Morning all, my buddy runs a LBS and text me he recently got an almost brand new Procaliber 9.6 in. It was ridden twice, not even on trail. It’s currently out for warranty work on a manufacturer issue with the fork but should be good as new once that’s resolved. I’ve been racing gravel for a couple years now but after watching “From the Ground Up” on YT during my TR workouts, I’ve taken an interest in maybe dipping my toe in the XC racing world. Would this be a good bike to get started? Currently listed for 1k off MSRP plus a 20% holiday coupon so it seems a hell of a deal.
I’ve got some casual mtb experience on a Surly KM I built up to be a double duty family bike and trail bike, but I’ve found it to be very heavy compared to my Crux gravel bike and was thinking having the Procaliber as a dedicated mountain/xc bike would be nice.
That’s a ~$3000 bike retail, and you can get it for ~$1500? That is a good deal.
Is it a current model year bike? Sometime between 2019 and 2022, the bike’s geometry was revised to make a little more progressive. As long as it’s the latest version, I’d buy it. It’ll be great for “green” and “blue” trails and shorter XC races. That parts spec is decent - nothing that needs changed immediately, but if you get serious, a nicer fork and wheel set wouldn’t be unreasonable upgrades.
At that price, you can ride it a year or two and sell for even money, probably.
I’m biased as I race an “up-specced” 9.5, but I’ve never felt like the bike is holding me back. And I race mine out on the rocky trails of the Utah Wasatch mountains. Mine also doubles as my trail bike - I installed a 120mm SID fork and a dropper post to make it more capable.
I will say, even with the Iso-Speed coupler, bumpy trails can still be very uncomfortable when seated. But that’s true with any hardtail.
Definitely a great deal at that price, if you are fine with riding a hardtail.
I honestly don’t know enough about mountain biking to know the real difference in full vs front suspension other than the obvious, the back end moves on one and not the other. My line of thinking is if I want to become more technically proficient, the hard tail will teach me more quickly and be less forgiving than a full suspension. It’ll also feel more like my Crux making the switch between gravel and mtb less of a jump on any given weekend. Again, that’s just a theory, I’ve got more Singletrack miles on my Crux than I do my KM, so I’m still a big newbie to the mtb world.
I’m also riding a pretty upgraded 9.5, and it’s been great for me so far. There’s not much that you can’t do with a hardtail and some skills.
There is a little added complexity with the iso-speed, but far less than what comes with a full-suspension bike, and you do feel a difference on the smaller bumps and vibrations.
Coming from a gravel bike, this could be a great next step, and I find that this is the bike I ride most of the time nowadays. It has the potential to be really fast all around – especially on fire roads and singletrack, yet I can keep up just fine with everyone else on their full-suspension bikes at all of the local trailheads.
If you plan on jumping into steeper terrain with jumps and drops right away, this won’t be the best tool for beginners, but otherwise, I’d say go for it!
I did upgrade my fork since the cheap Rockshox ones don’t typically hold up too well (sounds like this one didn’t either as it was already warrantied).
Ditto to all above. I love my Procaliber and use it for my XC races. As Eddie mentions, it can be ridden as fast or faster than full suspension bikes in the right hands.
I’ve heard the argument before, but I’m not convinced.
Regardless, a hardtail is a fine way to get started. Less concern about suspension setup, less maintenance, cheaper buy-in. And at the price you’re getting, it’s pretty much a no-brainer.
A bike “teaches” nothing inherently. A bike may “punish” poor rider control and/or “reward” good behavior. Since it’s a bike, it won’t specifically “tell” you what you have done right or wrong. That is on you as the rider to detect and interpret.
This is the key trick to people claiming that these bikes are “teachers”. It is not necessarily obvious especially for riders new to the sport. I am still shocked at times when I do group trail rides and have people comment on my line selection when they follow me. Far too many people just aim for the middle of the trail and ride it as presented. A trail on any bike is an opportunity and every irregularity is a chance to impact your ride and what you get from the trail and bike.
In this way, using a hardtail is a bit more “demanding” IMO, because it behooves the rider to actively view and interpret the trail, then conduct themselves in ways more specific than many people do on fully’s. You can ride any bike lazy or with fists of fury. The range between those is often dictated by the trail at hand and what the rider wants from every inch of it.
All that BS to say that HT’s are super fun but take more attentive and active control by the rider to eek out every bit of performance. When done well, it is a level of rewarding that is sort of hard to match on other bikes. This steps towards the “under-biking” side of riding and is something I prefer to do compared to “over-biking”.
Couldn’t agree more. Part of the fun is looking at a section, deciding the right path (sometimes at race pace… I usually don’t pre-ride), and just sticking it. It’s often slower than a FS, but I’m not racing to win anyway (not at 200+ pounds at least).
Yup, you nailed it. There is a certain irony with me racing my Procaliber. I’ve done more than a few races where I am the slow one up the climbs but destroy most people on the downs. I had two guys talk to me after one race and ask how I was so fast descending on a HT. They were closing on me during the first climb and assumed they’d walk past me on the first down. Cut to them losing sight of me entirely as I opened gaps every time the trail got the least bit fast & technical.
It was a fun yo-yo the rest of the race where they would catch back to my wheel at the top of the climbs where I’d offer to let them by. They said “no way, because we don’t want you on our tail for the downs”. I won’t even claim that as a humble brag since I had an ear to ear grin taking that comment and performance as a compliment and share it when it suits the moment…
I did 1996 Mount Snow downhill, dual slalom, and XC all on the same Trek hardtail (94? 7000). Other than converting that same bike to a single speed and doing some races with it when I lived in GA 15 year ago I haven’t really ridden a MTB much since HS . Procaliber is on my list since we moved and are near some trails again so I was glad to see all the positive reviews here.
I got my Procaliber 9.5 last week. Cant wait to get out on it properly (early next week). Weather in the UK is rubbish at the moment. I went for the 9.5 as the cost and you get the same CF frame but can make upgrades later in the year.
Already got my training plan ready for next year with some XC races.
