waste money IMHO.
Regarding the races, the ones closest to the triangle are all a little unique, but manageable for a first timer. Whitewater and Richmond are both short drives from the triangle and worth pre riding to get a feel for the trails. Tsali is well maintained and fast from what I remember.
For comparison sake, if you can feel comfortable on Rocky Road, New. Light, or Beaver Dam you should be fine at any SE Xterra on the bike.
Thanks, that’s a big help.
Don’t forget the Xterra trail run events. The Xterra in our area had an 8k trail run on Friday. I had a conflict with Saturday so I just did the run last year. It was a blast. If you can recover, consider doing both the run and triathlon.
Welcome to the XTERRA tribe,
Check out trianglemtb.com, it has everything you need to know about mountain biking in the triangle. I’d recommend starting out at easier trails like Crabtree and CNF, then working towards Beaver Dam and the true gem of the triangle, New Light. I really miss the triangle, it is an off-road running/biking oasis!
A HT 29er will give you the best bang for your buck, and works great on the majority of XTERRA courses. Lean on your local bike shop to determine the right frame size, it could vary by the brand.
NC used to have two fantastic races at Smith Lake and Uwharrie national forest, last year I think they only had the race in Charlotte. I’d highly recommend the XTERRA East Champs a few hours north in Richmond, VA. Check out series schedule on xterraplanet in a few months to find more races in or near NC.
Also, it looks like you’re already on board, but here is an article I wrote for chitribloggers that might convince your friends at the gym to join you on the XTERRA circuit.
See you on the race course.
Thanks! I’m not a tribe member yet but I’m looking forward to getting out there. Your blog is great and I appreciate your and everyone else’s input.
Thinking 650b since I’m a short guy. I ride a 51 P2. The mtb crew I want to tag along with rid year round so I’m excited to purchase and get out there.
Thanks again.
XTERRAs are a hoot. Each race presents it’s own set of challenges, perhaps a little more emphasis on the bike portion relative to other road races, and the swim is also much more important. Not because the time you loose on the swim is insurmountable, but because you can easily get stuck behind a bunch of riders on single track that don’t know how to handle a mountain bike and it takes time/patients to pass. Make sure that you look up a few videos on mountain biking technique, or get with a few club riders to show you the ropes. There are some counter-intuitive techniques that really help you cary momentum, and momentum is everything. The bikers that have been best, as far as instructors, for me have been the guys who also had a back-ground in motocross.
X-C hard tail is the way to go. If you were taller than 5’8’, I’d say go for a 29er, if you are shorter, go for a 650b. The larder tiers really make a HUGE difference in your confidence and can really hide some of your technical deficits. I went hard-tail, but I’m starting to get fairly skilled. It’s better to start on a hard-tail to lean how to find the best lines, but many don’t spend the time to develop those skills and get a FS bike. Under skilled riders, a HT bike is likely going to be faster as XTERRAs are not really technical heavy (though there are exceptions).
As for value/race ready bikes. I shoot for 3k or less. At that price point, you can get into the sub-23 pound range with dependable components, good power transfer, and balanced handling.
For 650b, that puts you in a Giant XTC, Scott Scale, Lynskey (Maybe others).
For 29er, you can get into a Cannondale F29, Felt Nine, Giant XTC composite, Trek Super FLY
For really nice used bikes, check out MTBR classifieds at: http://classifieds.mtbr.com/showcat.php?cat=38&page=1.
I think you’d likely be a size small, but I may be wrong. Holler if you have any questions.
I don’t know if you’ve made your bike purchase, but I just got an email that there is a specialized bike demo on the 24th at crabtreee
.