A: I have an Xcal 9- only difference I think are the components so they should ride downhill comparably. I've taken mine on some brutal fast and rocky downhills and it handles them great. You have to know how to position body and use elbows and knees at shocks. But geometry of bike allows you to get back and low pretty well. My
Only caveat is that on really steep decents or big dropoffs where I dont have a lot of speed for whatever reason, it does still have a little of that too far over the nose feeling you get from a XC hardtail. Not as bad as many others, but real steep and nig slow drops is when you notice what there is. I just put a 45 mm stem and a 30 mm rise Renthal fatbar 740 mm wide handlebar on it. So i cut the stem length in half and doubled the rise on the bars. Also went to a wide bar. Hoping it will improve the downhill to help with the really steeps and slow big drops by allowing me to get even further back and also hoping the increased width makes the big 29er tires which i love slightly more nimble without becoming so twitchy or unstable that it demands all my attention all the time. Havent ridden new set up yet bc of back injury but will let u know once i do. If u take it downhill post your experience. Would love to hear.
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