Xtension Xplore
by Lester Lin
Technical Photos of the Xtension Xplore:
Mission: Lester, you will have the use of Daniel's
premiumly equipped and outfitted Xplore for a few days to ride where
you please.
Your self imposed mission is to test the Xplore against the Xplore.
Xplore vs. Xplore? What kind of craziness are you talking about?
With the introduction of this multipurpose bike, it is possible
to setup this cycle in a variety of ways to suit different riding
conditions. It is amazing how different the feel is when you start
adjusting the variables such as the 5 or 6 inch travel setting on
the rear, or the adjustable Syntace VRO handlebars. With the Syntace
VRO, you can put the handlebars in the down position to get the
weight forward, long cockpit feel and body position of an all out
XC racer. Bring it up 180 degrees, and you have a very upright/weight
back short cockpit feel of a downhill/freeride bike. There are any
number of positions that you can play with to "dial in"
the feel that is just right for you.
My goal was to try the Xplore in two very different set up's on
a back to back ride on the Gas
Plant Trail. This ride gives you short bursts of heart breaking
climbs, fast sweeping single track, tight maneuvering turns, near
vertical short descents, stairs, rocks........ you name it, it's
got it. I have ridden this course at least once or twice a week
for the past two years, and know every inch by heart. This is where
I have the best perception of the differences of the almost 20 different
bikes that I have had the opportunity to test ride on this course
over the years.
My first round would be to ride the Xplore in the long cockpit low
handlebar, 5" rear travel mode. (Let's call this the XPC for
Xplore X-Country) I expected the climbs to be easier, and the steep
technical downhill performance to suffer. Then on the second round,
I would change the Xplore to it's most aggressive freeride position
with 6" of rear travel and the handlebars in the full upright
and back position. (Let's call this the XPF for Xplore Freeride.)
I took the long approach via the paved graveyard road to get to
the start of the off road portion of the gas plant hill. I immediately
appreciated the long and low riding position of the XPC. As a matter
of fact, I even stopped to put the low handlebar position a bit
forward to lengthen the cockpit even more. This really inspires
your climbing. With the feeling hot on my feet from my 24.5 lb.
Specialized M4, the extra weight of the XPC was noticeable. However,
the efficient climbing position kept you breathing freely, with
no cramped feeling at all. Just pull with your arms and rotate your
legs and motor up the hill. With the excellent Shockworks rear shock,
you can dial out any bobbing with the compression dampening knob,
or even lock it out for your hardtail like climbing feel.
However, when reaching the first hard off-road climb, I found the
rear tire scratching for traction on sections that are usually not
a problem. It seems that with my weight so much more forward, I
was out of the sweet spot for good rear tire traction. Therefore,
the increased leverage and more efficient pedaling is lost in the
inability to keep the tire weighted down enough to claw my way up
the real steep sections. The descents however, seemed to be quite
stable and under control with the handlebars down low. It's amazing
to have a riding position like a racer, yet with 125mm of travel
up front. The quality of the front Fox fork was more than evident.
The plush, sensitive, and stiff feeling of the fork just plows through
uneven terrain better than any other fork that I have ridden to
date.
The other thing that makes such a dramatic effect is the huge amount
of adjustment available on the rear seat on the Xplore. I think
many people discount how much of a performance difference that it
makes on a given riders ability when it comes to tough terrain on
the descents. I have tried too many great bikes that fail in this
area. If you have the seat in a position high enough for efficient
pedaling, you cannot get it down low enough for the tough descents
to get that really low down butt backwards confidence inspiring
position. My Specialized M4 is a classic case of this. You are limited
to about 1.5 inches of travel adjustment. When the going gets steep
on the downhill side, you constantly feel like you are going to
endo. Same as the pre 2003 Giant AC's. Great off road bike! But
the limited seat travel puts me up too high for maximum confidence
on the gnarly descents. It is still OK in most instances, but another
inch or two of downward adjustment would make it that much better.
Not the case on the Xplore. From a high comfortable pedaling position,
you can get the seat all the way down to the seat stay if you wish.
That is the gold standard of seat height adjustability. That is
why even with the handlebars flipped down to the lowest negative
angle position, with an equally low seat position, you can still
maintain great confidence and control on the steep descents.
Maneuvering down the natural trail stairs, and the off camber slick
rock shortcut, I lost a bit of control and ended a bit off to the
side of the main trail (John Mchale Freeway) but was able to recover
quickly, and get back on the rough stuff.
In general, I made it through the course feeling that I really didn't
need to make any adjustments at all. I was drenched with sweat,
and normally would have been very happy to call it a day. However,
to have unlimited access to an Xplore all to myself for a full day
is a treat not easy to come by. True to my mission, I pulled out
my tools to change the XPC into an XPF.
The handlebars were easy enough to flip up into the high position
freeride mode. Two allen head screws to loosen; then rotate the
handlebars up, and the pivoting neck and voila!, You are sitting
very upright. To change the rear shock to the 6 inch mode is possible
with one allen wrench if you are lucky. However, a second allen
head wrench gives you better insurance you can get the screw loose
from BOTH sides. With the Shockworks oil reservoir pointing backwards,
(as in Daniel's set up), you are not able to put the shock into
the 6" position. (Doug's setup with the reservoir pointing
forward does). So, I had to double my efforts to have to turn the
shock around as well. All in all, not a very hard task. However,
I register my vote for a quick release travel adjuster.
All the adjustments done, I started my trek back up the hill. Strange
that I would change the efficient climbing positioned XPC, into
the less efficient XPF before going up the hill. However, that is
precisely what I wanted to experience. Immediately, you notice the
very upright and "weight a bit back" feel. Let's say it
is pretty close to Doug's classic geometry. I actually found this
position quite comfortable for the pavement portion of the climb.
Not as aggressive as the XPC for sure, but if you just take your
time, it really is quite acceptable. However, the bobbing is more
difficult to dial out (but certainly not impossible) in this mode.
And of course, the lockout option is always there for those of you
that easily get sea sick. I even more recently tested this same
bike with Daniel, only equipped with the newest ROMIC shock with
a brain that he brought back from the States. This shock to me was
a waste of money. The automatic settings of the Shock Brain just
weren't right for the Xplore. Manually setting the ShockWorks shock
seemed to work much better for me.
As I got to the off-road steeper sections, I expected to have to
wrestle with keeping the front end from wheelieing up on the steep
climbs. However, I actually found the XPF better for climbing than
the XPC. With your weight further back, traction was increased by
a good 10% on the climbs. The tires were not scratching to find
traction this time. Much better traction resulted in much better
performance than the XPC.
The plushness of the 6" position is definitely less jarring
on your body. However, the 5" is already exceptionally plush.
When the terrain turned downhill, the adjustments transformed a
good cycle (XPC), for the descents, and putting it on Steroids.
Better control, and having more precise steering were the obvious
benefits. The higher up front end position definitely gives you
more of a psychological boost of confidence. I say psychologically,
because all other things being equal, you are more likely have your
rear wheel upwardly airborne with your neck in the high position
than in the low position. (I don't have time or the energy to debate
this in writing, but if you disagree, let's talk about it sometime.)
Anyway, case in point: Coming down the Gas Plant's steepest longest
hill, there is one place that does a series of small drops on steep
terrain, then dumps you into a 90 degree turn. At this turn, on
the XPF, I sort of got catapulted gently off the bike, and landed
like a tiger doing a flying pounce on a mouse when I was using too
much front brake to slow down enough to make the corner. It was
the most smooth but surprising crash I have ever had. I was basically
using the identical riding style when coming down on the XPC, but
did not get have the rear wheel get airborne like on the XPF. Up
to that point, I would say that the XPF was easier to ride on the
descents by maybe 15% because of the high handlebar adjustment.
My results between the XPC and XPF were totally opposite from what
I had expected. I had better climbing success on the Freeride settings.
I got launched off the XPF going downhill, but not on the XPC. However,
this data needs to be qualified. If I were climbing up Yamingshan's
WuZhi Shan, I would definitely prefer the low stretched version
for the climbing. It's just the way that your weight is shifted
further back with the high handlebar position that gives you that
extra kick when climbing off road. I was noticeably more confident
and precise with the handlebar in the high position on the descents.
It's just the surprising launch off the bike that tarnished actual
performance results.
All in all, this was one of my favorite bikes to ride on this trail.
The really smooth suspension, the handlebar adjustability, the seat
height adjustability; all these attributes found together in one
bike will definitely put this bike on my wish list to Santa Claus
this year.
Additional Information
‘03 Xtension
Xplore Fact Sheet (requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader)
Updated
Review after more than one year of testing
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