Carn75 said:
I too have a Dakar and love it.I've ridden some pretty rocky trails and felt fine.If the bike is fairly new it will take you a little bit to figure out how you want ur susp. set up.Once i figured mine out(with help from lbs) i've never had to look back
A friend of mine has an XLT,and he loves it,but the only real difference is components.Really nothing with the ride.
If you do not feel any difference with the ride, then either you haven't spent enough time aboard both bikes, or one of them is set up wrong. Following suit behind Matamua:
The XC is heavy for a cross country bike...but lighter than the XLT. The XLT can withstand a beating far more severe than an XC could handle. The XLT can handle a "day at the park" doing gravity runs w/o worry of catastrophic damage.
The XC has a 71' head angle which makes it a great low speed carver. It will do tight/twisty singletrack with aplomb and climb with a good amount of control. The steeper head angle will also cause it to descend with a little more uncertainty...twitchy at high speeds. The XLT has a 68.5' head angle which makes it more stable in the DH sections and aggressive lines, but it can tend to wander "more" on the climbs than the XC, though I haven't had significant issues with it. If you buy some sort of "travel adjustable" fork then that kills that issue.
Overall, the XLT is much more plush, tough, and the cockpit is such that it begs to be ridden aggressively. It is a good climber if you have the strength to get it up the hill, it will climb quite well and will reward you on the way back down. I want to stress that it's not really that much of a "chore" to climb with this bike. I ride with upper echelon Epic's and Fuels frequently and still have plenty of energy to enjoy "tweaking it out" on the downhills.
The XC is a good climber as well, but lighter and a little more controllable on the ascents. The descents will require a little more skill and time due to the 35mm less travel, twitchy character compared to the XLT, as well as the less robust platform, not to mention the longer cockpit. Don't misread me here...the XC is a good descender compared to some other XC rigs...but when compared to the XLT, you may as well hang it up.
I agree with matamua, if you only have room for 1 bike and you're not a hardcore XC racer...the XLT is perfect. It can be ridden all day long with comfort yet tough enough to handle some jumps and rock gardens.
I've heard of them being built up between 27-35lbs. Mine's 32lbs with coil sprung Fox suspension, borderline freeride wheelset with 2.35" tires, 7" front rotor, Thomson / Easton alu cockpit, and a Hone / XT drivetrain. With an RP23, Float fork, agg. XC wheelset, and some carbon...I'm sure the 27'ish lb range could be had. But...I just can't get over the smooth coils and burly build, hahaha.:thumbsup: