Thanks for the tips. By XC, I mean weight and a little bit geometry. In WI, our races do not have excessive climbing or huge long descents. Most of the races are tight singletrack with trees right on the trail with plenty of roots/rocks and short, steep drops. Some of the races are much more open where this type of bike will definitely be a disadvantage, but I don't know I will be giving up as much time in pedaling efficiency as I currently give up in the technical sections. Most importantly, I ride 8-10 times a month in summer. I only race once a month. I'd much rather have fun.
The current crankset is Alivio 44/32/22 and the BB is 68/73 compatible. Although not my favorite, it will have to do until I can find something better at swap meets and online. I'm heavy and the bike will be heavy, so want gears. maybe someday SRAM will trickle the 11 speed stuff farther down to X9 or even X7 level. I will have to get a Shimano XT FD-M771-D for the front. It looks like a top pull, so it should work. The current seatpost is 30.9 I'll be watching the swap meets for a dropper post once I get everything sorted out.
Originally Posted by
ncfisherman
Can't really peg any of those as XC bikes, but it is the type of bike you'll be able to ride almost anywhere. Whether on our local XC trails or out in the mtns, the Yelli is great.
I can't speak on the other bikes, since I don't have any direct experience with them, but some setup issues can come with the short chainstays. If you want to run wide tires, you might have a problem with front derailleur setup. Chainring size(in the middle ring position of a 3x crank) can also be an issue. That's a 32t Raceface Narrow-wide ring in the middle position, in the photo. The tooth profile of the RF NW does make it closer to the chainstay than a standard geared ring in the same size, so you can run a slightly larger geared ring.
If you have the stock spec(
Bikepedia - 2011 GT Karokoram 1.0), you may need a new bottom bracket depending on the width of your current BB shell on the GT -- width isn't shown on that link. May also need a different size seatpost, size also not listed. Other than those and the headset, you should be good.
