Ride Report: XC Racer

RL and I hit the Fullerton early today. This was my first ride on the KHS Alite Team. Although I’m not much of a hardtail bike rider, I built this bike for XC racing purposes.

Being used to riding the KHS AM2000, I thought that the transition from a 6″ travel bike to a hardtail was going to be difficult to get used to. One of the reasons why I really like KHS bikes, it’s because their geometry really suits me well. The geometry of the KHS Alite Team really suited me and although it is a race bike, the ride was quite comfortable…. and FAST.

Since I instantly lost 10lbs, I was able to climb at a decent pace. The handling of the bike felt really snapp and the Michelin Country Trail tires felt fast and gripped pretty good.

Although I think that the Manitou Black Super Fork is the weakest link of this bike, the ability to go from 90mm to 130mm of travel made this bike a really capable descender. Why do I consider the Fork to be the weakest link?
At over 4lbs and with no Lockout or SPV, the fork does hinder out of the saddle acceleration and climbing.

One of the issues that I had with my previous XC race bike was that I wasn’t having fun riding it, the KHS Alite Team was totally the opposite, it was a blast to ride. I’m really happy and satisfied with the overall performance of the bike, who knows, I may become a hardtail convert!