What makes the perfect XC race bike? I tested three and one nailed it

Even if you pay little attention to World Cup XC racing, you’ll know full-suspension bikes have been the dominant force for around a decade.

Increasingly technical tracks and monumental shifts in suspension technology mean having a bit of squish at the back of the bike adds speed and control, while the additional weight penalty of the extra shock and linkage hardware is a cost worth carrying.

It seems the humble XC hardtail is having a hard time of it, with world-class riders generally eschewing their lighter-weight chassis.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the UCI World Championships in 2024, and Tom Pidock won at Nove Mesto in 2021, both on Pinarello hardtails, but these are exceptions that prove the rule.

Despite this, many brands with an XC fleet still have a hardtail in their line-up. Which begs the question, why?

That’s what I wanted to find out, so I assembled an XC trio that cover the full range of cross-country race bikes on the market.

I took them out, back to back to back, over varied terrain to see which bike is the fastest, the most versatile and, ultimately, the most fun.

I wanted to find out where each style of XC bike thrives, and where they falter – and try to guide your purchasing decision if you’re in the market for an XC race rig.

• Read more: Best cross-country mountain bikes 2025 | 15 top-rated XC mountain bikes and our buyer's guide

Cannondale Scalpel HT Lab71 vs Specialized Epic World Cup Expert vs Lauf Elja XC Ultimate Flight Attendant

The three bikes in our triple-header are all representative of the current state of XC race bikes.

Cannondale’s Scalpel HT Lab71 is as Gucci as hardtails get. The Lab71 Cannondales are limited-edition versions of the brand's stock bikes, with the top-end Hi-Mod frames and some very fancy parts bolted to the chassis – the most eye-catching being the Lefty Ocho Carbon fork, with its 110mm of travel.

Carbon pretty much everything else finishes the build, with a smattering of SRAM stop-and-go gear, and some very racy Schwalbe tyres.

The Scalpel is definitely representative of a modern XC hardtail. The dropped seatstays and flex zones in the chainstays are there to introduce a little more comfort to the rear end, as is the slight indent in the seatpost – there to add flex.

The sub-76-degree head angle looks great on paper, and while the 444mm reach (size large) isn’t going to break records, it’s on a par with other hardtails in this sector.

Next up is perhaps the most niche of the XC bikes – Specialized’s Epic World Cup.

The Epic WC is a 75mm-travel pure-bred race bike, with its proprietary RockShox shock nestled under the top tube.

Launched in 2023, it went head to head with Trek’s Supercaliber – another 80mm-travel race bike refreshed in 2023, four years after the original Supercal’s 60mm introduction in 2019.

These short-travel rigs are built to bridge the gap between hardtails and ‘proper’ full-suspension mountain bikes, with less travel and suspension systems that can offer zero sag and a very direct feel until a bump is hit.

Ultimately, while Specialized had a few successes at World Cups, notably under Christopher Blevins in the first round of the UCI World Cup in Mairiporã, 2024, it’s been superseded by the full-travel Epic 8 race bike, which has since dominated.

Finally, we’ve got the Lauf Elja. While it hasn't been raced (yet) at a World Cup level, the Icelandic brand certainly has those heady heights in its sights, and this is a bike built to race.

It’s a simple-looking, yet high-tech machine. The pure single-pivot suspension isn’t ‘normal’ in XC circles, but the delivery of 120mm of suspension to each wheel is.

RockShox’s Flight Attendant electronic suspension system automatically controls how the suspension reacts to pedal, incline and bump forces to ensure it’s as efficient as possible.

Additionally, Lauf is looking to the future, banking on XC racers accepting even wider tyres, with 2.6in rubber, custom-made by Goodyear.

While it’s a unique bike, its geometry and suspension are representative of what the rest of the industry is doing.

Introducing the bikes

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How we tested

If the premise of our feature is to find out where each of these bikes works best, who they might suit, and whether they’re relevant in the world of XC racing, it would be great to take them all to a World Cup race and compete. But, as I’m sure you’re aware, that’s not possible.

However, we can still put each of them through their paces in as controlled an environment as possible, with multiple riders, experienced in racing, riding them all back to back to back. Which is exactly what we did.

Our test loops incorporated tarmac sprints, fire-road drags and singletrack ascents, along with plenty of rocks, roots, jumps and berms.

Cannondale Scalpel HT Lab71 vs Specialized Epic World Cup Expert vs Lauf Elja XC Ultimate Flight Attendant ride impressions

If there was ever a scenario where the hardtail was going to dominate, it would be on a climb, and preferably one where the surface was smooth and solid.

There’s ample traction, and little in the way of obstacles over which the bike has to bump, enabling you to maintain a smooth cadence.

The Scalpel is a solid 2.7kg lighter than the Elja, and 1.6kg lighter than the Epic WC. In percentage terms, that’s around 23% or 15% less respectively.

Now, there are myriad factors that influence how ‘easy’ it is to get a bike up a hill, but all things being equal, you can see why a lighter bike is no bad thing when you’re trying to get around a race course fast. Ultimately, it requires less effort.

And this is before you add in energy wasted by compressing the suspension under pedalling loads – rather than forward motion, pedal bob ends up transferring your effort into heat and noise.

While this may be measurable in lab conditions, on the trail it would be very hard to put a quantifiable figure on the differences here. However, the body is a wonderful piece of engineering, with its own set of synapse-based sensory feedback and the Scalpel certainly has a thrilling zip about it on tarmac and fire-road climbs.

Stand up on the pedals and there’s a real swagger about the bike, as it zips forward, egging you on to dump even more Watts through its cranks.

Stay seated and spin the legs, and the Scalpel feels almost effortless in its ascent.

You’ll get to a point when you’ve lit the afterburners that the hard-compound, skinny-treaded Schwalbe tyre at the back starts to protest and traction drops. It sounds cool, but on a dirt climb, the scrabbling rear tyre is no longer doing its job as well as it can.

The Elja certainly can’t compete with the Scalpel in a short sprint on a smooth surface.

Although Flight Attendant’s servos will switch the fork and shock into their Lock position, it’s not a solid lock, so there’s a hint of bounce. While there’s no significant weight penalty with the broad 2.6in rear tyre, I felt the wider contact patch was adding a hint of drag that wasn’t present on the other bikes.

The Epic WC is unique. Its custom rear shock has three sag settings, based around pressure in the negative air spring. Specialized's claim is that in the 0% sag setting, you have the same amount of ‘post sag’ travel as a 100mm rig – 75mm. However, you can opt for softer settings with 5% or 10% sag if you wish.

At its most aggressive, the 0% sag No Gulp setting leaves the Epic feeling very much like a hardtail. Sit on the bike and the shock doesn’t compress – doing so only when there’s enough bump force to push through the initial spring curve.

On those smoother sprints, the Epic WC feels incredible. In theory, there’s no suspension movement, and like the Scalpel, there’s a directness to the rear tyre that asks you for more. It takes more power to get the tyres to spit dirt, and the ride is supremely comfortable. Specialized's frame and tyre engineers have done something special here.

But when things get more interesting, the equation changes.

Add in loose surfaces or rocks and roots, and the Scalpel’s advantage starts to diminish.

There’s definitely a directness between crank and wheel, which when you’re powering over a step, drives the Scalpel forward. Additionally, if you need to add in the odd hop or lurch to pull the bike up an obstacle, the light, rigid frame makes such moves a cinch.

However, you also have to think more about lines – dodging the biggest bumps, metering out traction with micro or macro moves between the tyre contact points, or enabling the bike to ease over steps with minimal interference with your pedalling rhythm.

Those lumps that do make it through to the chassis interrupt a smooth pedalling style, and over the course of a longer lap, will add to the sense of fatigue.

On such sections, the suspension on the Epic WC and Elja start to pay back their weight penalty.

So confident is Specialized in the reactivity of its suspension, that the Epic WC only has a fork lockout – there’s nothing out back.

While the Epic WC, in its 0% sag No Gulp setting, is most like the Scalpel, hit a step hard enough and the suspension will open up enough to smooth the way. Add in the 5% sag Half Gulp or 10% Full Gulp settings, and you’re approaching regular suspension reactions to trail imperfections.

The suspension only needs a little give in its travel to give an awful lot back when it comes to traction.

At the extremes in the No Gulp setting – steep, loose climbs where you’re not hitting anything at speed – you can feel the rear Renegade tyre skipping a beat over scrabbly rocks, and those pedalling rhythms can be interrupted.

It shouldn’t take a genius to work out that when things get really steep, loose, rough and technical, the Elja is king of the hill.

If it’s locked out, the small amount of movement in the shock helps you keep a smooth pedalling action, working well with the wide tyres that I’ve been running as low as 16psi to eke out comfort and traction. However, Flight Attendant’s in-flight service is, generally, excellent.

It uses inclinometers, accelerometers, the power meter and other data to work out the best of three low-speed compression settings to put your suspension in. Smooth climbs, under lots of leg power? It’ll be locked out. Bumpy climbs? You may well end up in the Pedal setting, with Open generally reserved for descents.

You can even adjust the system’s bias. More aggressive racers may want it to err towards the Lock setting quicker and for longer, while those looking for comfort can set it to rarely enter locked-out mode.

With Flight Attendant sorting the suspension out, and the wide tyres doing their bit to prevent your tyres slipping and skidding, the Elja is a mountain goat.

Gravity takes hold

World Cup racing has evolved into an extreme sport, with chunky rock gardens, gap jumps, log drops and terrain severe enough that even on TV it looks steep and challenging.

On the domestic scene, things are a little more placid. Tracks are certainly fun to ride, but the most technical terrain is reserved for the pros.

Undeniably, with 120mm of travel at each end, the Elja is the most capable on technical ground.

The 480mm reach (large) and 66-degree head angle wouldn’t have looked out of place on an aggro trail bike a few years ago, so there’s little on the geometry chart to cause concern there.

RockShox’s SID fork is built around a 35mm-stanchion chassis, too, so the front end of the bike is stout when ploughed over trail obstacles.

While the tyres have low-profile tread blocks, the low pressures at which they’re designed to run ensure there’s a surprising amount of grip on offer, in all but slippery mud.

Like other contemporary 120mm XC race bikes, such as the Specialized Epic 8, Mondraker Podium and Cannondale Scalpel, the Elja has a definite air of trail-bike confidence when picking, or not, a line down the hill.

Rocks and roots, drops and jumps are dispatched with relative ease, while the suspension soaks up dodgy lines and tired mistakes with little complaint.

The Epic WC chases the Elja with confidence, too. It’s not as long or slack as the Elja, but its 66.5-degree head angle is hardly considered steep, with the 110mm fork jutting out in front of the cockpit.

The tyres deftly smooth out micro-undulations, while the SID SL fork does a good job of countering bigger impacts.

At the back, the shock can sound a little noisy, slurping oil through its rebound circuit and topping out with a clunk in its No Gulp setting.

However, true to the marketing material, its 75mm travel doesn’t feel overly limited in capability.

On slow-speed, large-amplitude hits – inching your way down some janky, rocky tech – it’s controlled and confident, and over fast chatter it’s impressively smooth, whichever Gulp it’s been given.

Slam it over chunder at speed, though, and the shorter-travel back end can start to feel overwhelmed, and you’ll be relying on the broad rim walls of the Roval Control wheels to help keep punctures at bay.

It’s fast and capable, but given the current state of World Cup racing’s courses and riders, I'm not surprised the Epic 8 is front and centre.

The Scalpel struggles the faster and rougher the tracks get. This is no surprise, but the bike doesn’t give up without a fight.

The Lefty Ocho Carbon fork’s 110mm travel is, once set up, smooth and controlled. It is a little linear in its travel, so I wanted to add volume spacers to make the most of the travel, while maintaining small-bump comfort.

However, worries over front-end stiffness can be left at the start line. It might only have one leg, but it’s stiff and secure when it’s being pushed hard.

What’s noticeable is you have to take much more TLC over line choices when shredding on the Scalpel.

Mistakes are punished quickly, with little sympathy for lazy line choice. I noticed this the most when following other riders testing the Scalpel. The extra twists and turns around rocks and roots, and the additional body language needed to maintain traction as the rear wheel kicks out over a polished root means more fatigue and slower times, compared to a full-sus rig that shrugs its shoulders and gets on with the job.

When the trail mellows out, though, those stark differences again start to melt together.

Fast, rolling terrain is the equaliser here. If you can put up with a little raggedness around the edges, on the smooth, grassy or man-made trail centre surfaces often found across the UK XC scene, the Scalpel has a great turn of speed.

Its responsiveness to power inputs puts the Elja to shame between corners, accelerating away from the heavier, draggier full-sus rig, while the rigid rear end means when you pump the terrain, nothing is lost to the shock.

The Elja will hold its speed well, though, and if there’s a little trail turbulence along the way, needs no nursing to keep the wheels rolling. It won't spit you out at the merest mistake and, over the course of six laps, won’t punish tired mishaps.

Neither, though, will the Epic WC. Much like the Scalpel, it jumps up in speed at any opportunity, but maintains the easy-riding attitude of the Elja when things get a little more ragged.

Pick your weapon

You only need to look at the history books to know that bikes such as the Scalpel have had their time on the World Cup circuit.

The full-suspension race bike rules the roost – suspension playing a part both up and downhill.

But each of these bikes has a place in mountain biking. There’s a rider out there for any of these machines.

Let's take the Scalpel first.

Lightweight XC racers who’re more than happy picking lines through less challenging XC courses will love the directness afforded by the Scalpel. Its reactivity to pedal inputs is addictive, and so long as you’re able to dodge the roughest sections of track, there’s tons of speed to be found here. With fewer moving parts, it’s also a privateer’s dream in terms of keeping the wheels rolling.

It would be remiss to ignore the rise of the multi-day adventure race scene, or the popularity of gravel racing.

If you plan on disappearing into the mountains for days on end, and need to carry camping or bivvy kit, there’s nothing better than a simple hardtail. There's more space in the frame, and no rear suspension moving around.

Flex in the chainstays and seatpost will add all-day comfort, so long as you’re not trying to set records down gnarly descents.

Gravel riders or roadies looking for a more authentic MTB experience may also appreciate the direct-feeling back end and more comparable performance off-road, an easy transition to mountain bikes for riders who may not be aiming to take on technical tracks.

The Elja is without doubt the most versatile bike here, and carries that flag for all the 120mm XC race bikes I’ve ridden in recent times.

It’s undoubtedly fast – uphill and down. There's loads of traction on loose surfaces, the high-tech suspension effortlessly ensures you’re in the right mode all the time, and geometry and travel combine to ensure that when the going gets rough, you’re able to focus on the bigger picture.

While it might be targeted at the XC race course, chunkier rubber, and if you’ve deep enough pockets, a longer fork, transforms a bike such as this into a proper lightweight trail bike.

Off-piste tracks, bike-park berms and rocky horror shows are all taken under its wing, so long as you show it a little respect, while long, steep and technical climbs are its bread and butter.

The Epic WC steals the show, though – certainly if that show is dedicated to XC.

It might not keep up with the Elja on a black run, but elsewhere it keeps pace with aplomb, and is rarely, if ever, at risk of being dropped by the Scalpel uphill.

The rear suspension does what it needs to do – giving you enough travel and support when you need it, but not when you don’t. It’s smooth and comfortable, while also being ruthlessly efficient.

Cannondale Scalpel HT Lab71 vs Specialized Epic World Cup Expert vs Lauf Elja XC Ultimate Flight Attendant bottom line

If I was looking for an adventure in foreign climes, with my life in my pack, the Scalpel would be the obvious choice. I’d also use it for long, non-technical days in the hills, or the most brutal sprints to get my heart rate pumping.

The Elja is almost one bike to do it all, so long as there’s another set of tyres knocking about. It can set the pace up and downhill, while still delivering the goods when there’s a weekend free of racing.

If I was looking for the perfect UK XC race bike, though, the Epic WC is a dedicated machine that delivers time and time again. Up and down, the Epic WC leaves nothing to be desired.